A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Tuesday, took a swipe at President Bola Tinubu, describing the President’s planned state visit to the United Kingdom on the heels of renewed bombings in Maiduguri, as “callous, indefensible and morally bankrupt.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Frank said the coordinated explosions that ripped through Maiduguri on Monday evening – including near the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the main market and the post office – exposing civilians to mass casualties – are “a tragic, blood-soaked verdict on a failing security architecture.”
Quoting official figures, he said no fewer than 23 Nigerians were killed and over 100 injured in the attacks blamed on suspected suicide bombers, warning that the country is “bleeding while its leadership is distracted.”
“This is not just another attack – it’s a national emergency,” Frank declared. “Our people are being slaughtered, our soldiers are under relentless assault, yet the President is preparing for a ceremonial outing in the UK. That’s not leadership; that’s abdication of responsibility.”
He demanded the immediate cancellation of the UK trip, insisting that any departure from Nigeria at such a moment would amount to “a cruel abandonment of grieving citizens.”
“No responsible leader boards a plane to wine, dine and dance when his country is burying its dead,” he said. “A President with empathy goes to Maiduguri, not London. He stands with victims, not with banquet hosts.”
Frank widened his attack to the British government, accusing it of “staggering hypocrisy and moral blindness” for extending the invitation in the first place.
“The UK is not ignorant of Nigeria’s reality,” he said. “It knows about the escalating insecurity, the mass unemployment strangling millions, and the catastrophic electricity crisis that has crippled industries. “It’s also aware of deepening concerns over democratic backsliding – a National Assembly and judiciary many believe have been weakened and silenced, and a political system tilting dangerously towards a one-party state.”
“Yet, in the face of all this, Britain rolls out the red carpet. That’s not diplomacy – it is complicity. It’s a celebration in the face of tragedy.
“It’s also aware of growing concerns about the state of democracy, including allegations that Nigeria is drifting towards a one-party system under Tinubu, with both the National Assembly and judiciary weakened and silenced.”
Frank said the timing of the visit sends “a dangerous and insulting signal” that Nigerian lives are expendable and governance failures can be overlooked for the sake of ceremonial photo opportunity.
He added: “We challenge the UK to provide ten reasons that justify this honour at a time like this. To many Nigerians, this invitation appears to be a subtle endorsement of a second term, despite widespread concerns about governance and the credibility of the last election.”
Drawing comparisons, he noted that if a similar level of violence occurred in the UK, its leaders would very much suspend ceremonial engagements and focus on national security.
He also condemned what he described as an “obscene and indefensible convoy of power” accompanying the President, calling it proof of a government “detached from pain and addicted to excess.”
