June 30, (THEWILL) — The Presidency on Sunday tackled critics of President Bola Tinubu’s 2-Day stopover visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, en route to Brazil to participate in the 17th Summit of BRICS in Rio de Janeiro, describing it as historic and strategic.
Providing clarification, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, said that from the “perspective of the Government of Saint Lucia, the visit by the Nigerian leader paves the way for the rekindling of our ancestral bonds, igniting a new era of diplomatic, cultural and economic possibilities between our nations.”
Leading the pack of critics at the weekend, ex- presidential candidate and Labour Party leader, Mr. Peter Obi, described President Bola Tinubu’s trip to Saint Lucia, as insensitive and needless in the face of what he described as mounting insecurity and increasing hardship in the country, which demands urgent and persistent attention of the government.
Taking to his X account on Saturday, Obi had said, “I was struggling with my senses to understand what is happening to governance in this country. What I have seen and witnessed in the last two years has left me in shock about poor governance delivery and apparent channelling of energy into politics and satisfaction of the elite, while the masses in our midst are languishing in want. In the past two years, Nigeria has lost more people to all sorts of criminality than a country that is officially at war.
“With such a gory picture of one’s country, you can imagine my bewilderment when I saw a news release from the Presidency announcing that President Bola Tinubu is departing Nigeria today for a visit to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean.
“I didn’t want to believe that anybody in the position of authority, more so the President… would contemplate a leisure trip at this time.
“This is a President going for leisure when he couldn’t visit Minna, Niger State where over 200 lives were lost and over 700 persons still missing in a flood natural disaster.
“In the other state in crisis where over 200 lives were murdered, the President yielded to public pressure and visited Makurdi for what turned out to be a political jamboree than condolence as a public holiday was declared and children made to line up to receive him. Yet, he couldn’t even reach the village, the scene of the brutal attack.”
Onanuga, however, said the criticisms were incorrect and mischievous.
According to him, like many Caribbean nations, Saint Lucia has a significant population of African ancestry, dating to the mid-19th century when a wave of immigrants from present-day Nigeria arrived in Saint Lucia, bringing with them cultural and religious practices that persist to this day.
“Citizens of Saint Lucia are excited that President Tinubu has chosen to visit the island. They long to strengthen their bonds with African nations with which they share ancestral links. Saint Lucia is the headquarters of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the gateway to the 15 CARICOM member states. The CARICOM states have a combined GDP of over $130 billion, a significant figure in South-South trade discourse,” Onanuga said.
On the cultural importance of the visit, Onanuga stated that Nigeria and the citizens of the Caribbean have strong people-to-people links.
He said, “Sir Darnley Alexander, a Saint Lucian-born jurist who died on February 10, 1989, served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1975 to 1979. He first came to Nigeria in 1957, recruited as a legal draftsman by the Western Regional Government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He became the acting Director of Public Prosecutions in 1958. In 1960, he was appointed Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the Western Regional Ministry of Justice. In 1964, he was appointed a judge in the Lagos High Court. In 1969, the defunct South Eastern State appointed him the chief judge.
“He later became the Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1975, succeeding Sir Teslim Olawale Elias. Sir Darnley was born in Castries, the capital of this Island state, in January 1920. He held multiple honours: QC, CBE, GCON, and SAN.
“Another Lucian, Neville Skeete, an architect, contributed to the design of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s corporate headquarters.
“Additionally, Sir Darnley Alexander’s son, Michael, served as a medical doctor on the frontline in the Nigerian Army during the tragic civil war.”
For strategic reasons, Onanuga continued, President Tinubu’s visit aligns with Nigeria’s Four D’s foreign policy framework, namely Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography.
He said that Nigeria actively fosters cultural exchange through collaboration in education, culture and heritage preservation in areas such as Afrobeats, Nollywood, and literature exports, which are already making a significant impact on Saint Lucia and the wider Caribbean, enriching our shared cultural landscape.
“President Tinubu’s scheduled visit to Sir Arthur Lewis Community College underscores our commitment to strengthening educational partnerships. The presence of Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (TAC) officials in the delegation further demonstrates our dedication to fostering knowledge exchange and growth. TAC provides technical assistance to African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. This assistance is delivered through the deployment of Nigerian professionals to recipient countries to address specific needs,” he said, adding that the visit will also provide President Tinubu the chance to interact with the Nigerian Community in Saint Lucia during a reception that will be hosted by the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip Joseph Pierre, at his official residence, further strengthening the ties between the two nations.
“Since gaining independence in 1979, Saint Lucia has hosted fewer than 10 official state visits. The last visit by an African Head of State was by President Nelson Mandela in July 1998, during the 19th CARICOM Heads of Government Summit. Therefore, President Tinubu’s 2025 visit, 27 years later, is a historic diplomatic milestone,” the presidential spokesman said.
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