President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent oversea trips have been described
by some Nigerians especially the opposition Peoples Democratic Party as
mere jamborees.
However, the senior special assistant to Buhari on media
and publicity, Garba Shehu came up to clear the air saying that the
foreign trips were necessitated by the president’s desire to block and
recover funds looted out of Nigeria but Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti
State disagreed.
On Tuesday, Fayose advised President Muhammadu Buhari
to stay at home and govern the country instead of flying from one
country to another.
President Buhari and Opposition Leader, Fayose
Fayose said conservatively, about $1 million goes into every of the
foreign trips and the way the President is going, foreign trips alone
might gulp 20 percent of the Federal Government budget and that will be
disastrous for the dwindling economy of the country.
He said that from available records, in June 2015 alone, the President
traveled to Niger Republic, Chad, Germany and South Africa. Also in
2015, the President...
travelled to United States of America in July, Benin
Republic in August, Ghana and France in September, India in
October, Iran, France and United States of America in November and in
December, he traveled to South Africa, Benin Republic, and in 2016 ,
President Buhari has travelled to the United Arab Emirate, Kenya,
Ethiopia and he is leaving for France and United Kingdom today to spend
four days abroad. He said most of these trips cost about $500,000.
The Governor added that it was even more worrisome that while the
economy is already in shamble and insecurity pervades the land with Boko
Haram burning Nigerians, including children alive in the North East,
the President is busy globetrotting.
He noted that two months out of his eight months as President of
Nigeria, have been spent outside the country, stressing that a country
like Nigeria can not progress with its president spending the better
part of his time abroad.
Fayose pointed out that foreign countries won’t solve Nigeria’s
problems, therefore it was better for Buhari to remain in Nigeria and
deal with issues plaguing us.
Do Nigerians agree with Fayose? What's your opinion?
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