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The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent trip to Saint Lucia, calling it “ill-timed” and “insensitive” given the escalating insecurity and economic hardship in Nigeria.
The trip, announced on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, is aimed at deepening Nigeria’s diplomatic ties with Caribbean nations and strengthening South-South cooperation. Following the Saint Lucia visit, President Tinubu is also scheduled to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In a strongly worded statement titled “No, Mr President, This is Not the Time for Holidaying”, Obi expressed disbelief that the President would embark on what he described as a leisure trip while the country grapples with worsening insecurity, economic distress, and governance failure.
“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President, on whose table the buck stops in this country… would contemplate a leisure trip at this time,” Obi stated.
He lamented what he described as two years of poor governance, increasing elite-driven politics, and disregard for the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.
“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock… while the masses in our midst are languishing in want,” he said.
Obi pointed to the alarming levels of insecurity across the country, noting that more lives have been lost to crime in recent years than in some countries actively engaged in war.
“With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria… for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean,” he added.
Obi’s statement has sparked fresh debate over the priorities of the current administration, as critics continue to question the timing and value of the president’s international engagements amid pressing domestic challenges.
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