An open letter to President Tinubu: Kaduna misses you, please come back

Dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,

It has barely been 24 hours since you graced our dear state with your presence, and Kaduna is already missing you.

The last time you were here was 13 months ago, on 19 September 2025, when you attended the wedding of Nasirudeen Abdulaziz Yari, son of Senator Abdulaziz Yari, your 2027 re-election campaign Director-General. You also paid a condolence visit to the family of our late President Muhammadu Buhari. We remember.

Never mind that the Nigerian Defence Academy, one of the country’s most important military institutions, held its convocation in September, graduating cadets who would go on to serve in the Nigerian Armed Forces. One would imagine that our Commander-in-Chief might want to meet some of these young officers, hear their concerns and boost their morale, particularly at a time like this. But we understand. There is a Vice-President for such occasions, isn’t there?

And as for the Tudun Biri incident, we understand that your government sent a delegation to condole with the affected community after the military’s tragic drone strike in December 2023. The people have heard the condolences. Perhaps what they need now is a visit from their President, a renewed commitment to their safety and reassurance that such a tragedy will not be repeated. But we shall not trouble you with that today; all is forgiven.

As for Federal Government projects, our indefatigable Governor Uba Sani eyes are as good as yours. He can inspect them on your behalf. You need not come all the way to Kaduna to supervise anything yourself. In fact, you inaugurated a section of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano highway right there at Ranchers Bees Stadium. If that is not bringing governance to the people, I don’t know what is.

Mr President, we miss you already.

When our indefatigable governor was asked to host the presidential campaign flag-off in Kaduna, what an honour it was! Never mind the suggestion that Kaduna’s strategic importance to the APC, especially after the party lost the state in the 2023 presidential election, might have had something to do with the choice. We prefer to see it as a demonstration of your love for us.

And our governor did not disappoint.

Potholes were filled. Roads were painted. Traffic lights were repaired. The city received the sort of hurried facelift that would make one wonder whether we had been living in a different Kaduna all along. Everywhere was clean, orderly and ready for the distinguished visitor. Please, do not misunderstand us. We are not reporting our governor for doing his job. Far from it. We are simply saying that when we have an October visitor, we must give him our very best. The posters and billboards plastered across the city? Those were merely decorations for the occasion. Nothing to worry about.

Mr President, please consider another visit in December. By then, we hope you will be able to ride through some of our newly completed roads and bridges: Rabah Road, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Bypass, the Barnawa Bridge and others. Let us take you to Zaria, too, where we can show you the transformation of our ancient city, including the bridges that will make you wonder whether you have actually left Kaduna for Abuja.

Better still, drive from Abuja to Kaduna. By then, the remaining sections of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano highway may have been completed, given the Federal Government’s November 2026 target. You can inspect the road yourself, rather than inaugurating another section from a stadium. Talk about killing two birds with one stone, eh?

But Mr President, we must thank you for something else. Your visit brought what could only be described as a brief economic boom to Kaduna; hotels were fully booked, restaurants made massive sales, car hires and ride-hailing services recorded tremendous orders, and printers… oh, the printers in Kaduna will tell stories for years to come about this bountiful October. Money trickled into the town, and everyone is happy. Even the mama put and the ordinary young girl selling awara by the roadside made brisk sales to your teeming supporters who, maybe out of the goodness of their hearts, slept by the roadside and trekked to the venue of the campaign. Many petty traders had an opportunity to earn more from the crowds that thronged the city. You did say you’ll make the cost of living fit for the living and we have started seeing that in Kaduna. Please, feel free to come back again and again and again.

Baba, your coming single-handedly brought back tourism to Kaduna. We had people trooping in from Zamfara, Borno, Katsina, Kano, Abuja, and many other states in the country. Whether they were paid or not, they came and got the opportunity to appreciate the beautiful Kaduna and her greenery; something people have been avoiding due to small small kidnappings here and there. They saw the Kaduna we know and love, a city whose potential is far greater than the insecurity that has kept many people away. Private jets dotted the skyline all day, jeeps zoomed in and out, and the highway had traffic like it was Christmas or Maulud. Mr President, thank you for putting back Kaduna on the map. 

We only hope that visitors will continue to come when there is no presidential rally to attend. We hope they will feel safe enough to visit our tourist sites, invest in our businesses and bring their families here without having to wait for a presidential convoy to make the journey feel worthwhile.

Come again, you hear?

But, Mr President, there is one thing from yesterday that we would particularly like you not to take back to Abuja: Security.

In a span of a few days, everywhere we turned, there were soldiers, police officers and other security personnel. Roads were manned, strategic locations were covered and movement was controlled. There was law and order during your visit, and there was a visible security presence that made people feel safer.

And that is where our joy becomes complicated.

We have communities living with the fear of kidnappers and armed groups; residents of Millennium City and other parts of Kaduna have had to contend with the anxiety that comes with insecurity at their doorsteps. Communities at the fringes of the city wonder when the next attack will come.

Yet yesterday, we saw what a coordinated security deployment could look like; we saw security personnel everywhere. We saw a city that could be secured when the occasion demanded it.

Mr President, we do not want to be ungrateful, but we would like to make a small request. Could some of that commitment, coordination and deployment remain after your departure? Could the security personnel who made the city feel safer yesterday be part of a sustained strategy to protect our communities tomorrow? Could the roads remain secure when the presidential motorcade is nowhere in sight?

Perhaps you could spend a week or two in Kaduna during your annual leave. We would gladly host you. Not for another campaign rally, not for another ribbon-cutting ceremony, but simply so that we can enjoy the reassurance that comes with knowing that our communities are being protected with the same urgency.

We know you cannot stay forever. But the security of Kaduna should not depend on whether the President is visiting.

Mr President, Kaduna is more than a campaign venue. It is more than a convenient place to inaugurate a section of a highway. It is more than a city to be cleaned up for a distinguished visitor. It is home to millions of Nigerians who deserve functioning roads, reliable infrastructure, thriving businesses and lasting security, whether or not a presidential visit is on the calendar.

We are grateful that you came. We enjoyed the activity, the commerce, the visitors and, above all, the temporary reassurance of a heavily secured city.

Now, please give us something to remember after the convoy has left.

Come back in December. Come back in January. Come back when there is no election to win and no campaign to flag off. Come back when the roads are ordinary, when the streets are quiet and when our people are going about their daily lives.

And when you do, Mr President, we hope Kaduna will not need to become a different city just to welcome you.

Dawo, dawo, Mr President. Kaduna misses you already.

Yours sincerely,

A concerned son of Kaduna.

Salim Yunusa.

---

Salim Yunusa writes from Zaria, Kaduna State.