Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, describing them as insensitive at a time when the country is grappling with escalating insurgent attacks in the North and a deepening economic crisis.
Obi, who had earlier faulted Tinubu’s visit to St. Lucia last month, argued that the President’s planned visits to Japan and Brazil are a display of insensitivity to the country’s dire situation.
The Special Adviser to the President, Bayo Onanuga, yesterday disclosed that Tinubu would be jetting out of the country today to attend a conference in Tokyo focused on African development.
He will also hold bilateral meetings and meet with chief executive officers of Japanese companies with investments in Nigeria.
Onanuga also informed Nigerians that Tinubu, while in Brazil, will hold a bilateral meeting with his host and attend a business forum with Brazilian investors.
However, Obi, in a statement issued hours after the SA’s release, expressed concern that the President has not visited Nigeria’s most troubled states but has consistently prioritised foreign trips, sometimes departing several days ahead of scheduled events.
“What our nation needs now is security of lives and properties, economic stability, and ensuring that our people have food on their table,” the former presidential candidate said.
The former Anambra governor emphasised that while international engagement is sometimes necessary, such trips should be brief and productive.
According to Obi, “How can anyone explain that a President who came from Brazil recently and met with the President is returning to the same country, leaving the various degrees of challenges at home unresolved?
“The situation we find ourselves in is deeply worrisome. 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 even before the events he’s invited to.
“This dire reality demands the full attention of Mr. President, and his travels should be more within our troubled states and communities, spending time on the ground, and taking decisive action to alleviate the people’s suffering rather than these overseas conferences that contribute little or no tangible value to our nation’s woes.
“Mr. President must, as a matter of urgency, commence tours of our states with the same enthusiasm he shows for jetting out of the country every month. These visits will enable him to see, listen and learn more about what Nigerians are going through.
“Though Nigerians know that our huge problems cannot be solved overnight, they want to see 100% effort and tireless commitment to solving them.
“Most importantly, our President must know that he’s not a tourist, but the Chief Executive of a troubled nation, so he must have consciousness, strict work schedules and a strict travelling schedule to show that he has a troubled country to quickly return to.
