President Bola Tinubu’s international travels and exact location have once again been a source of conjecture. Tinubu left for China on August 29, with Nigerians expecting him to make a quick stopover in Dubai. He reappeared in London on Wednesday.
He’d arrived in Beijing in the early hours of September 1. He spent the week talking and signing agreements with Chinese political and commercial leaders on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. On September 5, the President ended his formal engagements in China with a meeting with Nigerians living there. He departed China that same day.
Nigerians had not been informed of his whereabouts until Wednesday, when he paid a visit to King Charles III. According to a State House statement issued on September 6, the President requested that victims of the Maiduguri disaster be evacuated and provided with help. The statement did not specify where the President was issuing commands from.
It is troubling that citizens do not know where their President is. The office of the President is a public trust, and citizens have the right to know where the President is. Between his departure from Beijing and his arrival in London, no explanations were provided. Such evasiveness is beneath the Presidency.
While the President has been abroad, the home front has been in turmoil, with the petrol crisis lasting more than a month and flooding affecting many states, notably Borno and Bauchi. Terrorists and bandits have been causing havoc as usual. In such instances, the country’s leader must be on the ground, mobilizing support and providing solutions, rather than enjoying extended vacations.
The President should understand the gravity of his obligations. Pontificating in China about the importance of eliminating petrol subsidies as the magic wand to overcome the country’s vast infrastructure deficit while folks at home spend 16 hours in petrol queues is insensitive.
