The flagbearer of the Labour Party during the 2023 Presidential Election, Peter Obi, has once again criticised President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Saint Lucia and described it as ill-timed.
Tinubu arrived in Saint Lucia on June 29 for a week-long state visit. Obi had criticised the President’s trip and called it a leisure visit. Following this, a presidential aide, Fredrick Nwabufo, knocked Obi for his remarks and called him a tragedy connoisseur.
Two days after the exchange between the duo, Obi issued another statement, reaffirming his position on the President’s trip.
In the statement, the former Anambra governor highlighted the country’s numerous challenges as the basis for his disapproval of the President’s visit.
Obi described Nigeria as a country of titles and honours where people are being killed at home and where children cannot go to school because some teachers have not received salaries.
He questioned the timing of Tinubu’s visit, adding that no substantial agreement or partnership has been announced to benefit Nigeria’s development since the President’s departure.
“Having been in St. Lucia for the past four days, we have not seen any agreement being entered or signed that would contribute to Nigeria’s development.
“Rather, we are watching Mr. President collect a personal honour and title in St. Lucia, because they know we are a country of titles and honour and crave accolades instead of actual development,” Obi noted.
Obi also lamented the series of attacks that have claimed the lives of Nigerians in recent times, including the reported killing of at least 37 people in Yobe State in a Boko Haram attack, as well as the teachers’ protest in Kwara State.
“Today alone, several teachers are protesting in Abuja, our schoolchildren are still out of classrooms, teachers are unpaid and are currently protesting even while the president was receiving a title, families are fleeing their homes, and people are living in fear.
“During the period the president has travelled, 200 Nigerians have died in various crisis-related incidents across the country. Russia, a country at war, has not lost as many innocent civilians as Nigeria, which is not officially at war,” he added.
He also accused the President of being disconnected from the people, noting that aside from attending a wedding in Katsina and residing in Lagos, Tinubu has not slept overnight in any Nigerian state for official reasons.
Obi also urged Tinubu to be present as Nigeria grapples with numerous crises.
“A nation in pain cannot afford a leadership in denial. At a time when blood is being spilt on our soil, when children are orphaned and communities erased overnight, with families separated at IDPs, our children are not in school, and teachers are not paid and basic hospitals are not functional, our leadership must be present.”
