HURIWA Says New Presidential Jet Does Not Fit With Nigeria’s Poverty Situation

Civil Rights Advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA has flayed the move to purchase new presidential jets for the Nigerian presidential fleet as an expensive gambit at a time many Nigerians are living in squalor.

Also, the Rights group faulted the position of the presidential adviser on information and strategy Mr. Bayo Onanuga who attacked the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party Mr. Peter Obi for opposing what it described as the ill-informed, ill-timed plan to buy a new plane at a time that over 133 million Nigerians are facing hunger, massive poverty and deprivation.

The Rights group said: ” Let it be made clear from the onset that we are speaking as an independent and totally non-partisan organisation and so shouldn’t be identified as supporting either of the two parties in disagreement over the necessity or otherwise of buying a new plane for the office of Nigerian president. 

“We make haste to say the aforementioned because in Nigeria now, many small-minded, myopic and extremely divisive persons who are otherwise ‘schooled’ often misconstrue positions of CSOs or non-governmental individuals as representing those of opposition politicians.  We speak also on behalf of the suffering masses of Nigeria who have no voice in the media of mass communication”.

HURIWA recalled that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday, faulted the plan by the Federal Government to buy new aircraft for the presidential fleets.

He described the move as insensitive while Nigerians grapple with economic hardship occasioned by the Federal Government’s policies.

But the Presidency, in a swift reaction, described Obi’s comment as insensitive, wondering if he would rather have the life of the President jeopardised by flying faulty aircraft.

HURIWA described the reaction of the President’s Special Adviser on information and strategy, as highly uncouth, unsophisticated, and highly insensitive just as the Rights group said there was nothing wrong if the Nigerian president flies commercial flights during his foreign trips since even the Supreme Pontiff who is the Head of the over 2 billion strong membership and wealthy religious body: Roman Catholic Church doesn’t even have a private plane but flies often on commercial airlines. Besides,  some heads of powerful and advanced economies do take commercial flights during foreign trips.

HURIWA challenged the Presidency to do just a little research to ascertain the fact that the Pope with all his majestic authorities over a flock of 2 billion people all over the World and as the head of the Vatican city which is a Sovereignty,  but the Papacy has no private jet for the travelling conveniences of the Holy Father.

HURIWA therefore wonders what the big deal is if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu presiding over one of the poorest countries in the World with the biggest population of absolutely poor,  hungry and impoverished population,  should fly on commercial flight. HURIWA also submitted that most of the foreign trips embarked by President Tinubu are frivolous and have yet to produce any tangible benefits to the greatest percentage of thr citizens hence the president should stay more at home solving the economic predicaments his badly implemented policies have unleashed on the majority of the citizenry.

HURIWA citing authoritative information stated that the Vatican always charters a plane for the three or four foreign trips a pope usually makes every year, often using a different aircraft for each leg of the journey. These are regular commercial planes that were in use making the Rome to London run, or something like it, the day before the trip and will be again once it’s over.

The tradition is for the pope to take the Italian national airline, Alitalia, to wherever he’s going, and then fly the national carrier of that country on his return. When Francis travelled to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January, for instance, he took Alitalia to get there and Philippine Airlines to get back to Rome.

When the Pope traveled to the United States, he took Alitalia to Washington and then American Airlines the rest of the way.

Besides, HURIWA carpeted Bayo Onanuga for deploying gutter, uncouth,  unpolished and primitive diatribe against Mr. Peter Obi when he could have very well offer logical and sophisticated explanation from his official points supporting the move by the President to get a new plane but no, the power drunk Presidential Adviser opted for the deployment of street or roadside language to address such a very weighty matter.

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