President Bola Tinubu’s decision to send a peace envoy to Plateau State, at a time terrorists have renewed their war on the country, is disingenuous. It amounts not only to trivialising a serious security problem, but also to doing too little too late. The policy betrays a poor understanding of the weight of insecurity bedeviling the country and a lack of will to deal with it. A peace envoy after terrorists raid communities and chase owners from their ancestral homes is not the solution. It is no more than a hollow public relations tactic designed to play to the gallery.

The Envoy, Dr. Abiodun Essiet, who is also Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North Central), was reportedly dispatched as part of renewed efforts to restore calm and strengthen inter-communal harmony in the troubled state. In the course of her engagement, she met separately with Christian clerics and Fulani Miyetti Allah leaders, before convening a town hall meeting, where delegates from council areas and traditional leaders converged. She met with Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, one of the leading voices of the Christian community in the Plateau. She also met widows of the incessant killings.

This effort is not just belated but rather cosmetic, because no individual peace envoy has capacity to restore calm in villages that are ravaged and sacked by terrorists with hundreds of citizens killed. Only a determined policy of government to go after criminals perpetrating mayhem, and bring them to justice, can restore confidence and hope in a despondent population.

Besides, a government that failed to protect citizens from repeated terrorist attacks lacks the moral authority to seek peace through an envoy. To delegate the search for peace and inter-communal harmony in a zone where terrorists have forcefully grabbed swathes of indigenous lands is simplistic and evasive. President Tinubu should stop romancing and pampering terrorism. His political opponents are justified in saying that the president is trading the country off to terrorists.

While dialogue is necessary as early-warning efforts to avert crisis, the days for town hall solutions are gone. The terrorists who invade communities in the dead of the night to set homes on fire and kill women and children don’t attend townhall conferences. They have openly declared war on the country and what this government should do is take the battle to them in their hideouts. Nigeria contends with full-blown terrorism, not inter-communal clashes.

The President, perhaps, needs be reminded that there have been countless peace committees set up to engender peace and reconciliation in the state. There is currently the Plateau State Inter-Religious Advisory Council, as well as a Fact-Finding Committee. The Inter-Religious Advisory Council has 35 members, whose assignment is to foster dialogue, religious tolerance and co-existence among different faith and ethnic groups. It is co-chaired by the Emir of Wase, Muhammadu Sambo, and Professor Pandam Yamsat, a Christian leader. The Fact-finding Committee is charged to identify communities affected by violence and recommend interventions. There is also the Resettlement Committee for Displaced Persons and Special Committee to review Chiefdoms and Districts in the state.

These committees have not stopped the frequent bloodbaths in Plateau State. In the last two years, at least 2,630 people have been reported killed in mindless massacres. In one of the bloody episodes, Mr. President abandoned the role of Commander-in-Chief, and rather charged Governor Mutfwang to address the decades-long inter-communal strife in the state, whereas it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to secure life and property of citizens.

On the occasion of the burial of the mother of the national chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, President Tinubu was in the Plateau, and he used the occasion to appeal for peace. His appeal did not stop the bloodbaths. Why does he think the appeal of a peace envoy will persuade terrorists?

There should be no obfuscating the fact that what is happening in the Plateau and across many states is the complete breakdown of law and order due to invasion of the country by foreign terrorists and bandits in cahoots with their local collaborators. President Tinubu cannot afford to take his eyes off the ball. He should not be distracted by orchestrated denials.

The situation does not require the kid gloves of a peace envoy. How far can the envoy go to engage the terrorists in their hideouts, beyond appealing to victims? The situation at hand demands a holistic emergency response, not the cavorting of piecemeal emissaries. The 19 northern states are deeply troubled by terrorists and bandits. It is an insurgency that threatens the territorial integrity of the country. The Commander-in-Chief must assume his role fully and take appropriate action against mindless breakers of law and order.

One such relevant action is to set up State Police, to allow states sufficient control of security in their jurisdictions. Why is government foot-dragging on that? This is the time to demonstrate seriousness in fighting terrorism. This is the time to confront terrorists and drag those captured and their sponsors to courts for prosecution.

As canvased by experts, the current security crisis demands “exceptional measures” as it has garnered many complexities due to government’s failure. Government should be bold to outlaw social gatherings where terrorists flaunt their weapons to undermine the country’s sovereignty. President Tinubu must be decisive and courageous. He must not allow 2027 election to obfuscate the task. There has to be a country first before 2027.