‘Excuses Don’t Heal Wounds’ — Peter Obi Blasts Tinubu for Skipping Yelwata Massacre Site over ‘Bad Roads’

Peter Obi has lashed out at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he calls a disgraceful failure to visit Yelwata, Guma LGA of Benue State, where over 200 Nigerians were brutally massacred by suspected armed herdsmen on June 14, 2025. While Tinubu visited Makurdi on June 18, he skipped the blood-soaked village citing “bad roads” — a justification Obi slammed as both insulting and emblematic of disconnected leadership.

The former Anambra governor took to Facebook on June 19 to express outrage, stating that real leadership demands presence and sacrifice, not excuses. “You don’t lead from behind or from Abuja. You lead from the front — especially in tragedy,” Obi wrote. “Yelwata needed comfort, not logistics excuses. Nigeria needed compassion, not cowardice.”

Obi questioned how a president who oversees the nation’s road infrastructure could blame those same roads for his absence. He pointed out that even if the roads were indeed damaged, helicopters from Nigeria’s presidential air fleet could have reached Yelwata in under 20 minutes from Makurdi. “Were they out of fuel or out of compassion?” he asked rhetorically.

Eyewitness reports from Yelwata painted a horrific scene: burnt homes, mass graves, and children orphaned overnight. Survivors had waited for the President’s arrival with hope — a hope dashed by a motorcade that never came. Critics say Tinubu’s refusal to stand among the grieving families reflects an increasingly aloof presidency.

Beyond symbolism, Obi stressed the national security implications of such negligence. “If the Commander-in-Chief cannot access vulnerable citizens in need, then Nigeria has lost more than lives — it has lost faith in leadership,” he warned. “Those bad roads are the same roads that farmers, school children, and pregnant women use every day without sirens or escorts.”

This latest critique intensifies pressure on Tinubu’s administration, already battling accusations of incompetence and rising insecurity. Civil society groups have demanded an independent probe into the Yelwata massacre and called for immediate rebuilding of roads and resettlement of displaced villagers. Yet, no presidential directive has followed — only silence.

Obi ended his statement with a rallying call: “A New Nigeria will never rise on a foundation of excuses. It must be built on presence, empathy, and courage.” His comments have since gone viral, with thousands echoing his call for accountable leadership in the face of national tragedy.