In response to the widely shared video of President Bola Tinubu’s lengthy convoy in Lagos on Wednesday, Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi said leaders who ask followers to make sacrifices for a better Nigeria must also set an example by doing the same.
He did so in light of the outrage being felt by Nigerians over Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s “outlandish display of power during a recent visit to Lagos State.”
Speaking yesterday at the funeral Mass for the late Dean Emeritus of the ministry, the Most Reverend Maxwell Anikwenwa, who passed away at the age of 83, at St. Faith Cathedral, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Awka, Obi emphasised the need to lower the cost of governance.
However, the former governor of Anambra State, who claimed he had not seen the motorcade’s viral video, called the development absurd.
He said: “I haven’t seen the video you’re talking about, but let me tell you what I’ve always said: In the current Nigeria, everyone who serves and leads must set an example for others to follow.
“Those who serve must behave and act in a way that is consistent with the standards set by the modern society. You cannot keep urging people to make sacrifices while not making any yourself.
Because the people are suffering and we all need to be at the forefront of the suffering, the sacrifice must always begin with the leaders in a visible, quantifiable way.
“He is not just a pastor of God, but a great Nigerian, who contributed to this country beyond his pastoral work in building a better Nigeria,” Obi said in his eulogy for the late cleric.
He works to promote good governance, a better Nigeria, and other causes. The number of people attending his burial today does not surprise me because he was a great Nigerian and Igbo man.
In a statement released by the Obi-Datti media organisation and signed by Diran Onifade, it was recalled that more than two weeks prior, during his Democracy Day address, the President had urged Nigerians to make greater sacrifices in light of the removal of the fuel subsidy, which had not only increased the price of petrol but also caused higher prices for other goods and services.
The Obi-Datti Media, along with many Nigerians whose sense of decency has been offended by Asiwaju Tinubu’s unbridled tendency to flaunt power and position, joins our presidential candidate in calling attention to the hypocrisy in Tinubu’s action.
“For a man who promised to reduce the cost of government, to be travelling in an overstuffed convoy of security details and aides, speaks volumes of his ‘do what I say and not what I do’ attitude,” one observer said.
