President Bola Tinubu remains entirely sound in health and will return home this week after a month of official leave in Europe, his media adviser Bayo Onanuga confirmed on Sunday. The presidency launched this firm defence to swat away mounting public anxiety over the head of state’s extended absence from the federal capital. Modern digital governance renders physical residency inside Aso Rock quite unnecessary during official travels, Onanuga argued. Distant screens replace physical thrones.
The commander-in-chief left Abuja on 30 August for an initial three-week holiday, splitting his overseas itinerary between private residences in London and Paris. Aso Rock officials subsequently stretched that leave schedule by several days, citing urgent investment talks with French corporate executives. During his Parisian stopover, the president helped secure a seven-billion-dollar maritime deal with global ports operator DP World to build a deep-sea port in Ogun Waterside. Private retreats yield commercial compacts.
Opposition chieftains quickly seized on the protracted holiday, branding the president’s European stay an abdication of duty while citizens battle soaring food prices and steep living costs. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar questioned whether the president formally sent letters to federal lawmakers to allow Vice President Kashim Shettima to act in his absence. Peter Obi, who ran for the presidency in 2023, openly ridiculed the choice of foreign luxury over domestic resorts while hardship bites ordinary workers. The opposition smells political neglect.
Onanuga dismissed these barbed queries as childish distractions, pointing out that regional leaders like South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also skipped this year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. Shettima led Nigeria’s diplomatic delegation to the world summit, while the president used quiet European channels to court foreign capital. Statecraft operates across multiple capitals.
The president will land in Lagos ahead of Wednesday’s 66th Independence Anniversary parade to address a restless nation. While in Lagos, he plans to attend the cinema premiere of a biographical film celebrating the late Moshood Abiola. Facing deep domestic economic distress will demand far more political courage than cutting ribbon tape for films. Hard home realities await him.