Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has slammed President Bola Tinubu over his planned 12-day trip to Japan and Brazil, branding it as insensitive and ill-timed considering Nigeria’s worsening security and economic situation.
The president’s itinerary, announced on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, indicates that Tinubu will depart Abuja on Thursday, August 14, for a stopover in Dubai before proceeding to Yokohama, Japan, to attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) from August 20 to 22.
He is expected to visit Brazil thereafter, but the official schedule does not indicate his return date.
Peter Obi, in a statement on his X page on Thursday, expressed concern that Tinubu was leaving the country again, barely weeks after returning from Brazil, at a time he said “the nation bleeds”.
The statement reads: ” Again, our President moves as the Nation bleeds. Amid the deplorable state of our nation in all ramifications, we have a virtually indifferent President who has continued to display insensitivity to our situation.
“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 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.
“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.
“In his last trip, for instance, he had a one-week State visit to St lucia before attending the BRICS Summit, where Nigeria was merely invited as an observer, though the role was dressed up as “partner” to the invitation, which was more significant. The leaders of actual member countries who attended only arrived a day or two at most for the event.
“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.
“Our 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.
“Nigeria today demands competent leadership with capacity and compassion to start dealing with the problems besetting it with the presence and sacrifice required.
“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.”
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