Senator Abdul-Aziz Abubakar Yari has issued what is, by the standards of Nigerian political communication, a remarkably well-calibrated statement on insecurity. It is empathetic, non-tribal, theologically grounded, and politically careful. It does almost everything a press statement should do.

In response to a sustained cycle of violence that has claimed lives across multiple states, Yari’s appeal for national unity and collective security responsibility touches the right notes. His assertion that “terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers do not distinguish between tribe, faith, or political affiliation” is not only accurate but strategically important in a country where violence is routinely ethnicised in the public discourse before the bodies are counted.

His commendation of President Tinubu’s security apparatus is predictable from a ruling-party senator but not dishonest. The armed forces are indeed operating under enormous pressure, and reflexive condemnation without acknowledgment of institutional effort solves nothing.

Unity is not a strategy. It is a precondition. The senator from Zamfara West knows this territory better than most.