Once upon a time, a leader was said, metaphorically, to live abroad if he was indifferent to the challenges of his followers or if his policies were out of sync or kilter with reality.
Fast forward to an embattled Nigeria in the modern era, in which Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu holds sway. The President could be said, literally, to live abroad. And one could, sadly, be right on target.
Since his advent to the presidency, nearly two years ago, President Tinubu has travelled, on “private” or “working visits” to France a record eight times. By the time President Tinubu returns from his on-going visit, meant to “appraise his administration’s midterm performance and to assess key milestones”, he would have spent a total of fifty-nine days in France alone. Of course, apart from France, he has junketed around the globe in a phantom, some would argue, quixotic quest for Foreign Direct Investments(FDIs).
Although in the aftermath of some of these junkets, the presidency has attempted to defend them by graciously announcing some accruals, these FDIs have at best been niggardly, tentative and promissory. We are yet to be impacted by them.
Many have speculated that these sorties to France are occasioned by medical tourism. If it were so, the anxiety of Nigerians would have been significantly assuaged. After all, the President is but human. He is therefore susceptible to frailties which other mortals are liable. Besides, his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, had sought medical help abroad. In the time he did, he leveled with Nigerians.Consequently, Nigerians empathized with him. They prayed, fervently, for the former president’s swift recovery. And the Almighty mercifully granted their prayer.
But since the presidency has not been forthcoming as to why Chief Tinubu frequents France, other than some arcane appraisal of government policies, ordinary folks are left with no choice than to resort to conjectures, including the most lurid and outlandish.
What is worrisome about our president’s frequent “working visits” is that they have not been reciprocated by his host, President Emmanuel Macron. Neither have we sighted any senior French official(s) receiving our President. What this optic or lack of it suggests is that our president’s visits are purely private rather than official.
Apart from the fact that these visits bear a private coloration, it is crucially important to note that no serious leader has embarked on a “working visit” to these parts or climes. Not Donald Trump. Not Xi Jinping. Not Sir Keir Starmer. Not Vladimir Putin. And not even Emmanuel Macron.
In more serious jurisdictions, when their leaders retreat to reflect and hone their policies, they do so in the confines of their countries. They retreat to a camp or a sea-side resort. They take advantage of their serene and placid ambience. They also do so immersed in the challenges and contexts which they intend to address.
Their patronage of these camps/resorts serve as promotions or endorsements. They confer the presidential imprimatur. They encourage government and corporate organizations to patronize them. On the watch of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’adua, not a few organizations patronized the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State. This is because these two former presidents set the pace by holding retreats there. The government of Cross River State was, by this presidential gesture, encouraged to put the Ranch in the finest order.
By visiting France, and on a frequent basis, our president projects that country as a go-to tourist destination and a Mt Olympus of sorts. By the same token, by shunning his country, he de-markets it. He casts it, wittingly or unwittingly, as some backwater and back foot. These visits speak volumes as to his patriotism or lack of it.
But more worrisome is that in the course of this latest “working visit” when the country, from center to circumference, was in turmoil, as evidenced by the genocidal killings and abductions in Plateau, Benue, Kebbi and Katsina States, and the alarm raised by the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, that Boko Haram was launching a come back, the president elected to stay put in France.
One would have thought this loss of precious lives was enough to prompt the president to cut short his stay in order to attend to what occasioned them. As the president of the Federal Republic, he is Nigeria’s motivator-in-chief as well as its mourner-in-chief. Depending on the circumstance, the president is expected to exude these qualities: To engender hope when there is despair and to comfort the nation in its moment of sorrow. Alas, in spite of these deaths running into not less than one hundred and fifty, Chief Tinubu was unmoved, bar some vexatious statements issued by his aides. His refusing to cut short his visit demonstrates, crystal clearly, a lack of pathos and a withering disdain for his compatriots.
Given our security infrastructure in which the Police, Department of Security Services, the Army, Navy, and Air Force report to and take orders only from the Commander-in-Chief, our Governors are Chief Security Officers of their States only in name. They are but glorified and helpless window dressings. This is because even if they give any orders, none of the aforementioned armed forces will either take or countenance them.
Cognizant of this, the president ought to have carried himself responsibly by cutting short his visit in order to take charge and to address the resurgence of insecurity in the country. To insist that some helpless Governor should address forthwith the grim security situation in his state when he is bereft of the power or authority to do so is to pass the buck. It also gives the impression that the president does not care for the country or its beleaguered citizens.
Arising from the foregoing, Nigerians must begin to ask themselves a number of cogent questions. Did Chief Tinubu acquire the presidency oblivious of its onerous responsibilities, including to safeguard the lives and properties of all Nigerians? Did he contest the presidency out of some juvenile fascination with its grandeur? Did he acquire the presidency merely to trifle with it and to luxuriate in its sumptuous perks and appurtenances? Was his obsession with power merely to acquire it for its sake? What is power if it cannot be deployed to make a consequential difference in the lives of Nigerians and to impact positively on them?