Gbadebo Rhodes‑Vivour, the 2023 Labour Party governorship candidate in Lagos, is tired of the violence, tired of the excuses, and officially done with the slow-motion response of the Nigerian government to insecurity. On Channels TV’s The Morning Brief, he delivered a hard, uncomfortable truth: if the government can’t protect Nigerians, then maybe Nigerians should be allowed to protect themselves.
GRV didn’t mince words. He pointed out that kidnappings are no longer confined to any region. In just one weekend, Kwara and Ogun witnessed fresh abductions — a reminder that insecurity has become a national pandemic. He argued that citizens lose faith in the entire system when institutions crumble, justice becomes uncertain, and security agencies fail to deliver. And when people lose trust, they naturally look for alternatives.
He drove it home with a comparison everyone understands: Nigerians didn’t wait for the government before buying generators. They didn’t sit around hoping for public water before drilling boreholes. So why should they remain defenseless when their safety is no longer guaranteed? In his view, if the state keeps failing at its most basic duty — protection of lives and property — then public self‑defense must enter the conversation. Licensing firearms, he insisted, becomes a logical, if uncomfortable, next step.
Rhodes‑Vivour also reacted to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s fiery warning — that he would storm Nigeria “guns‑a‑blazing” if terrorists overrun the country. To GRV, that statement alone exposes how deeply Nigerian leadership has failed its own people. It shouldn’t take a foreign president shouting from afar to trigger action.
He pushed for real reform: holding military leadership accountable, boosting intelligence gathering, equipping soldiers properly, improving morale, and finally confronting the shadowy networks financing terrorism. Why are terrorists always a step ahead? Who supplies them? How do they maintain their operations? GRV insists that until the government answers these questions and fixes the system, Nigeria will keep playing catch‑up.
He wrapped his message with a painful truth — Nigeria is too great, too talented, and too blessed to be waiting for outsiders to swoop in as saviors. The government must rise to the moment, or risk pushing citizens to defend themselves in ways that may reshape the nation forever.
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