Tinubu’s Jet-Fuel Spending vs. Nigerians’ Suffering: Where Is the Country Heading?

By Jamila Adamu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has spent over N630 million on jet fuel alone, just to fly to France six times in less than two years. These journeys add up to 51 days outside the country, while millions of Nigerians remain trapped in hunger, poverty, and illness.

This shocking report by WikkiTimes has sparked fresh concerns over the direction Nigeria is heading under Tinubu’s leadership. 

At a time when the inflation rate has hit 23.18%, the price of food is skyrocketing daily with a lack of basic hospital equipment; the president continues to travel abroad with little or no public explanation.

Hunger vs. Luxury:

All around the country, Nigerians are crying. From the markets to the villages, people can no longer afford a decent meal. Families sleep hungry. Children die from minor illnesses because public hospitals are underfunded and doctors are running away from the country in search of better jobs abroad.

Yet, the president’s private jet – 5N-FGA – is flying thousands of kilometres, consuming hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel, costing the country more than N630 million for just six trips. 

This amount does not even include the cost of hotel accommodation, feeding, security, or allowances for the people in his entourage.

What Are These Trips For?

Government officials say these trips are for investment purposes, official meetings, or private matters. But critics and ordinary Nigerians are asking serious questions:

Where are the results of these so-called economic trips?

What investments have come in from France?

Why is the president always flying abroad in secrecy?

There are strong rumours that some of these trips are for medical reasons. If that is true, why can’t the president be treated in Nigeria? Why are our leaders not using the hospitals they provide for the citizens?

Broken Healthcare, Broken Promises:

In Nigeria, health workers are overworked and underpaid. Our hospitals lack medical consumables, power supply, and enough beds. People are forced to sell their properties to get treatment, or worse, they die without help.

If Tinubu is flying out for medical treatment, it shows how badly our leaders have failed. The same government that cannot fund hospitals is now spending hundreds of millions of naira on fueling jets. 

Meanwhile, the poor cannot even afford to pay for transport fares to the hospital.

A President in Paris, A Nation in Pain:

With 51 days spent in Paris alone, President Tinubu has used nearly one-twelfth of his time in office outside the country. Back home, university students are out of school, electricity tariffs are rising, and fuel subsidy removal has left transportation and food costs out of reach.

The question every Nigerian is asking is; 

Where is this country heading? Are we being governed or abandoned? How can a country in a deep economic crisis afford such luxury spending by its leader?

Time for Answers, Not Excuses:

Nigerians deserve to know the full cost of these trips. We deserve to know why we are suffering as our leaders are living a good life. There must be transparency and accountability. So long as these trips have no benefit to the nation, they must be stopped.

Our future depends on how we manage our present. Right now, the present is filled with hunger, poverty and hardship. When this continues, the future will look even more darker.

President Tinubu, Nigerians and the world over are watching because this is not the type of leadership we were promised.

Jamila Adamu writes from Bauchi via  adamujamila24@gmail.com

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