Since Kenya's William Ruto and Nigeria's Bola Tinubu became presidents, they have faced similar criticism over their frequent trips abroad.

The two men have been the subject of unflattering descriptions - the costs associated with their alleged penchant for air travel often contrasted with tough economic conditions at home.

A Kenyan newspaper, the Standard, nicknamed Mr Ruto the "Flying President". It said "so great is his love for flying that it appears that he cannot pass up any opportunity" despite pressing domestic demands, such as dealing with the high cost of living.

Last month, as Mr Tinubu made yet another trip to Europe, Nigeria's opposition leader Atiku Abubakar said on social media that Nigeria does not need a "tourist-in-chief". He criticised the president's private visit "while Nigeria is drowning in the ocean of insecurity".

This in some ways can be seen as a cheap shot, easily levelled by any critic. Presidents need to attend heads-of-state meetings and nurture foreign relations. This is important not only for diplomatic reasons, but also economic ones, as lucrative investment deals can be negotiated.

But some have pointed out that late Tanzanian President John Magufuli never travelled outside Africa in his six years in office.

'Personal glorification'
Kenyan foreign policy analyst Prof Macharia Munene acknowledges that some trips are necessary but says others are undoubtedly "wasteful".

"You have presidents who love to be in the air... Some of these trips are personal glorifications, not so much for the country," he told the BBC.

Mr Ruto and Mr Tinubu and their spokespeople defend their trips as being vital to help address the very problems they are accused of ignoring.

In the eight months since his inauguration, Mr Tinubu has made 14 trips - an average of just under two a month - but this is dwarfed by Mr Ruto, who has made about 50 journeys abroad since he became president in 2022 - averaging more than three a month.

In comparison, Mr Ruto's predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, averaged just over one foreign trip a month in his decade in charge, similar to the record of Nigeria's previous president, Muhammadu Buhari, although in terms of total days spent abroad, the difference is not that much.

Other world leaders have also notched up the air miles, but Mr Ruto and Mr Tinubu face continued questions over whether every trip is necessary.

The Nigerian and Kenyan leaders were both in Europe at the end of last month - Mr Ruto in Italy attending the Italy-Africa summit while Mr Tinubu was continuing his unexplained "private visit" to France, the third time he has been in the country since last May. Since then, Mr Ruto has been on other trips.

In June 2023, just three weeks after assuming office, Mr Tinubu travelled to Paris for a two-day climate summit. He had already been there months earlier "to rest" and plan the transition shortly after being elected president.

From Paris he went on to the UK for private talks with his predecessor, who had also travelled to "rest" after the elections. A week later, Mr Tinubu went to Guinea-Bissau for a meeting of West African bloc Ecowas, followed by a trip to Nairobi.

In August he visited Benin, and in September India, the United Arab Emirates and the US for the UN General Assembly before returning to Paris.

He was home for the whole of October before resuming travels with a trip to Saudi Arabia, then Guinea-Bissau and Germany at the end of November and a week later travelled to Dubai.

The Nigerian presidency has said the trips are important for attracting foreign investment.

"On every foreign trip I have embarked on, my message to investors and other business people has been the same. Nigeria is ready and open for business," President Tinubu said in his 2024 New Year message.

Mr Ruto's travel schedule since his inauguration in 2022 has been even more hectic.

Between September of that year and last December he had travelled abroad at least twice every month. In May 2023 he made five trips. He has travelled to various African countries, Europe and the US for global events and bilateral meetings.

Other world leaders have also notched up the air miles, but Mr Ruto and Mr Tinubu face continued questions over whether every trip is necessary.

The Nigerian and Kenyan leaders were both in Europe at the end of last month - Mr Ruto in Italy attending the Italy-Africa summit while Mr Tinubu was continuing his unexplained "private visit" to France, the third time he has been in the country since last May. Since then, Mr Ruto has been on other trips.

In June 2023, just three weeks after assuming office, Mr Tinubu travelled to Paris for a two-day climate summit. He had already been there months earlier "to rest" and plan the transition shortly after being elected president.

From Paris he went on to the UK for private talks with his predecessor, who had also travelled to "rest" after the elections. A week later, Mr Tinubu went to Guinea-Bissau for a meeting of West African bloc Ecowas, followed by a trip to Nairobi.

In August he visited Benin, and in September India, the United Arab Emirates and the US for the UN General Assembly before returning to Paris.

He was home for the whole of October before resuming travels with a trip to Saudi Arabia, then Guinea-Bissau and Germany at the end of November and a week later travelled to Dubai.

The Nigerian presidency has said the trips are important for attracting foreign investment.

"On every foreign trip I have embarked on, my message to investors and other business people has been the same. Nigeria is ready and open for business," President Tinubu said in his 2024 New Year message.

Mr Ruto's travel schedule since his inauguration in 2022 has been even more hectic.

Between September of that year and last December he had travelled abroad at least twice every month. In May 2023 he made five trips. He has travelled to various African countries, Europe and the US for global events and bilateral meetings.

This year, in January, he has been in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Italy. And already this month, Mr Ruto has been to Japan and the UAE.
There is not just the question of frequency, but also the question of cost.
Mr Tinubu is said to have spent at least 3.4bn naira ($2.2m; £1.8m) on domestic and foreign travel in the first six months of his presidency - 36% more than the budgeted amount for 2023, the Nigerian newspaper Punch reported, citing GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks government spending.
In Kenya, the Controller of Budget, an independent office that oversees government spending, showed a significant increase in the office of the president's travel expenditure in the year to July last year - which included nine months of Mr Ruto's presidency.
Overall spending for both domestic and foreign travel for the year was over 1.3bn Kenyan shillings ($9.2m; £7.3m), exceeding the travel budget for the previous year by more than 30%.
The Kenyan government spokesman did not respond to the BBC's questions about Mr Ruto's trips, though the president and the spokesman have often justified them.
Mr Ruto himself has said he does not "travel like a tourist" and the trips are necessary to get foreign investment and create employment for Kenyans abroad - he recently said he had secured more than 300,000 job opportunities through negotiations.
After the recent trip to Japan, Mr Ruto said he had secured deals worth more than $2.3bn.

While stressing the benefits of the presidential trips, both Nigeria and Kenya have also taken some action to counter the criticism of government employees travelling abroad.
Kenya said it had cut its civil service travel budget by 50% in the wake of accusations of "wastage" on domestic and foreign trips. But this does not seem to have affected the president himself, who has said he will not shun trips as long as they are beneficial.
Last month, the Nigerian president announced a reduction in the official travel delegation by about 60%. The directive announced by his spokesman Ajuri Ngelale included cutting down the president's own travel entourage, but did not say whether he would cut the number of his trips.
Yet is not just Kenya and Nigeria where the cost of travel has been a concern.
As Congolese citizens prepared to go the polls last year, one of the criticisms of President Félix Tshisekedi was the number of trips he had made, with allegations that there was little to show for it.
Last November, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera suspended all international travel for himself and his ministers, and ordered all those abroad to return due to the economic problems the country was facing.
Some other countries that have also had to address travel spending by government officials since last year include Uganda, The Gambia, Namibia and Sierra Leone, with the leaders of the latter two labelled by local newspapers the "flying president" - just like Kenya's Mr Ruto.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68201964

Meanwhile seyi Tinubu has told his kinsmen from SW to endure, while he himself is eating more than 5 square meals a day, flying jets to any part of the world back to back.

The guy is mocking his kinsmen in SW who are starving of hunger. This is just the beginning of suffering pro Max. SW and north go see shege banza!

Interesting times we live in. dollar 500 Naira 2 years ago, 600 Naira before tinubu became president less than a year ago, almost 2k now, wow.

BallisticToto:
Interesting times we live in. dollar 500 Naira 2 years ago, 600 Naira before tinubu became president less than a year ago, almost 2k now, wow.

The us dollar is not almost 2k now.

we told all who cared that Tinubu is nothing but a mere criminal. I no put water for mouth.

In countries like Singapore people like Buharo, Tinubu and Femi Gbaja would have been flogged naked for ruining the country.

it's a pity


Godsmiracle Ibitayo

This man has now exported his foolishness abroad. Very mumu person..

Just making hard very hard for ordinary Nigerians.

Im a business man and Dr. And if i am complaining, then what hope does the poor have.

My wife weekly pay for housekeeping has increased to 60k per week for i and the kids. Thats excluding other expenses i make on my own..just becos of these politicians that have no empathy for their people.

Imagine someone with no job and with mouths to feed. Garri is not even cheap.

Tinubu is a failure. His only chance is to peg the naira on 1500 for there to be stability in the country. Business can't even plan. Even worse are people importing or exporting goods..

Floating the currency is not a good idea for now.

I just weak for the wickedness of the man

I regretted voting Tinubu as President, obviously hrs overwhelmed and confused at the same time, he should resign immediately to avoid being disgraced and ousted by the military

BAT is a flying animal so u guys should relax

The black man seem not to understand that leadership is servanthood.

The pecks of office makes them puff with arrogance forgetting that it takes just a stroke or a heart attack to reduce them to nothing.


Our presidents have made it their preoccupation to globe trott instead of attending to the demand of their electorates and country.

That's how one of our past leaders misunderstood king Charles jabs on "If he had a house in London". The man was practically governing the largest black nation on earth from his country at tax payers expense and he saw nothing bad about it.

BigBlackPreek:
I regretted voting Tinubu as President, obviously hrs overwhelmed and confused at the same time, he should resign immediately to avoid being disgraced and ousted by the military

While your regret is commendable, the consequences are now here for us all to bare, and no military will save you from such consequences. And while we can hope you'd be more diligent in exercising your right to vote in future, I guess we must first teach you to be responsible for your own errors and for fixing them yourself instead of hoping military be your god of salvation.

Lolz,African flying Bats.

As a yoruba man, I love the way my kinsmen are regretting voting this manequin as president, Tribalism and religion has really do us harm than good. Me and my boss nearly traded blows while arguing on Tinubu matter. I really detest this man, in saner climes he should never attempt nearing a polling booth talkless of contesting, shouting emilokan up and down clueless with nothing upstairs. Its just a matter of time, God will strike him the Abacha way, this suffering is damn too much.

This is the Ruto some souls are worshipping in Nigeria. I sat with some Kenyans in the US and they were complaining bitterly about Ruto’s government.

BigBlackPreek:
I regretted voting Tinubu as President, obviously hrs overwhelmed and confused at the same time, he should resign immediately to avoid being disgraced and ousted by the military

Don't you ever get tired of regretting in voting in old ,frail and senile leaders! even when it's obvious they are weak,old and cannot function properly! Hope you know that 8yrs of our lives in Nigeria have bern mortgage under this clueless man, whom you once saw as your saviour!
You saw an Osibanjo but you BAT supporters demonised this man and kicked aside to embrace an old confuse Tinubu. Tinubu has nothing to lose anymore, becos he has fulfilled his life time ambition of becoming the president of Nigeria .. now, who are now the losers now ! You and I, whose lives are being subjected to hardship and misery for other 8yrs. By 7yrs time , how old will you be !
Pls , we must do away with this disease of blind loyalty and tribalism and put on our discerning hat to vote In a good leader in Nigeria
Let's us stop playing Jogba with our lives . We don't that so many years to gamble with.

hybrid77:
This man has now exported his foolishness abroad. Very mumu person..

Just making hard very hard for ordinary Nigerians.

Im a business man and Dr. And if i am complaining, then what hope does the poor have.

My wife weekly pay for housekeeping has increased to 60k per week for i and the kids. Thats excluding other expenses i make on my own..just becos of these politicians that have no empathy for their people.

Imagine someone with no job and with mouths to feed. Garri is not even cheap.

Tinubu is a failure. His only chance is to peg the naira on 1500 for there to be stability in the country. Business can't even plan. Even worse are people importing or exporting goods..

Floating the currency is not a good idea for now.

I just weak for the wickedness of the man

During the 2023 election campaign period, I told some Tinubu supporters that Tinubu is very wicked and heartless, they thought I was saying it just because I hated Tinubu...

A man who bragged on national TV about bringing Buhari to power and supported him for 8 years with all the damage Buhari did to Nigeria just because he wanted to be president....

Children were killed, made orphans, families were wiped out, communities were wiped out, businesses shut down, economy nosedived, insecurity grew and so on, all Tinubu was concerned about was his presidency, so even if Buhari had a 3rd term he would have still supported him to complete it.

And his supporters cheered him and called it politics, I was shocked because I expected them to be angry that he is bragging that he played politics with people's lives.

I told them, what Tinubu is indirectly telling you is all that happened to Nigerians throughout Buhari's 8 years was worth his ambition, the people that died, the businesses that were lost and so on was worth his ambition.

Second time was his wife, there was an incident that Boko haram beheaded over 100 rice farmers or so in Borno, there was an old man Boko haram did not kill but they made him watch about 10 of his sons beheaded in front of him.

The issue caused uproar in the nation at the time, Senator Smart tried to raise a motion in the senate asking them to do something about Buhari and the insecurity and immediately senator Remi shouted him down and asked him if he is opposition, all because of the same presidency her husband wanted. So they rather watched the country burn than do anything to help Nigerians that will truncate their ambition...

How then do their supporters think that the same people will have sympathy or empathy on them, To Tinubu anything that will affect his presidency he is not ready to touch it, it was the wreckage of Nigeria by the Buhari government that made him president and some people expect him to make adjustments to what made him president, even now what he is indirectly telling Nigerians is whatever any person in Nigeria is going through is worth his presidency.

I played my own part during the election, I had some sleepiness nights making arguments to prove Tinubu was the wrongest person for presidency.

Can we switch presidents? Give us Ruto and take Balablu to Kenya.

Stargangz:
As a yoruba man, I love the way my kinsmen are regretting voting this manequin as president, Tribalism and religion has really do us harm than good. Me and my boss nearly traded blows while arguing on Tinubu matter. I really detest this man, in saner climes he should never attempt nearing a polling booth talkless of contesting, shouting emilokan up and down clueless with nothing upstairs. Its just a matter of time, God will strike him the Abacha way, this suffering is damn too much.

Mirrors my own interaction with a friend before the 2015 elections, who didn't want to listen to reason and insisted Buhari was a better option than GEJ......and dude is Igbo like me!! We almost came to blows as well! Now he doesn't argue with me when we discuss anything Nigeria....dude don humble!