•Obi and Tinubu
Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has appreciated President Bola Tinubu for “finally deciding to visit the scene of the brutal killings in Benue State”.
The former Anambra State governor, however, said the president’s intending visit to Benue State tomorrow was not enough, adding that he should also visit the victims of devastating flood in the Mokwa area of Niger State, also in North Central Nigeria, reports Channels TV.
Yesterday, when he inaugurated the Greater Abuja Water Supply Network, Tinubu sympathised with the people of Benue State over the attack on Yelwata community on Friday which claimed scores of lives.
The president said he would clear his schedule to pay a condolence visit to the people of Benue State tomorrow.
Obi, who had criticised Tinubu earlier for failing to visit the state as well as Niger where scores died due to flooding recently, said it was refreshing that Tinubu “has finally decided to visit the scene of the brutal killings in Benue State.”
While the former governor of Anambra State thanked the president for the planned Benue visit, he urged him to make a similar trip to 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 today.
“Given the emergency nature of these incidents, 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.”
