A social activist, Umar Idris, has called on President Bola Tinubu to impose a flight ban policy on high-ranking officials to attract increased attention to ending security challenges bedeviling Nigeria.
Idris, who is an entrepreneur and chairman of the 21st Century Hub, made the call in an open letter addressed to President Tinubu, made available to newsmen on Friday in Sokoto.
He stressed that more concerted efforts were needed to end banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and other crimes bedeviling the nation.
“With a deep sense of responsibility, driven by the urgent need to restore peace, security, and public confidence across Nigeria, Mr President should consider the flight ban policy,” he said.
“The persistent and devastating security challenges affecting different communities have reached a level where bold, unconventional, and people-centered decisions are needed.
“For many years, farmers, traders, students, civil servants and other ordinary Nigerians, especially those in rural and peri-urban areas, have lived in constant fear of kidnappings, banditry, armed attacks, and road ambushes,” Idris said.
Idris stressed that incidents continue despite various interventions, security deployments, and policy announcements, and the reality remains unchanged for citizens.
“Your Excellency, it has become painfully clear that the burden of insecurity is carried almost entirely by the common people.
”Those with access to air travel, such as governors, lawmakers, ministers, high-ranking security officials and other top government officials, often do not experience the true dangers and hardships faced by ordinary Nigerians on the road,” he said.
”I urge the President to consider imposing a temporary no-flight zone for domestic travel across Northern Nigeria, specifically for political office holders and top public officials,” he said.
He posited that when leaders and security managers use the same roads that citizens travel daily, they may hasten the urgency to secure those roads, and communities linking these roads will increase immediately.
He argued that when the no-flight directive is given, it would force a genuine, swift, and practical response to insecurity, not securing themselves.
Idris further solicited accelerated security response, because the safety of top officials will now depend on functional and protected road networks.
He also called for immediate improvement of road patrols, surveillance, and checkpoints, as well as a deeper understanding of citizens’ daily experiences by those who make critical decisions.
“There is a need for increased accountability among state and security actors, a renewed sense of fairness and solidarity, showing that leaders and citizens share the same realities,” he added.
