As the furor against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 120-car convoy continues to gather steam, notable law teacher and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor Ernest Ojukwu has described the enormous motorcade as “an eyesore.”
Teacher as he is popularly called made a post on his Facebook page titled: DEFENDING THE PRESIDENT’S CONVOY. It reads:
“That convoy even if only 60 cars (and not 120 as estimated by opponents of the President) and all privates and friends cannot be defended. We should not just make it a point to defend everything concerning President TINUBU. That convoy is as an eyesore as that video of numbers of mobile policemen accompanying a VIP to slaughter a cow inside his own premises. That President TINUBU’s Convoy sends a wrong signal on governance- by an uncontrollable mob of palace sycophants! Good citizens will do better by sending advice to our President to take charge of the orderliness and decency around him. It is even in his and our Nation’s security interest.
Ernest Ojukwu (Teacher)”
President Bola Tinubu arrived in Lagos State on Tuesday from his private visit to London after a successful outing at the Paris Finance Summit.
The PUNCH reports that it was the first time he would be in Lagos since his inauguration as the 16th president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and expectedly, thousands of his supporters and political dignitaries, including Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu were on the ground to give him a state welcome.
However, what should have been a “quiet” arrival, quickly became a spectacle of some sort with the long motorcade that followed the president to his new private residence.
In a video that surfaced online, which was captured by a roadside admirer, multiple SUVs were seen speeding ahead and behind the president’s official car.
The video immediately drew reactions from Nigerians who frowned at such a show of opulence, while many masses have seen their standard of living erode as a result of the government’s newly introduced policies
First, human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, in a tweet, questioned the rationale behind the long convoy when Nigerians are groaning under the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
He wrote, “Why does the president of the poverty capital of the world need to ride in a 120-car convoy and the same people remove subsidy, asking the poor to make sacrifices?”
In the same vein, another tweep, @OpeBee said such a display of convoy shows the insensitivity of political office holders to the hard times currently faced by Nigerians
“I feel very constrained to speak out on issues like this. Yesterday it was the speaker with 34 aides; today it’s the opulent display of convoys. You can’t ask the masses for austerity and live ostentatiously. I personally would not support any policy that further inflicts pain,” he lamented
He further declared that Nigerians will be forced to resist any further pain as a result of new policies if the government won’t cut down on waste, asking what sacrifices are they also making in this austere period.
“If the government will refuse to cut down on “these excesses”, the masses must be ready to resist any further pain that speaks insensitively to their plight. Our leaders must lead by example.
“What are the sacrifices our leaders are making or willing to make in this painful and austere period? I am listening, someone should please educate me,” he asked.
Meanwhile, in contrary reactions, some Nigerians urged others not to be hard on the president, saying not all the cars in the convoy belonged to him.
A tweep @nut_joshua argued other political dignitaries also joined in the convoy.
“Well, It’s wasteful. But I’m not sure the convoy is for him alone. The convoy of top officials that went to welcome him was probably added.
Even POTUS alone doesn’t use 120-car convoy”, he tweeted
Watch the video.
