Tinubu’s curious romance with France|Mike
Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, is seriously in love with someone or something in France. It may not be a lady because his beautiful wife, Remi Tinubu, is enough for him. Though the object of this love affair is not certain, it is obvious that since he assumed office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu has officially visited that country for six times.
His image makers will always tell us that he has gone for either private or working visit. In less than one month after his inauguration as President, precisely on June 20, 2023, Tinubu embarked on a working visit to that European country. On January 24, 2024, he went for a private visit. On August 19, 2024, he went for a brief work stay. He visited France again in October 2024 from the United Kingdom where he had gone for a two-week vacation. We were told he attended an important engagement there.
On November 27, 2024, he went for a state visit on the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron of France. On February 6, 2025, he was in Paris for a private visit.
Last Wednesday, April 2, 2025, he again jetted out to France. In a statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the working visit would be for 14 days. During the visit, Tinubu will appraise his administration’s midterm performance and assess key milestones.
“He will also use the retreat to review the progress of ongoing reforms and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary,” Onanuga stated. According to him, Tinubu will remain fully engaged with his team and continue to oversee governance activities.
Outside France, the Nigerian President has reportedly undertaken 29 foreign trips to 19 countries in less than two years in office. In a report in October 2024, Sunday Punch noted that in their 17 months in office, Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima undertook 41 trips across 26 countries. According to the report, the two leaders collectively spent 180 days or six months on foreign engagements. Tinubu alone reportedly stayed 124 days abroad, and accumulated over 127 flight hours.
The President has variously visited France, United Kingdom, United States, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Qatar, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, The Netherlands, Benin Republic, Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Senegal.
These visits were ostensibly to foster international relations and attract foreign investments. At some point, he and his deputy were out of the country at the same time. Between October 17 and 19, 2024, the President was away in France while Vice-President Shettima was in Stockholm, Sweden, for bilateral talks.
This proclivity for travelling abroad has been the stock-in-trade of our past presidents. In his first term in office, former President Muhammadu Buhari visited not less than 33 countries. His Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, told Nigerians that a leader could govern from the air, on the road or at the sea.
He said Buhari’s trips had attracted many countries and major corporations like Siemens, Toyota, Hyundai, and General Electric which were committed to investing billions of dollars in Nigeria. Ironically, foreign direct investment, which was $3.4 billion in 2015 when Buhari came to power, reportedly fell to $1.9 billion in 2018. In Buhari’s first term in office, foreign portfolio investors pulled out N1.87 trillion assets from Nigeria.
As for Tinubu, he started travelling to different countries purportedly to seek foreign investors even as President-elect in 2023. Many Nigerians suspected that such trips, especially to France, could be for medical reasons.
Certain media reports had alleged that Tinubu went to France then to boost his health in preparation for May 29, 2023 inauguration. He had reportedly travelled to the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine for medical check-up. When he returned from France then, pictures of him with what was suspected to be Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) attached to his upper arm went viral on social media. PICC is a medical device inserted through a vein in the arm and used to give medications or liquid nutrition. The PICC showed when he raised his hands as he was speaking with journalists upon his return from France.
The official explanation then was that he had travelled to fine-tune the transition plans and programmes, and his policy options with some of his key aides; and that this was to avoid unnecessary pressure and distractions.
The recent trips could be a continuation of the medical check-ups. But his media aides say otherwise. Nigeria is a country where opacity thrives in official quarters. This is despite the fact that the President is there at the behest of the people. Hence, the presidency is bound to disclose every detail about the President’s movements. Telling us he went for a private or working visit is not enough. This gives room for speculations.
In the twilight of Buhari’s administration, the Federal Government commissioned the Presidential Wing of the State House Medical Centre. The then President’s wife, Aisha Buhari, said she initiated the project in 2017 when her husband spent three months abroad for medical treatment. As she put it then, “Yes, this one is for the health and wellness of the First Family. They don’t need to go abroad now. They only need to maybe fly in experts to help our people. There would be no need for any leader to spend months and months abroad all because of health care.”
So, how many times has the current first family enjoyed this wonderful health facility that cost the nation N21 billion? How many other health facilities has this administration built to take care of the health issues affecting Nigerians? The answer is blowing in the wind.
As our President keeps junketing abroad for one reason or the other, we ask, how many Presidents have visited Nigeria? President Macron of France who constantly plays host to our President first visited Nigeria in July 2018 as President. He only stayed two days and discussed security and economic matters with the then President, Buhari. He has not visited again since then.
Nigerian leaders’ frequent foreign trips have cost the country fortunes. Among others, money has been spent on aviation fuel, aircraft maintenance, airport taxes, allowances for his entourage and crew, feeding and so on. A civic tech platform, GovSpend, stated that Tinubu spent at least N4.3bn on local and foreign travels within six months of his assumption of office. This, GovSpend noted, amounted to over 36 per cent (N2.49bn) of the amount budgeted for 2023.
This is amid the economic crisis that has crippled our country. Cost of living is so high. Many companies are running at a huge loss. Some have shut down operations. The rate of unemployment has continued to soar. From less than N500 per dollar in early 2023, exchange rate has climbed to over N1,500 to a dollar today.
The prices of fuel and other essential commodities have continued to skyrocket. Before this administration came to power, fuel sold for about N185 a litre. Today, it is over N900 a litre. In some places, it is over N1,000 a litre.
Apparently in recognition of the hardship in the country, Tinubu, last year, approved that huge security delegations that could attract massive bills in estacode and duty allowances should no longer follow him from Abuja during his local travels. Has this changed anything?
What Nigerians need from Tinubu is full disclosure of the real reasons for his travels. If it’s on health grounds, we will pray for him and urge him to utilize the world-class health facility in the Presidential Villa. Alternatively, he could build sophisticated medical centres in different parts of the country. This will stem the exodus of our leaders to France and other advanced countries for medical treatment.
If it’s to attract foreign investments, Nigerians will want to know how many of these investors have invested in the country and the worth of such investments. If it’s to appraise this administration’s midterm performance and assess key milestones, we will point out wonderful places where such a retreat could take place in Nigeria. Our leaders should learn to be transparent and accountable in everything they do. They can’t continue to spend public funds as if it’s their personal money. That nonsense should stop.
Credit:The Sun