Today, Benue State will go on a public holiday – not to mourn its dead, not to reflect, not even to organise a candlelight procession – but to ‘honour’ the visiting President Bola Tinubu, who is finally showing his face after more than 100 of its residents were brutally murdered by suspected criminal herders in Guma.

One would be forgiven for asking, is this a presidential condolence visit or a campaign rally disguised as one? Because declaring a public holiday, urging residents to ‘come out en masse’, and essentially rolling out the red carpet smells more like a victory parade than the solemn moment of national grief this should be.

What exactly are we honouring here? That the president managed to squeeze Benue into his busy itinerary, after postponing a trip to Kaduna, just to show some empathy, finally?

Is that now an achievement worthy of a public holiday? At this rate, we might start awarding national honours for basic human decency.

Let’s have a look at the Nigerian constituion. It does not list ‘photo ops’ as a primary duty of government. According to section 14(2)(b), ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’.

That sacred clause was not written to be remembered only during campaign seasons or forgotten in the shadow of armed attacks on helpless communities. Benue does not need pageantry. Benue needs protection.

We call on the Governor, Fr. Hyacinth Alia, to refocus the purpose of this visit. First, let the public holiday be turned into a ‘Day of Mourning’, not celebration.

Let schools hold moments of silence, churches and mosques organise memorials, and flags fly at half-mast. The air should be heavy, not with trumpets and chants, but with sober reflection. The president’s presence should be a statement of empathy, not ego.

Second, this visit must shift the spotlight from the visitor to the victims. Let the president meet directly with bereaved families, not just government house photo shoots. Let him walk through Yelewata and Daudu, see the ashes of what once were homes, feel the silence of the displaced, and look into the eyes of a people who feel abandoned by the very institution sworn to protect them.

Third, drop the fanfare, please. Scrap the red carpets and halt the forced cheers. Let the atmosphere match the magnitude of our collective grief. Nigerians across the country should stand in solidarity with Benue, not by clapping, but by demanding answers. Where are the security reforms? Where are the arrests? Where is the justice?

Finally, the president and the governor must jointly commit to tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. Make public a transparent timeline of action. Anything short of that will be read, rightly, as yet another exercise in political optics.

We owe the dead dignity. If we must pause life for a day in Benue, let it not be to cheer the powerful, but to demand that power be used to protect and to prevent. Let this not be remembered as the day we clapped while standing in blood.