The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s scheduled visits to Japan and Brazil, accusing him of embarking on foreign trips while the nation “bleeds.”
The New Daily Prime earlier reported that Tinubu, alongside some members of his delegation, would depart Abuja on Thursday for Brazil and Japan.
In Japan, the President is expected to attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9), scheduled to hold in Yokohama from 20 to 22 August.
READ ALSO: Tinubu to embark on two-nation visit to Japan, Brazil
After the conference, he will proceed to Brasília, Brazil, for a two-day state visit from 24 August, at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Reacting to the planned trips in a statement on his X page on Thursday, the former Anambra State governor condemned Tinubu, citing the country’s deplorable state.
He described him as a “virtually indifferent” leader who continued to show insensitivity to Nigeria’s pressing challenges.
The 64-year-old also questioned the necessity of the Brazil visit, noting that “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.”
He described the plight of citizens as deeply troubling, noting that the President, who had not deemed it necessary to visit any of the nation’s crisis-ridden states, seemed to relish travelling abroad at the slightest invitation or pretext.
“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”, Obi said.
He further stressed that the nation urgently needed security of lives and property, economic stability, and assurance that citizens could afford food on their tables.
He argued that Tinubu’s planned 12-day trip should, if necessary, have been reduced to no more than five days, noting that the event in Japan to which he was invited would not commence until the 20th.
READ ALSO: We’ll keep working together – Tinubu hints at backing Soludo’s second term
“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.”
