NIGERIA: Obi Slams Tinubu Over 12-Day Foreign Trip

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria

Former Anambra State governor and 2023 president candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his planned 12-day foreign trip, describing it as insensitive to Nigeria’s current challenges.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Obi said the President’s decision to embark on another round of overseas engagements while the country faces worsening insecurity, economic hardship, and hunger shows a lack of priority.

The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate noted that the trip comes shortly after Tinubu returned from Brazil.

According to the itinerary, the President will depart Abuja on August 14 for visits to Japan and Brazil, with a stopover in Dubai before attending the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama from August 20 to 22. The return date was not disclosed.

Obi argued that Tinubu has not visited any of Nigeria’s troubled states yet frequently travels abroad, often leaving several days before official events.

He recalled that during his last trip, Tinubu spent a week in St Lucia before attending the BRICS Summit, where Nigeria only participated as an observer.

The former Anambra governor said Nigeria needs the President’s presence in communities most affected by insecurity and poverty, rather than extended stays abroad.

He stressed that such visits would give Tinubu firsthand knowledge of citizens’ suffering and allow him to take decisive action.

He maintained that any foreign engagement at this time should be strictly necessary and limited in duration, suggesting that the Japan trip could have been completed within five days.

Obi added that Nigerians are not expecting instant solutions but want to see total commitment and sacrifice from the President.

He urged Tinubu to adopt a disciplined travel schedule and focus on his role as the chief executiv

e of a nation in crisis.