Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his planned 12-day trip to Japan and Brazil, describing it as insensitive to Nigeria’s worsening security and economic challenges.
In a post via his official X handle on Thursday, Obi said the President’s frequent foreign travels showed “indifference” to the country’s pressing problems, urging him to focus more on visiting troubled states and directly addressing citizens’ concerns.
According to the itinerary released by the Presidency on Wednesday, Tinubu is scheduled to depart Abuja on Thursday, August 14, for a two-nation tour, with a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before proceeding to Japan.
He is expected to attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama from August 20 to 22, before heading to Brazil. The statement was, however, silent on his exact return date.
Obi noted that the President had only recently returned from Brazil after meeting with its leader, questioning why he would embark on another trip to the same country within weeks.
He also referenced Tinubu’s earlier week-long visit to St Lucia before attending the BRICS Summit, where Nigeria participated only as an observer.
“Our 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,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor argued that the Japan event could have been attended in fewer days, insisting that Tinubu’s extended foreign trips contributed “little or no tangible value” to Nigeria’s challenges.
He called on the President to “commence tours of troubled states with the same enthusiasm he shows for travelling abroad.”
Obi added, “Mr. 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.”
