After the Oriire Rescue: Is Seyi Makinde Still Waiting for the Presidential Phone Call?

By Seye Oladejo, Lagos APC Chieftain

The successful rescue of the Oriire abductees is a moment of relief for every well-meaning Nigerian. We rejoice with the parents, families and the people of Oyo State whose prayers have finally been answered. We salute the gallant officers and men of our security agencies whose courage, professionalism and painstaking intelligence-led operations made the rescue possible.

But beyond the celebration lies a political question that Governor Seyi Makinde owes Nigerians an answer.

Is he still waiting for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s phone call?

At the height of the unfortunate incident, Governor Makinde chose to shift national attention from the plight of the victims to what appeared to be his disappointment that the President had not personally called him. Instead of inspiring confidence in ongoing rescue efforts, he succeeded in creating a needless media conversation around protocol and political optics.

It was an unfortunate attempt to reduce governance to symbolism.

Today, the Oriire victims are back home - not because of a presidential phone call, but because President Tinubu did what Presidents are elected to do: deploy the full weight of the Nigerian state against criminals until justice prevailed.

The President understood that victims in captivity needed action, not headlines.

While political actors obsessed over who called whom, security agencies were painstakingly gathering intelligence, tracking criminal networks, coordinating operations and risking their lives to bring innocent Nigerians home safely.

That is leadership.

The irony is difficult to ignore. Those who were busy counting missed calls contributed little to the actual rescue, while those who said less accomplished more.

This episode once again exposes a disturbing tendency among some opposition politicians to politicise virtually every national challenge. Every tragedy becomes an opportunity for cheap political points. Every security challenge becomes an avenue to manufacture controversy against the Federal Government.

Unfortunately, criminals do not care about partisan affiliations.

Kidnappers do not distinguish between APC and PDP.

Bandits are not interested in political narratives.

What they understand is the force of a determined state, backed by capable security institutions and decisive leadership.

That is precisely what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu provided.

Without fanfare, he mobilised the nation’s security architecture. Without emotional grandstanding, he allowed professionals to do their work. Without joining needless public exchanges, he remained focused on one objective - the safe return of the victims.

The outcome vindicates that approach.

Governor Makinde’s fixation with a presidential phone call now appears misplaced. Leadership is not validated by receiving ceremonial calls from the Commander-in-Chief. Leadership is demonstrated through effective collaboration with federal security agencies and reassuring anxious citizens while sensitive operations are ongoing.

One would have expected that, following the successful rescue, Governor Makinde would publicly commend the President, the Armed Forces, the Police, the Department of State Services and every security agency involved in the operation. Such statesmanship would have elevated public discourse above partisan politics.

Instead, Nigerians are left wondering whether the politics of perceived neglect was merely a convenient distraction.

The Oriire episode offers an important lesson to public office holders.

In moments of national emergency, there are no APC victims or PDP victims.

There are only Nigerians whose lives deserve protection.

There are no APC security agencies or PDP security agencies.

There is only one Nigerian security architecture working daily to keep our nation safe.

President Tinubu has repeatedly demonstrated that security is too serious to be subordinated to partisan calculations. His administration has consistently supported every state government irrespective of political affiliation because constitutional responsibility knows no party colour.

The successful rescue at Oriire is therefore not a victory for one political party over another.

It is a victory for responsible leadership over political theatrics.

It is a victory for quiet efficiency over media sensationalism.

It is a victory for substance over symbolism.

Perhaps Governor Makinde now appreciates that the phone call Nigerians were truly waiting for was never from Aso Rock to Agodi Government House.

It was the life-changing phone call informing anxious parents that their children had finally regained their freedom.

That call eventually came.

It mattered infinitely more than any political conversation.

As the dust settles, one thing is abundantly clear: history will remember who rescued the victims, not who complained about receiving or missing a phone call.

In the end, results will always silence rhetoric.