Stop governing Nigeria by remote control, feel the people’s pain – Peter Obi to Tinubu

Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to end what he described as “governance by remote control,” urging the President to travel across the country and directly experience the struggles of ordinary Nigerians.

Obi made the statement while assessing the Tinubu administration’s performance over the past two years. In his critique, he expressed deep concern over what he views as the growing disconnect between government policies and the harsh realities faced by citizens.

At a press briefing in Abuja to mark the 12th Democracy Day titled: ‘Democracy in Decline Reflecting on Two Years of Tinubu’s Governance’, Obi gave low ratings to the handling of governance in the last two years.

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Obi said that a lot is going wrong and called on the President to note that “Governing by remote is not what Nigerians need, you need to go round and get firsthand” percent President should stop touring outside Nigeria and use his remaining 2 years to tour the Nigerian states instead.

He said: “Mr. President you have already made over 30 international trips, spending nearly 150 days abroad. If you tour Nigeria’s 36 states and dedicate just 2 days to tour each state, it would take only 72 days for you to do so, less than half the time you have already spent in other areas of the country on foreign trips. You need to go around the country to see.

“Today, more than 18.3 million Nigerian children are out of school, the highest number in the world. The quality of education in Nigeria is also deteriorating rapidly. Many of our children are being taught sciences without any science labs and computer studies without any computers.

“Students are now writing WAEC and other national exams in the dark, relying on candles. There are now even glitches in their exams.”

On healthcare services,Obi said, the situation has worsened drastically as “the National Primary Health Care Development Agency decried that less than 20% of over 30,000 Primary Health Care Centres across the nation are fully functional.

He added: “I have even, recently visited some Health centres where delivery rooms were without toilets. The United Nations recently reported Nigeria as the world’s worst country to give birth, with one death recorded every seven minutes” Ditto Nigerian businesses that have continued to collapse at alarming rates.

“Within the past two years, approximately 7 million Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) shut down across Nigeria. Over 80 manufacturing companies have permanently closed their operations.

“Funding costs, including the cost of raw materials and energy, have surged to an incredible level, forcing these manufacturers to shut down.

“Over 15 major multinationals (including GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Procter & Gamble, and Shoprite) have exited Nigeria due to the harsh operating environment”

He said that the hunger crisis arising from food insecurity has deepened in these 2 years. Based on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, Fulgaria’s hunger situation has taken a hit, as we are now one of the hungriest countries in the world. “Millions can no longer afford food due to the high costs of food and nonexistent disposable income.”