- Obi said the incessant globetrotting of Tinubu smacks of insensitivity to the plight of suffering Nigerians and must be reduced.
Former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, has decried the frequent foreign trips of President Bola Tinubu, describing them as worrisome.
Obi said the incessant globe-trottings of Tinubu smacks of insensitivity to the plight of suffering Nigerians and must be reduced.
He stated that Tinubu is always eager and enthusiastic to attend events in foreign lands, even when he does not need to, but has not deemed it important to visit Nigerians who are battling with one form of existential crisis or another.
“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?” Obi queried in a statement he issued on Thursday.
He noted Nigeria’s security and economic challenges are at an all-time high and need a focused and selfless president who is always on the ground to tackle them.
“The latest itinerary of the President shows he will depart Abuja on Thursday, August 14, for a two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil.
“The President will stop over in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before proceeding to Japan. In Japan, President Tinubu will attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in the City of Yokohama from August 20 to 22. The itinerary is silent on the President’s return date to his visibly troubled nation.
“Nigeria’s insecurity situation, economic hardship, and human suffering have reached their peak. We are now counted among the most insecure nations, the most fragile economies, and the hungriest countries in the world. 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. And where the trip is necessary at all, it could be attended in just a few days rather than indulging in prolonged, unnecessary absences from a country that requires 24/7 attention.
“What our nation needs now is security of lives and properties, economic stability and ensuring that our people have food on their table.”
He implored Tinubu to commence a tour of the entire country to feel the pulse of the nation and witness first-hand what Nigerians are facing.
“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,” Obi opined
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