Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has publicly criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for embarking on a leisure trip at a time when Nigeria is grappling with deepening insecurity, hunger, and grief.
In a personal message shared via his official X account on Saturday, Obi described Tinubu’s trip to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean as poorly timed, considering the urgent and dire situation at home.
“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock,” he wrote, adding that the nation is suffering from “poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elites.”
Obi Questions Tinubu’s Priorities
Obi said he had initially dismissed reports of the Caribbean trip as false. He found it unbelievable that a sitting president, who just returned from a Lagos holiday, would consider another break while the country was bleeding.
“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President, would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” he stated.
He expressed frustration that the president had not visited flood-ravaged Minna, Niger State, where over 200 people reportedly died and hundreds more remain missing. “What kind of tragedy must occur before the President shows physical sympathy?” Obi asked.
Leadership, Absence, and a Nation in Pain
The former Anambra governor said Nigeria has lost more citizens to violence and hardship in the past two years than many countries at war.
“Without any twilight, Nigeria ranks among the most insecure places in the world. Nigerians are hungrier, and most people do not know where their next meal will come from,” he wrote.
Obi also recalled Tinubu’s belated visit to Makurdi, Benue State, after another mass killing. According to him, the visit was more spectacle than substance. “Children lined up to welcome the President who couldn’t even visit the village where the massacre happened,” he lamented.
Obi Paints Stark Contrasts Between Nigeria and Saint Lucia
Obi noted that Makurdi and Minna—both scenes of recent tragedies—are significantly larger and more populated than Saint Lucia, the Caribbean island where Tinubu is vacationing.
“Makurdi is over 59% bigger than Saint Lucia. Minna is ten times its size. Minna has over 500,000 people. St Lucia barely has 180,000,” Obi pointed out.
To him, such comparisons are not mere statistics but illustrations of misplaced priorities. He believes Nigeria’s current condition demands urgency and presence—not detachment and comfort.
A Nation Desperate for Empathy
Obi described the administration as being dangerously out of touch. He accused the federal government of favouring the elite while neglecting the growing population of the poor.
“This regime has repeatedly shown its insensitivity and lack of passion for the populace,” he wrote. “This very obvious indifference should urgently be reversed.”
He added that rather than rest, Nigeria’s leadership should be begging God for more hours in a day to tackle the mountain of challenges facing the nation.
“The resources of this country belong to all, not to a few,” Obi declared. “The time has come to put a stop to this drift before it consumes all.”
Tinubu Arrived in St Lucia For State Visist
President Tinubu has arrived in Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia, marking the first leg of his two-nation trip to the Caribbean and South America.
He arrived on Saturday at 5:30 pm local time, at Hewanorra International Airport, and was accorded full military honours.
He was received by the Governor-General of Saint Lucia, Cyril Errol Melchiades Charles, and Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President will kick off the state visit on Sunday by paying courtesy calls to the Governor-General and Prime Minister Philip Pierre.
He will address a special joint session of the Senate and the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia on Monday, at the William Jefferson Clinton Ballroom, Sandals Grande, Gros Islet.
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That man is not in this job to serve this country. He like galvanising to other countries. 😄😄😄