The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has slammed President Bola Tinubu over what he described as the President’s “insensitivity” to Nigeria’s worsening woes, accusing him of abandoning a bleeding nation for endless overseas trips.
In a statement on his verified Facebook page, Thursday, Obi lashed out at Tinubu for embarking on yet another foreign tour at a time when the country is facing unprecedented insecurity, hunger, and economic collapse.
“Again our President moves as the nation bleeds,” Obi began, warning that the situation of the country “in all ramifications” requires urgent, hands-on leadership, not “a virtually indifferent President who has continued to display insensitivity to our situation.”
Obi questioned why the President, who only recently returned from Brazil, is now flying back to the same country within weeks while leaving “various degrees of challenges at home unresolved.”
The itinerary, according to Obi, shows that Tinubu will depart Abuja on Thursday, August 14, for a two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil.
He will stop over in Dubai before heading to Japan for the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama from August 20 to 22.
“The itinerary is silent on the President’s return date to his visibly troubled nation,” Obi noted.
He lambasted the President for prioritising foreign engagements over domestic crises.
“Our President, who has not found it worthy to visit any of our troubled states, takes joy in travelling to foreign countries at the slightest invitation or excuse — often departing several days before the events he’s invited to,” Obi said.
Citing an example, Obi recalled Tinubu’s last trip, where he spent a week in St. Lucia before attending the BRICS Summit as an observer.
“The leaders of actual member countries who attended only arrived a day or two at most for the event,” Obi added.
Obi warned that Nigeria’s dire economic and security situation demands full, undivided presidential attention.
“We are now counted among the most insecure nations, the most fragile economies, and the hungriest countries in the world,”
“This reality demands the full attention of Mr. President… his travels should be more within our troubled states and communities.” he said.
He stressed that any international engagement deemed necessary should be brief and targeted.
“The President’s planned trip of 12 days, departing today, if necessary, should have been at most a 5-day trip, as the event he was invited to in Japan commences on the 20th,” Obi advised.
“What our nation needs now is security of lives and properties, economic stability, and ensuring that our people have food on their table,” he said.
Obi declared. “Nigeria today demands competent leadership with capacity and compassion to start dealing with the problems besetting it with the presence and sacrifice required.”
He urged Tinubu to commence state tours with the same enthusiasm he shows for jetting out of the country.
“These visits will enable him to see, listen and learn more about what Nigerians are going through,” he said, adding that Nigerians are not expecting instant solutions but “100% effort and tireless commitment.”
“Most importantly. Our President must know that he’s not a tourist, but the Chief Executive of a troubled nation. He must have consciousness, strict work schedules, and a strict travelling schedule to show that he has a troubled country to quickly return to” he con
