Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to embark on a trip to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia at a time he says Nigeria is “gasping for breath” under the weight of insecurity, hunger, and government insensitivity.
In a statement shared on X on Saturday, Obi expressed shock over what he described as the “utter lack of empathy” by the Tinubu-led administration, accusing it of prioritizing the comfort of the elite while millions of Nigerians wallow in extreme poverty and despair.
This trails Friday’s announcement of the President’s itinerary of a planned two-nation visit to Saint Lucia and Brazil.
“His first stop is Saint Lucia, where he will pay a state visit as part of efforts to deepen Nigeria’s engagement with Caribbean nations and strengthen South-South cooperation. At the end of the visit to the island State, President Tinubu will fly to Brazil to participate in the 17th Summit of BRICS in Rio de Janeiro, During the visit to Saint Lucia, President Tinubu will pay courtesy calls on the Governor-General, His Excellency Cyril Errol Melchiades Charles, and Prime Minister Philip Pierre,” the presidency stated on Friday.
“No, Mr. President, this is not the time for holidaying,” Obi declared, questioning the moral and political rationale behind Tinubu’s departure from Nigeria for what the Presidency described as “official engagements and private leisure time” in Saint Lucia.
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“What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock about poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elites, while the masses in our midst are languishing in want,” Obi lamented.
His reaction follows an official statement by the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, who confirmed earlier in the week that Tinubu’s visit would span both official activities on June 30 and July 1 and personal vacation days thereafter.
Obi, however, said the timing of the trip is not only tone-deaf but also deeply insensitive, especially in light of recent tragedies within Nigeria.
“This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna, Niger State, where over two hundred lives were lost and over 700 persons still missing in a flood natural disaster,” Obi said. “I wonder which type of incident will happen before a President is attracted to show physical sympathy to the distressed citizens.”
He also recalled the President’s controversial visit to Makurdi, Benue State, where more than 200 people were reportedly murdered in violent attacks.
“Even that visit was more political than consolatory,” he noted, adding that it felt like “a political jamboree” rather than a genuine show of compassion, especially as schoolchildren were lined up to receive the President while he failed to visit the actual site of the killings.
Comparing the locations, Obi mocked the irony of Tinubu choosing to visit a small Caribbean island over much larger and more populated Nigerian cities in distress. “Makurdi is 937.4 km², which is over 59% bigger than St Lucia, which is 617 km². Minna is 6789 square kilometres, which is ten times bigger than St Lucia,” Obi pointed out.
“St Lucia, with a population of 180,000, is less than half of Makurdi’s 489,839, and Minna, with 532,000, is almost three times the population of St Lucia.”
Obi questioned the President’s priorities, insisting that leadership at such a critical time demands full attention to urgent national matters, not vacationing.
“I don’t think the situation in this country today calls for leisure for anybody in a position of authority, more so the President, on whose desk the buck stops,” Obi stated.
“This regime has repeatedly shown its insensitivity and lack of passion for the populace, going by the way it prioritises the rich and shows indifference to the poor.”
The former Anambra governor warned that the ongoing disregard for the plight of everyday Nigerians could have dangerous consequences if not immediately addressed.
“This very obvious indifference of the federal government to the suffering of the Nigerian poor should urgently be reversed. One had expected the President to be asking God for extra hours in a day for the challenges,” Obi said, adding, “But what we see is a concentration of efforts in the 2027 election and on satisfying the wealthy while the mass poor continues to multiply in number.”
In his final appeal, Obi urged leaders at all levels of government to recognize that Nigeria’s abundant resources are meant for the benefit of all citizens, not just a privileged few.
“The time has come to put a stop to this drift before it consumes all and focus on pulling people out of poverty,” he warned.
President Tinubu’s camp has yet to issue a response to Obi’s remarks as of press time.
However, according to political analysts, the backlash underscores growing public frustration over the federal government’s perceived neglect of domestic crises in favor of political indulgence and foreign escapades.
