By Jonathan Nda-Isaiah
— Dec 7, 2015 4:43 am | Leave a comment
Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari came under heavy criticisms from Nigerians, especially those on the social media over his recent foreign trips. JONATHAN NDA- ISAIAH reports on the importance of the trips

In the past few weeks, the media, social media have been awash with criticisms against President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s recent trips to Iran, Malta, France and South Africa. The President has been nicknamed ‘Baba Waka Waka’ and ‘Ajala the traveller’ on the social media because of the foreign trips he embarked on recently.

Last week, an Sms and BBM message which was being circulated read thus: ‘Breaking News, Buhari to visit Nigeria soon’. Some Nigerians have been criticising the foreign trips by the President on the ground that with the persistent fuel queues, the bombings on the rise and lack of economic directions so far, the president should be in the country tackling those challenges rather than fiddling like Emperor Nero, while Rome was on fire.

But the the president responded to the criticism last week in a piece by Senior Senior Special Assistant On Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu. In the article titled ‘The President Trips Are Not For Enjoyment’, Shehu recalled that President Buhari came into office under the mantra of change. And to effect that change, he said, While Nigerians are yearning for the change, there was need for someone to set up the infrastructure, both at home and abroad for it. “President Buhari is busy doing that.The change is manifest in where he visits and what he does”, he argued.

He further explained that in public diplomacy, experts say that it is better conducted through face-to-face interaction than through third parties, adding that this is even more so at the level of heads of state. The presidential spokesman said “do it by proxy is to miss the effect of fostering strong interpersonal relations between leaders, by which nations benefit”.

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