Obi hails Tinubu's planned visit to Benue
Former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi has responded to President Bola Tinubu’s planned visit to Benue State on Wednesday, following the brutal killings of over 200 people last weekend.
Speaking during the commissioning of the Greater Abuja Water Supply Network on Monday, President Tinubu expressed condolences to the government and people of Benue State.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the President also confirmed the rescheduling of his official trip to Kaduna State in order to personally assess the devastating crisis in Benue.
Reacting via a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Obi thanked the President for the move and urged him to extend similar concern to Niger State, where recent flooding has claimed numerous lives.
Obi wrote: “It was refreshing news on Monday to a bewildered nation learning that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has finally decided to visit the scene of the brutal killings in Benue State. For this I thank him even as I make further request that similar gesture should be extended to Niger state that lost more number of human lives in a natural disaster, flood recently.
“Given the emergency nature of these incidents, a prompt visits would have delivered the urgency needed, instead of giving future dates that makes it look like a state visit.
“The presence of the President in these devastated and grieving communities will be very reassuring and uplifting.
“Both Benue and Niger States have lost over 200 lives each due to recent tragedies. In Mokwa alone, more than 200 people were confirmed dead, and over 1,000 are still missing following the floods. These are not just statistics; they are the lives of Nigerian families torn apart and their communities destroyed.
“The distance from Abuja to these affected areas is not far. Abuja to Makurdi is about 282km and Abuja to Mokwa is about 287km.
“Combined, that’s roughly 1,134 km for a round trip to both locations, still significantly less than the 1,870 km round trip President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa recently made some days ago from Pretoria to Mthatha to personally visit flood victims in his country.
Less than 100 persons died in Mthatha, and more than 200 died in Mokwa, with over 1000 still missing.
“If the South African President could do it, we trust that you, as our own President, can do the same for your people.”
He advised the President to let his visit to Mokwa in Niger State send a strong message that all Nigerian lives matter and that no community, no matter how rural, is forgotten.
“Let your visit to Mokwa send a strong message, that all Nigerian lives matter, and that no community, no matter how rural, is forgotten. Please also consider stepping up security across the country, especially in disaster-prone areas.
“We look forward to seeing not leadership by remote control but proactive leadership that responds not just with words, but with compassion and action,” he wrote.
