Nigeria Needs a President, Not a Tourist - Peter Obi Blasts Tinubu
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has lashed out at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing him of neglecting Nigeria’s deepening security, economic, and humanitarian crises in favour of frequent foreign trips.
OTN News further reports that Obi who disclosed this in a strongly worded statement on Thursday, condemned the President’s decision to embark on a 12-day, two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil, with a stopover in Dubai at a time when the country is grappling with worsening hardship and insecurity.
Tinubu is scheduled to attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama from August 20 to 22.
However, Obi questioned the rationale for leaving Abuja on August 14, six days before the event begins, describing the trip length as “excessive and unnecessary.”
“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" Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor cited previous examples, including a week-long state visit to St. Lucia before attending the BRICS Summit, where Nigeria participated merely as an observer.
He contrasted this with leaders of actual BRICS member countries, who arrived only a day or two before the event.
According to Obi, Nigeria is now ranked among the most insecure nations, the most fragile economies, and the hungriest countries in the world, conditions that require the President’s full presence and decisive action at home.
“This dire reality demands the full attention of Mr. President,” Obi stressed. “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.”
He argued that where foreign trips are unavoidable, they should be kept as short as possible. “Our President’s planned trip of 12 days, if necessary, should have been at most a five-day trip,” Obi said.
The opposition figure urged Tinubu to embark on state tours with the same enthusiasm he shows for foreign travel, to directly witness the hardship Nigerians face.
“Though Nigerians know that our huge problems cannot be solved overnight, they want to see 100% effort and tireless commitment to solving them,” he said.
Obi, however, concluded with a sharp rebuke: “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,”
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