Human rights lawyer and African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s ongoing state visit to the United Kingdom, calling it a “diplomatic excursion” that offers little tangible benefit to Nigeria.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Sowore suggested that the trip—Tinubu’s first official visit to the UK in nearly four decades—may be partially motivated by the president’s health, noting that he has not travelled in about a month.
“These visits are nothing more than diplomatic excursions. Perhaps the president will also see his doctors,” Sowore said, questioning the real returns of such high-profile trips.
The activist-politician argued that the fanfare surrounding Tinubu’s visit masks a lack of concrete results for Nigeria. “Beyond the fanfare you are seeing on TV, it’s not bringing anything to Nigeria that Nigeria cannot get or should not have,” he said.
Sowore also challenged the Tinubu administration’s justification for the president’s foreign travels since assuming office in May 2023, which are officially aimed at attracting investment. He insisted that no meaningful results have emerged and described the trips as a costly exercise.
“The cost of these travels is far more at the end, outweighing whatever we come from the so-called investment they claim is going to happen. If you have it right, investors will come to your country. You don’t need to travel,” he said, adding that Nigeria is “just burning fuel in the air with our aircraft.”
Highlighting the economic impact of Nigerian entertainers abroad, Sowore noted that musicians often generate more revenue for the country through foreign tours than presidential visits. “Sometimes, some of these our musicians who go and perform in the UK bring more money into the country than when the president travels to the UK or anywhere,” he said.
President Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu arrived at London’s Stansted Airport on Tuesday, with the visit including meetings with King Charles III and bilateral talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Comments