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By Myke Agunwa, Abuja
The Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi has criticized the frequent trips embarked by President Bola Tinubu while relegating governance to unelected hands.
Pointblanknews.com reported that President Tinubu will jet out of the country on an official visit of two nations, namely Japan and Brazil from Thursday. It added that he will attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in the City of Yokohama from August 20 to 22. The President will also have a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), before proceeding to Japan.
Obi tweeting on his X handle on Thursday, said the President has displayed high level of indifference and insensitivity on the affairs of the country.
“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?”, he asked.
Obi lamented that the President has not shown enough interest in following the developments in the states as he does when it comes to oversee trips.
“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”.
He noted that while the president is globetrotting, 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,” he said.
According to him, Nigerians seek competent leadership with capacity and compassion to start dealing with the problems besetting it with the presence and sacrifice required.
“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,” he stressed.