The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed grave concern over the persistent pattern of foreign travels by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing the trend as economically wasteful, strategically questionable, and dangerously disconnected from the urgent realities confronting Nigerians at home.
HURIWA particularly expressed shock that while Nigeria is facing horrendous attacks from terrorists and bandits with over 300 citizens held as hostages of Islamic rebels in parts of North East, North West and North Central State of Kwara, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces has left to spend two weeks gallivanting around Africa and Europe attending less fancied and irrelevant functions instead of staying back to lead the counterterrorism war from the frontlines.
The rights organisation noted that at a time the nation is reeling under crushing inflation, a volatile exchange rate, rising unemployment, deepening insecurity, and widespread social discontent, the President appears increasingly preoccupied with external engagements whose benefits remain unclear, unquantified, and largely invisible to the average citizen.
A statement by Emmanuel Onwubiko. National coordinator of HURIWA, particularly questioned the policy logic and cost-benefit value of President Tinubu’s repeated overseas trips. The statement asked; “What concrete investments have been secured? What binding agreements have translated into jobs, infrastructure, or economic relief? How many of these diplomatic outings have yielded measurable outcomes capable of justifying the enormous expenditure of public funds?
“Did President Tinubu not spend days in South Africa? Why are Nigerian citizens been attacked and killed by Black South African government appears complicit in the Xenophobic Violence against Nigerians and other blacks in South Africa,” it stated.
HURIWA noted that each foreign trip undertaken by Tinubu entails significant financial implications—including the deployment of presidential aircraft, heavy security logistics, accommodation, estacodes, and large entourages—costs ultimately borne by Nigerian taxpayers already stretched to the limit.
The organisation said that in the face of subsidy removals, rising energy costs, and declining purchasing power, such expenditures are not only insensitive but indefensible.
HURIWA further said; “Even more concerning is the perception that Nigeria is gradually being governed from abroad while critical domestic challenges worsen.
“From persistent security threats across multiple regions to policy inconsistencies and economic instability, the country requires a President who is visibly present, fully engaged, and relentlessly focused on internal governance,” it said.
HURIWA noted that effective leadership, especially in times of national strain, is not symbolic, but a practical, visible, and grounded in direct engagement with the people and institutions that drive change.
It pointedly said that Nigeria cannot afford a leadership model that prioritizes international optics over local impact, just as it questioned the diplomatic reciprocity of the engagements, and asked how many world leaders have deemed it necessary to visit Nigeria in return, and what the imbalance states about the strategic value of such travels.
HURIWA explained that while it is not opposed to international diplomacy, it however, insisted that foreign engagements must be purposeful, limited, and directly tied to clearly defined national interests with verifiable outcomes.
It further said; “Anything short of this, amounts to governance by optics rather than results. President Tinubu should immediately recalibrate his approach to governance by drastically reducing non-essential foreign trips and redirecting his energy toward resolving Nigeria’s pressing internal crises.
“The country needs bold economic reforms, decisive security interventions, and coherent governance—not an endless cycle of international appearances.
“The mandate given to President Tinubu is clear: to fix Nigeria. That responsibility cannot be outsourced, postponed, or pursued from foreign capitals. It requires presence, commitment, and sustained domestic focus,” the rights group stressed.
HURIWA further said that history will judge leadership not by miles travelled across continents, but by measurable improvements in the lives of citizens, adding that at this critical juncture, Nigeria demands results—not rhetoric, not symbolism, and certainly not excessive globetrotting.
