Victor Ezeja
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 election, Mr Peter Obi has reacted to the long convoy of the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, on his way from Murtala Muhammed International Airport to his private residence in Lagos.
President Tinubu arrived in Lagos on Tuesday from his private visit to London after a successful outing at the Paris Finance Summit.
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Prime Business Africa reports that this was the first time he would be in Lagos since his inauguration as the 16th president of Nigeria. Expectedly, thousands of his supporters and political dignitaries, including the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, were on the ground to welcome him.
A video that went viral showed a long motorcade said to be that of President Tinubu on his way from the airport to his private residence. Many SUVs were seen speeding ahead and behind the president’s official car.
The video instantly drew reactions from Nigerians who frowned at such a show of opulence. While some hailed the president on his grand welcome to his home state, the Centre of Excellence, others condemned the show, when compared to the harsh realities that have seen their standard of living deteriorate as a result of the government’s newly introduced policies.
They questioned the sincerity of political leaders who have continued to urge them to make sacrifices given the hard times.
Reacting to the incident, Mr Peter Obi, who said he hasn’t seen the video declared that the current situation of the country requires that leaders must lead by example by making sacrifices in line with what they preach to the citizens.
His words: “The present Nigeria requires that all those who serve and lead must do so by example. The behaviour and their public conduct must be in consonant with what society requires today. We cannot continue to preach for people to sacrifice without sacrificing; the sacrifice must now start from the leaders, feasibly, measurably, at all times because the people are suffering, and we must now be at the forefront of the suffering.”
Also, commenting on the president’s convoy saga, a former Senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, in a tweet on Thursday, said the display doesn’t show seriousness on the part of leaders in the pledge to cut the cost of governance.
He wrote “The Video of the Presidential Convoy with close to a hundred vehicles in motion doesn’t show seriousness in the pledge to cut the cost of Governance. We are not a rich Arabian Gulf Country. We are a developing African country.
A human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, in a tweet, questioned the rationale behind the long convoy when Nigerians are grappling with the effect of subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.
“Why does the president of the poverty capital of the world need to ride in a 120-car convoy and the same people remove subsidy, asking the poor to make sacrifices?,” Adeyanju tweeted.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
