Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has commended President Bola Tinubu for his decision to visit the site of the recent brutal killings in Benue State.
However, Obi noted that while the President’s planned visit to Benue on Wednesday is a step in the right direction, it is insufficient. He urged Tinubu to extend similar attention to the victims of the devastating floods in Mokwa, Niger State, also in the North Central region.
During the inauguration of the Greater Abuja Water Supply Network on Monday, Tinubu expressed sympathy for the people of Benue following Friday’s deadly attack on the Yelwata community, which claimed numerous lives. The President announced his intention to clear his schedule to pay a condolence visit to the state on Wednesday.
Obi, who had previously criticized Tinubu for not visiting Benue or Niger in the wake of these tragedies, welcomed the planned Benue trip as a positive development. He, however, encouraged the President to also prioritize visiting flood victims in Niger 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,” Obi wrote on his X handle on Tuesday.
“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 282 km and Abuja to Mokwa is about 287 km.
“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.
“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.”