Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has appreciated President Bola Tinubu for planning to visit Benue State following the recent brutal killings in the state.
However, Obi urged the president to also visit Niger State, which recently experienced devastating floods that claimed over 200 lives and left over 1,000 people missing.
Obi stated that the president’s presence in these devastated and grieving communities would be very reassuring and uplifting, and that it would send a strong message that all Nigerian lives matter.
According to Obi, the distance from Abuja to the affected areas in Benue and Niger states is not far, and he cited the example of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, who recently visited flood victims in Mthatha.
Obi noted that while less than 100 people died in the South African floods, over 200 people died in the Niger State floods, with over 1,000 still missing.
Obi’s call for the president to visit Niger State comes after Tinubu sympathized with the people of Benue State over the attack on Yelwata community, which claimed scores of lives.
The president had planned to visit Benue State on Wednesday to pay a condolence visit to the people of the state. Obi’s request is an appeal to the president to extend his visit to Niger State, where the flood victims are still in dire need of assistance and support.
