By the time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu comes back from his present trip to Paris, France in a fortnight, he would have spent at least 59 days in eight separate visits to the European country since assumption of office on May 29, 2023.
France has become a destination of choice for President Tinubu, with several private, state and working visits making the country the most visited destination for the Nigerian leader.
Weekend Trust gathered that even before becoming Nigeria’s president, Tinubu had always been in love with France; that was why even as president-elect he was in France before he was sworn in on May 29.
On assumption of office, France was the first port of call for President Tinubu. The frequency of the trips to France has made Nigerians raise questions, especially when such visits have not been reciprocated by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
The latest visit
On April 2, the Presidency announced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would depart for Paris, France “on a short working visit.”
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement disclosed that the president would use the visit to “appraise his administration’s midterm performance and assess key milestones.”
He also likened the trip to a retreat, saying President Tinubu would use “the retreat to review the progress of ongoing reforms and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary. This period of reflection will inform plans to deepen ongoing reforms and accelerate national development priorities in the coming year.”
Onanuga said recent economic strides reinforced the president’s commitment to these efforts as evidenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria reporting a significant increase in net foreign exchange reserves to $23.11 billion – a testament to the administration’s fiscal reforms since 2023 when net reserves were $3.99 billion.
He promised that while away, President Tinubu would remain fully engaged with his team and continue to oversee governance activities and “will return to Nigeria in about a fortnight.”
June 2023
Before the current visit, President Tinubu had touched down in France seven times. Barely three weeks after he was sworn in on May 29, 2023, the president left Abuja for France for a two-day summit, the New Global Financial Pact summit, where he spent four days.
During his time in Paris, he joined other world leaders to review and sign a New Global Financial pact that places vulnerable countries on a priority list for support and investment following the devastating impact of climate change, the energy crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a statement by Dele Alake, the president’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, at that time, Tinubu was expected to use the visit to explore opportunities to restore fiscal space to countries dealing with difficult short-term financial challenges, specifically the most indebted.
September 2023
In September, President Bola Tinubu was in New York, USA, where he attended the United Nations General Assembly, from where he moved to Paris, France, where sources at the Presidency disclosed that he had been observing a short break. He was said to have spent about five days in France.
At the UNGA, President Tinubu condemned the spate of military coups in Africa, describing them as wrong and unreflective of collective aspirations of Africans.
President Tinubu insisted that Africa must affirm democratic governance as the best guarantor of the sovereign will and wellbeing of the people. “Military coups are wrong, as is any tilted civilian political arrangement that perpetuates injustice,” Tinubu had said in his maiden address during the general debate.
Regarding Niger, Tinubu said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was still negotiating with the military leaders.
January 2024
In January 2024, the president again travelled from Abuja to Paris in what his then spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said was a private visit.
Ngelale said President Tinubu was expected back in the country in the first week of February. The president spent 14 days in France.
August 2024
In one of his trips to France, President Tinubu also departed Abuja on August 19.
The president’s trip then came amidst the challenges between the Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co Limited over a dispute with the Ogun State Government.
The jet used by the president was one of the three presidential aircraft that was initially seized by a French court in favour of the Chinese company.
Weekend Trust gathered that the plane had arrived a day before the president’s trip to France.
A day before, a statement by the then presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, had announced that the president would embark on a trip to France on Monday, August 19, departing from Abuja.
Although the statement did not state the purpose and duration of the visit, Ngelale had said, “The president will return to the country after his brief work stay in France.”
The president spent four days before returning to Nigeria.
October 2024
In early October last year, President Tinubu had departed Abuja for a two-week working vacation as part of his annual leave.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement noted: “President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja today (October 2) for the United Kingdom to begin a two-week vacation, part of his yearly leave.
“He will use the two weeks as a working vacation and a retreat to reflect on his administration’s economic reforms. He will return to the country after the leave expires,” the statement had revealed.
However, on October 11, President Tinubu left the UK for Paris for an important engagement, according to his Senior Special Assistant on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari.
In a post on October 11, Masari confirmed on his verified X handle, @KabirIbrah64, that Tinubu was heading to Paris from the UK.
“Today, I had the honour of visiting President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (GCFR) at his private residence in the United Kingdom, where we engaged in productive discussions. We then departed for Paris, France for another important engagement,” the presidential aide posted. Masari did not however, reveal details of the Paris engagement. The president spent eight days in France before returning home.
November 2024
In November, the president was in France again, this time on a state visit with the First Lady. The visit was for three days.
The visit was at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron “ to fortify Nigeria-France relations,” the Presidency had said at the time.
In a statement entitled, ‘President Tinubu commences state visit to Paris, Bayo Onanuga, noted, “The visit aims to enhance bilateral ties, focusing on key areas, such as agriculture, security, education, health, youth engagement, innovation and energy transition. It promises substantial benefits for Nigeria.
According to Onanuga, in collaboration with President Macron, President Tinubu would address initiatives to boost youth exchange programmes and enhance skills in automation, entrepreneurship and leadership.
The visit also included strategic political and diplomatic discussions on shared values concerning finance, solid minerals, trade and investment and communication.
Additionally, both leaders attended a session hosted by the France-Nigeria Business Council, coordinating private sector involvement in economic development.
Brigitte Macron and Nigeria’s First Lady also discussed empowering women, children and vulnerable populations through Nigeria’s First Lady’s Renewed Hope Initiative.
President Tinubu and the First Lady also attended a state dinner hosted by the French president.
February 2025
Early this year, in February, President Tinubu embarked on another private visit to France. The Presidency had announced that Tinubu departed Abuja for Paris on a private visit en route to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
The president spent seven days in France before moving to Addis Ababa.
In Ethiopia, President Tinubu joined other African leaders at the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State scheduled from February 12 to 16, 2025.
Presidential spokesman, Onanuga had said that while in France, President Tinubu would meet with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron before proceeding to Addis Ababa.
If it’s not health issues, why not reflect in Nigeria – Jide Ojo
Mr Jide Ojo, a development consultant and public affairs analyst has called on the president to reflect in Nigeria instead of going outside the country if he is not actually going out for medical issues.
Ojo told Weekend Trust that just like former President Muhammadu Buhari had his physician in the UK, “I think President Tinubu’s physicians are in France and he may have been going there for medicare long before he became the president of Nigeria.”
He, however, said although this last trip was made to look like a working visit, not a few Nigerians believe it is a clever ruse meant for the president to attend to himself. He explained that on one hand, no president would sit back at home and expect manna to fall from heaven.
“You need to reach out to your counterparts across the world because a country like Nigeria needs help, which can only come from the international community. So, in a sense, it is justified,” he said.
He also said that what Nigerians would like to see was credible evidence of past visits: “How has that impacted on our gross domestic product, national income, portfolio investment from abroad, foreign direct investment from overseas? I think that’s the question the media and the civil society should be asking.”
The analyst also noted that what should be of paramount interest to us is: “If there are burning issues of national concern, should our president be seen abroad? For instance, there is a high level of insecurity in this country. Before the president travelled, the attack on Plateau happened.”
“Some world leaders will even because of that return to their country to empathise and sympathise with the victims. But we have not seen that kind of thing happen with our president. A hundred people may be killed, yet he will send an emissary to go and condole with the people.
“I think that is not good enough, even though the constitution does not compel him to go to places to mourn with the people. But under his government, you are not talking of one or two souls. You are talking of dozens of people mauled in cold blood.
“It is not out of place if the president cuts short his visit and goes to Plateau and sympathises with the people and deploys the needed resources to curtail future occurrence. That is how you know leaders who show concern, not the kind of nonchalant attitude.
“If the president is not using this visit to attend to his health, why can’t he reflect in Nigeria? They say he wants to do appraisal of his administration. Does he have to go to France to do that kind of appraisal? He can even be in his Lagos home and say he doesn’t want to see anybody. Even in his Abuja office, he can shut out every visitor and attend to issues of national importance.
“Who says we cannot even have a place like Camp David within this country that our president could go? We have the Obudu Cattle Ranch.
“In two years of the President Bola Tinubu administration, I have not seen him going to visit project sites to assess the level of work being done. That is how you know a president that is having eye on the ground; it is not what your aides are telling you. It is not what the contractors are telling you; it is what you should go and see for yourself.”
Ojo said he understood that the president is in his 70s and perhaps does not have the agility of a youth, “but he asked for this job; and people want to see and feel their president. It is not out of place for him. Even if we cannot inspect projects, what stops the president from visiting places like Plateau and Uromi and sympathise with the people following the killings there?
“I know that the reason the president went to France this time around is not entirely to do appraisal. My gut feeling is that he also went to attend to himself.
“But it is about managing information. The handlers didn’t want to say that the president would go and attend to himself so that people don’t start asking if the president is healthy. At least that speculation would not be there, but they are leaving us to speculate.
“But then you ask: why France, of all places, to go and reflect and do appraisal? Why not a state in Nigeria that is calm, where he would not be disturbed,” he added.
Tinubu should replicate world class health infrastructure in Nigeria – Osadolor
Speaking with Weekend Trust the last time President Tinubu travelled to France, Timothy Osadolor, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), alleged that many of the trips were for medical checkup and treatment. He called on the president to build world-class health facilities in the country to reduce the trips.
Osadolor said it had become open to many Nigerians that any time “the president jets out of the country, either officially or unofficially, many times it ended up being a medical trip. And it is eating into our foreign reserve and affecting our reputation as a country.
“Every year, we see the State House Clinic being budgeted for. The Ministry of Health will submit the budget, but after that, we see the president jetting out for medical assistance. At the end of the day, one is at a loss about what the issues are.
“The president was busy renovating the Presidential Villa with a huge amount of money and buying yatch. How much do we really need to equip our hospitals for the use of all Nigerians? A government that means well for Nigerians should concentrate on the economy and the health of the people.
“I know the president is of age and needs treatment from time to time, but we need to replicate the health equipment here so that Nigerians that cannot travel outside the country can be treated here. It is insensitive to abuse the privilege that God has given to him.
“He should use his opportunity to assist other Nigerians to access easy treatment at home here. Always travelling abroad at the time Nigeria is battling hunger, insecurity and poverty is not good enough.
“If the frequent travels are to market our economy, we have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that can do that. We have ministers in charge of the economy, and other experts.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the Presidency on the development were not successful as the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga could not be reached on phone. As at the time of filing this report, he was yet to reply to a text message sent to his phone. (Daily trust)
