By Abraham Olayinka
In a controversial turn of events, President Tinubu faced severe backlash for delivering a pre-recorded New Year’s address that overlooked paying tribute to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Plateau State.
The President’s address, which aired on New Year’s Day, stirred immense criticism as it failed to acknowledge the tragic events in Plateau State, where several innocent lives were lost due to the heinous attacks.
Nigerian Journalist, Politician, Television Anchor and Newspaper Columnist, Dr. Reuben Abati speaking on Arise TV strongly condemned the President’s speech, labeling it as “dated” and a display of negligence on the part of those managing the President’s communications. Abati highlighted the absence of any reference to the Plateau killings, stressing the speech’s evident disconnection from current national realities.
According to him, “The speech delivered this morning by Tinubu, is dated. It is too obvious that the speech was recorded before he came to Lagos. Because the speech is not contemporaneous enough.”
“That I think is in itself, scandalous. It shows gross indolence on the part of those people who manage the president.
“I speak as someone who has gone through this process before. You can see from that delivery that since the speech was recorded in Abuja as I imagined, that there has been developments in the country.
“A major development would be the killings on the Plateau. That was conspicuously absent in that speech. To speak to Nigerians on New Year’s day, and not reflect his awareness and understanding of the killings on the Plateau, considering that 5 more persons were murdered in Bokkos Local Government, just shows and confirms how dated that speech is.”