President Bola Tinubu
Former Nigerian Bar Association President, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to confront the nation’s security crisis head-on by publicly naming those fueling violence and the networks backing them.
Speaking in Ikere-Ekiti at the 29th Wole Olanipekun Scholarship Scheme and 6th Empowerment Programme, the respected legal figure said Nigeria can no longer afford to “pretend” about the identities of individuals and groups destabilising the country.
“I sympathise with President Tinubu,” he said. “But we must stop acting as if we don’t know those waging war against this nation. If we truly know them, why are we not exposing them? No one sabotages their country and walks free.”
Olanipekun argued that the long-running security challenges have endured partly because institutions have failed to enforce consequences. He warned that Nigeria cannot continue to operate as though certain individuals are above accountability.
“You cannot do these things in America and escape justice,” he said. “Why are we deceiving ourselves? Why are we refusing to call a spade by its name?”
Beyond naming sponsors of insecurity, Olanipekun renewed his call for regional federalism, describing it as the only workable path to national stability. He said devolving more powers to the regions—while retaining core national duties at the centre—would deliver stronger governance, better security coordination, and healthier inter-regional cooperation.
“It is time for us to heal and to build a structure that will last,” he said. “Regional federalism remains the way forward. I have said this since the Obasanjo era, and I will keep saying it.”
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, who attended the event, hailed Olanipekun’s decades-long commitment to philanthropy, describing him as the kind of leader whose values the nation urgently needs. He urged beneficiaries of the scholarship and empowerment programme to embrace service, integrity, and responsibility.
“You don’t have to be wealthy to give,” Oyebanji said. “We are all created to add value to our neighbours.”