Plateau residents demand security, power as Tinubu visits

As President Bola Tinubu visits Plateau State on Saturday as part of his presidential campaign, residents across the state say the visit must go beyond ceremony and deliver concrete commitments to security, electricity, agriculture and other sectors of development.

The residents made the demands on Thursday in separate interviews with The PUNCH in Jos, the state capital.

The visit has heightened expectations in Jos and farming communities across the 17 local government areas.

For many farmers, security remains the overriding concern.

A resident, Bako Michael, who sells yams in the Yan Trailer community in Jos North Local Government Area, described Plateau as a state of beauty battered by pain and promise shadowed by insecurity, but with a people who have refused to break.

“Abundance without security is a harvest left to rot. A farmer who cannot sleep in his village cannot wake up to farm,” said Mr Dachung Pam, a farmer from Riyom.

“A mother who fears the road to the market cannot trade. Our first plea to Mr President is security. Give us safe corridors. Protect our farming communities,” he added.

Another resident, Sarah David, echoed the sentiment, insisting that policy, security, knowledge, and peace must cultivate prosperity.

David, a trader in Jos South Local Government Area, added that peace would restore confidence in the state.

“Let the sound that wakes Plateau be the cock crowing, not the gunshot. When security returns, confidence returns, and when the farmer returns, the nation eats,” she said.

Residents also welcomed the impact of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Tinubu’s flagship education reform, which they said had dismantled the barrier of poverty between brilliant children and the university classroom.

“No longer should a child from Barkin Ladi, Wase, Shendam or Jos North watch his dream die because his parents cannot pay. NELFUND declares that poverty is not a destiny, and background is not a barrier,” said Mr Yusuf Ibrahim, a student from Barkin Ladi.

He added, “When a young Plateau son or daughter enters the university without fear of fees, we are not just funding education. We are funding engineers, doctors, agronomists, teachers, innovators and nation-builders.”

But Grace Davou, a graduate from Jos South, stressed that education must not end with a certificate.

“Education must end in competence. It must end in a young person who can till the soil with science, trade with technology and lead with character. Let the classroom meet the farm, and let the farm feed the nation,” she said

From the cool terraces of Jos to the rich plains of Langtang, and from the potato hills of Bokkos to the vegetable belts of Riyom, residents described Plateau as God’s own farmland, pregnant with abundance.

“This is not ordinary soil. From the potato hills of Bokkos to the vegetable belts of Riyom, our land is pregnant with abundance,” said Mr Toma Markus, a potato farmer in Bokkos.

He added that without power, however, much of that abundance was wasted.

“Without power, our tomatoes rot, our potatoes waste, our milk sours, our dreams spoil. Reliable electricity is not a luxury; it is the lifeblood of modern agriculture,” Markus said.

Residents called for stable electricity for farming clusters, cold rooms to preserve harvests, and processing plants to turn raw Irish potatoes into chips, flour and exportable products.

“Imagine a Plateau where every farming cluster has stable power, where cold rooms preserve harvests, where processing plants turn raw Irish potatoes into chips, flour and export wealth, and where youths find jobs not in idleness but in industry,” said Mrs Nankat Dung, a youth leader in Jos.

On technology, residents said the hoe alone could not feed over 230 million Nigerians.

“We need improved seedlings, smart irrigation, soil testing, weather forecasting and digital markets in the hands of our farmers, with our universities as partners of the farmer.

“Let the NELFUND beneficiary of today become the agritech entrepreneur of tomorrow, deploying innovation that multiplies yields from the same fertile soil our fathers tilled,” said Mr Emmanuel Gyang, an agritech entrepreneur.

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Another resident also proposed a broader economic partnership, linking Plateau’s vast landmass and fertile soil to Lagos’s massive consumer market.

“Picture Plateau’s vast landmass and fertile soil joined to Lagos’s massive consumer market. Plateau grows, Lagos buys. Plateau processes, Lagos distributes. That is not charity. That is a self-sustaining economic corridor,” said Mr Chinedu Okonkwo, a businessman in Jos.

“Mr President, this is the Plateau bargain: Give us peace, give us power, give us partnership, and we will give Nigeria food security. We will give Nigeria jobs. We will give Nigeria prosperity that does not depend on oil,” he said.

As Saturday approaches, residents said Plateau would put its best foot forward, not just with clean streets, but with clean hearts and a clear vision.

“We do not ask for pity. We ask for partnership. We do not ask for handouts. We ask for a hand up. Give Plateau the tools, and Plateau will build the nation’s food basket,” said Mrs Talatu Musa, a women’s leader in Mangu.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the planned presidential visit and Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Samuel Jatau, said on Thursday that all was set for Tinubu’s visit to the state for the North-Central leg of the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign rally.

Jatau, who addressed a press conference at the NUJ Secretariat in Jos, unveiled preparations for what he described as a historic welcome.

“On Saturday, 14 November 2026, Plateau State will host a historic political gathering as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, leads the national leadership of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to Jos for the North-Central leg of the APC Presidential Campaign Rally,” Jatau said.

The rally will be held at the Zaria Road Stadium, Jos, from 10 am.

Jatau said President Tinubu would be accompanied by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu; Vice-President Kashim Shettima; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; governors; APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda; members of the National Working Committee; Director-General of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign, Abdulaziz Yari; and other party leaders.

“For Plateau State, this occasion goes beyond the hosting of a political rally. It represents an important opportunity to welcome the nation’s leadership, reaffirm our place in the national political conversation and demonstrate the hospitality, political maturity and democratic spirit for which our state is known,” he said.

Jatau assured that preparations were at an advanced stage, with the Plateau State Government, under Governor Caleb Mutfwang, working with the APC national and state leadership and other stakeholders through the Local Organising Committee.

“Our preparations cover venue readiness, transportation, traffic management, security coordination, crowd control, emergency response and general logistics.

“We are working closely with the relevant security and emergency management agencies to establish appropriate arrangements for access control, movement of dignitaries, screening procedures and the safety of participants,” he said.

He appealed to residents, motorists and business operators to cooperate with security agencies and exercise patience over temporary traffic diversions.

“Our overriding priority is to ensure that everyone attending the rally, those working at the venue and members of the public going about their lawful activities in the surrounding areas can do so in a safe and orderly environment,” he said.

Jatau said the visit reflected the growing cooperation between Plateau State and the Federal Government since Mutfwang joined the APC in January 2026.

“Since Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang formally joined the APC in January 2026 and was received into the party by our National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the relationship between the state leadership and the national party structure has continued to strengthen,” he said.

He listed federal interventions to include the ongoing Akwanga–Jos Road, the rehabilitation of the Sharram–Garram–Babban Lamba Road in Kanke, and the approval of the Mararaban Jama’a–Kanke–Langtang–Shendam–Ibi Road to Taraba State.

On security, he said the Federal Government had procured the surveillance cameras promised by the President, with installation expected to commence soon, and approved the recruitment and training of 1,000 forest guards.

Jatau also reeled out the achievements of the Mutfwang administration, including reduced school fees, increased allowances for tertiary students, international scholarships and N11.34bn accessed by students from 14 tertiary institutions under NELFUND.

He said the state had subsidised farm inputs, built a N590m central drug warehouse under the Drugs and Medical Commodities Management Agency to check fake drugs, and provided 30 metro buses and 20 new Sienna buses for Plateau Express Service on the Jos-Abuja route.

“These initiatives form part of the broader responsibility of government to improve living conditions, expand opportunities and ensure that the benefits of governance reach the people,” he said.