Peter Obi, Labour Party's 2023 presidential candidate, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Benue State, calling it insensitive amid recent mass killings. Obi also condemned the government’s continued silence on the deadly floods in Niger State, which claimed a similar number of lives. In a statement on Thursday via his X handle, Obi challenged the nation's moral compass, accusing leaders of valuing appearances over authentic compassion. “What has happened to our compassion as a people?” he asked.
“We pleaded that the President should show leadership and visit Benue and Niger States in the spirit of deep national mourning, to offer compassion and solidarity to families torn apart by the senseless massacre and flooding that killed parallel number in Niger State.”
Instead, Obi said the visit turned into what resembled a celebratory event, far removed from the solemnity the occasion demanded. “What we saw in Benue visit was instead of a solemn, reflective visit, a display that would have been more befitting for the commissioning of reconstructed Enugu-Makurdi highway,” he said. “The President arrived not in mourning cloth but in celebratory agbada attire, like it was an occasion for joy.”
Obi also slammed the state government’s role in staging what he called a “fanfare,” declaring a public holiday and shutting schools not for reflection or prayers, but to choreograph welcome performances for the President.
“Children who should be mourning their slaughtered classmates and parents were instead lined up under the rain, rehearsed to sing and dance for the President. In what kind of country does this happen?” he asked.
He lamented the normalisation of converting tragedy into political theatre: “We have tragically arrived at a point where condolence visits have become carnivals… Precious Nigerian lives have been lost, yet we’re clapping, singing, and organizing processions, as though this were a campaign rally.”
Obi compared the Nigerian government’s response to similar incidents in other countries. “When President Ramaphosa visited Mthatha after the floods in South Africa, there were no drums. No staged crowds. No rented cheers. Just presence, silence, and action,” he said. “When Prime Minister Modi went to the site of a crash, no one lined up to welcome him. He came, he mourned, he acted.”
He lamented the normalisation of converting tragedy into political theatre: “We have tragically arrived at a point where condolence visits have become carnivals… Precious Nigerian lives have been lost, yet we’re clapping, singing, and organizing processions, as though this were a campaign rally.”
According to the former Anambra governor, the resources used for staging the Benue visit could have been better deployed in delivering relief to survivors. “The energy, resources, and logistics poured into this charade could have gone into food supplies, temporary shelters, medical aid, school support, and trauma Counselling for grieving families. Instead, we chose optics over empathy,” he said.
He warned that such insensitivity in the face of national grief was dangerous and damaging to the soul of the country. “We are not at war, yet our nation is bleeding, and we are clapping. It is not only insensitive, it is dangerous,” Obi said.
“When very sad incidents like this turn to campaign or festival, our nation is losing its soul.”
