Killings: ‘Lack of empathy,’ Obi knocks Tinubu for not visiting Benue

Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has berated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for failing to travel to Benue state in the wake of recent tragic events that claimed hundreds of lives.

Obi on Monday on his X handle, said that true leaders show care and support by being present when people are suffering.
He lamented that after nearly 200 people died in flooding in Niger State and over 200 were killed in attacks in Benue State, President Tinubu did not visit either location to show he cares.

He said leadership of a nation is such that it’s either succeeding or failing, none can be hidden.

SPONSOR AD

“There are critical areas of leadership that must exist for a nation to move forward, and these are summed up in four Cs: Competence, Capacity, Character and Compassion. Where these four are non-existent, there is no magic you can do.
“It’s in this line that I have always maintained that we must move away from voting based on tribe and religion, and begin to vote for people with competence, capacity, character, and compassion, because we have all seen, painfully, what leadership without these qualities has done to our country.

“Sadly, the evidence is right before our eyes. Recently, we witnessed severe flooding in Niger State that claimed nearly 200 lives, with many still missing. Yet, not even a single presidential visit, this, in a nation where the scene of the tragedy is less than an hour away by helicopter.

“Just days ago, over 200 Nigerians, innocent men, women, children, and even soldiers were massacred in Benue State. Again, no presidential visit. No physical presence at the scenes of pain. No genuine national mourning. No leadership face to comfort the grieving or give hope to the people,” Obi said.

He said that yet, it has been seen what true leadership looks like elsewhere.

He said, “In India, after a plane crash killed nearly 200 people, the Prime Minister was physically at the scene within hours.
“In South Africa, when floods claimed 78 lives, the president went personally to the affected communities, stood with them, and took responsibility.
“That is leadership with compassion. That is leadership that understands the value of human life. But here in Nigeria, we have normalised leadership without empathy, without accountability, and without a human face.”

Obi said that this was why he insists that Nigeria does not just need another president; but a leader with competence, capacity, character, and compassion, warning that until Nigeria choose leaders on these principles, the cycle of pain will only continue in the country.