Presidential candidate for the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s latest vacation plans, accusing the country’s leader of “holidaying while Nigeria burns.”
Obi, known for his calm yet piercing criticism, tweeted on his X handle @PeterObi, that he was “struggling with his senses” over what he described as an alarming governance gap in Nigeria—one that prioritises elite comfort and pre-2027 politics over the urgent needs of the suffering masses.
Obi’s alarm bells rang louder after a press release confirmed President Tinubu’s departure to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean for a mixture of “official engagements and private leisure.” Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre, had already broken the news at a pre-cabinet press briefing, noting that while two days of the trip (June 30 and July 1) are marked for official duties, the rest would be for “personal vacation.”
This didn’t sit well with Obi.
“I told the person who drew my attention to the Caribbean story that it cannot be true,” he lamented. “The President is just coming back from a holiday in Lagos!”
Obi questioned the morality and timing of such a trip, especially as thousands of Nigerians grapple with hunger, displacement, and unrelenting violence. He reminded the nation that over 200 lives were lost in recent flooding in Mokwa, Niger State, and more than 700 people remain unaccounted for—with no visit or condolence from the Commander-in-Chief.
As Obi put it, “This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna… I wonder which type of incident will happen before a President is attracted to show physical sympathy to distressed citizens.”
He also referenced a previous visit to Makurdi, Benue State, where another 200 lives were claimed by violence. That visit, Obi observed, turned into a “political jamboree,” complete with public holidays and school children lining up to welcome the President—who never made it to the affected village.
Never one to shy away from metaphorical comparisons, Obi juxtaposed the sizes of the locations involved: Makurdi is 59% larger than Saint Lucia, and Minna dwarfs the island nation in both land size and population.
“So why is St. Lucia worth the trip, but Nigerian disaster zones are not?” Obi asked, indirectly but rhetorically.
While the President’s supporters might argue that rest is important, Obi insists that now is “not the time for leisure.” He warned that the regime’s clear prioritisation of the rich over the poor is dangerous and unsustainable.
“One had expected the President to be asking God for extra hours in a day,” Obi quipped, “but what we see is a concentration of efforts on the 2027 elections and satisfying the wealthy while the mass poor continues to multiply.”
The former Anambra governor concluded with a familiar refrain, both a warning and a vision: “The God-given resources of this country belong to all, not to a few… A new Nigeria is POssible.”
As Nigerians digest Obi’s stinging commentary, one can only hope the breeze in Saint Lucia doesn’t drown out the cries from Minna.
