The return of Tinubu: What next?

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the Regent of France for practically 5 days! That was an unusual accomplishment.

At the end of his regency reign in France, Tinubu got home with what history will maintain for generations yet coming as ‘American Bubble’. This is because by the time the future generation will read the event of how their President was deserted in Paris by the host President, the 3 American business that our President offered the country’s mineral resources to would have triggered Nigeria an unmatched catastrophe.

We will deal with that currently. Initially, let us check out the insults Tinubu got on our behalf when President Emmanuel Macron left his visitor in Paris and took a trip to New York, United States of America, to go to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Every visitor needs to understand when the celebration is over for him. The senior citizens of Yorubaland amongst whom President Tinubu numbers, state tí baálé ilé bachelor’s degree ti ńfi àpárí isu han àlejò, òwe ilé tóó lo ni (when the head of a home starts to reveal the visitor the distal end of a root of yam, a smart visitor must understand that the time to go home has actually come). How did President Tinubu miss out on that?

The very first puzzle for me here is what was on President Tinubu’s mind when Macron revealed that he would be taking a trip to New York to participate in the 81st UNGA? Did our President feel insulted? Did he take option to his Yoruba principles? Did he keep in mind the above phrase of our seniors? Or did he simply feel it is regular in the diplomatic world for a host president to desert his visitor and take a trip out of the nation?

Once again, while Macron was away, what was our President carrying out in Paris? How comfy was he, understanding that his host president had left him behind to go to UNGA and forecast the capacity of his nation while he, the visitor, remained in one corner, waiting patiently for the owner of your home to return?

What occurs to our nationwide self-respect? Would any foreign President have accepted that from Tinubu? Would President Macron have consented to that demeaning plan if the reverse had held true?

Why do we constantly export the incorrect mindsets to the remainder of the world? How do we inform our kids this story of the President of the most populated Black Nation being dealt with like an undesirable visitor in France without sounding ridiculous to the young folks?

Before Mr President left the coasts of Nigeria, and while the preparations for the 81st UNGA session remained in leading equipment, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jimoh Ibrahim, happily informed us that Tinubu would be having an extraordinary warm welcome with President Donald Trump of America.

Here him: “… President Tinubu will be sitting extremely, extremely near Donald Trump in the front row of the United Nations General Assembly, that you obtain from me. Do not ask me how that was set up, however he will be sitting. The President of Nigeria will be being in the front row. And he’ll be speaking at a time when Nigeria will not be sleeping …”

Quickly afterwards, the narrative altered. We were informed that though President Tinubu would remain in the UK and other European nations for his ‘yearly working getaway’, he would not be going to UNGA once again however would be represented.

Simply as we will ask: As how now, Ibrahim dropped the most evasive reason to validate the 3rd successive lack of Tinubu at UNGA sessions. According to him, over 60 percent of participants would be represented by deputies or ministers.

His argument: “If the speaking list is 90 percent President, obviously, perhaps the President can come. If the list is 60 percent ministers, I do not believe that the President can come and be where his equivalent is a minister of Foreign Affairs of another nation.” Sufficient.

In the thinking of our UN Permanent Representative, is it demeaning for President Tinubu to being in UNGA with ministers of Foreign Affairs of other nations. It is befitting for our President to be disposed in Paris while President Macron jetted out to New York to participate in the exact same UNGA session?

And to believe that Ibrahim is inhabiting that very same excellent seat as soon as filled by terrific minds like Jaja Wachukwu, Chief Simeon Adebo, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, General Joseph Nanven Garba, Professor Agboola Ibrahim Gambari, Professor Joy Ogwu, Tijani Muhammad-Bande; Emeka Anyaoku.

One starts to question what the remainder of the world feels about Nigeria. While Macron was hectic predicting his nation to the remainder of the world, Tinubu, who remained in France on a ‘working getaway’, was left in Paris by his expected host-President. Our President did not enable the chance to go unutilised.

American football READ ALSO: Tinubu gets here in Lagos after ‘working holiday’ abroad

Simply as the President’s media handlers informed us that the digital transformation has actually made it possible for their principal to run from anywhere, Tinubu purchased his agents at the 81st UNGA session to sign a $700bn mineral wealth with 3 American business: Vermeer Corporation, Renewvia Energy Corporation and Terra Industries. The 3 US-based business would be associated with expedition of our mineral resources such as iron ore, tin, lithium and gold.

That was not all. Being the wise Alec that he is, Macron did not simply leave Tinubu in Paris ignored. The young French President made sure that the Nigerian President purchased among his guvs, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, to sign a $7 billion handle Paris-based DP World MEA FZE for the Gateway Deep Sea Port and the 10,000-hectare Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.

The easy ramification here is that whatever mineral resources the 3 American business ‘made use of’ from Nigeria, there will be a vacation path to take them to the United States and France. Unfortunately for us, these offers were signed at a time smaller sized African countries are looking inward in the control of their natural deposits.

Considered that Nigeria had long back mortgaged its petroleum to China and other nations it obtained cash from, turning over the noted mineral resources to the Americans will undoubtedly provide us our own ‘American Bubble’ in the complete percentage of France’s ‘Mississippi Bubble’ of yore.

Tinubu’s desertion in Paris by Macron, nevertheless, was not the only diplomatic insult Nigeria suffered while Tinubu’s French Régence lasted. Our President himself troubled us a routine of regency when, while leaving the coasts of the nation, he declined to formally turn over to the Vice-President, Dr. Kashim Shettima, in line with the spirit and letters of Section 145 of the Constitution.

The area particularly specifies that the President, when continuing on trip, need to send a composed statement to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of your house of Representatives, after which the Vice-President carries out the functions of Acting President. And in case both the President and the Vice-President run out the catbird seat, Section 146 (2) enables to the President of the Senate.

What did Tinubu do? Instead of complying with the arrangements of the Constitution, a simple administrative benefit referred to as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), we were informed, would run the federal government in the lack of the president. And we not did anything; Nigerians simply whined and proceeded!

The good news is, Tinubu ended his French Régence on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. The governmental aircraft which communicated him from Paris touched down at the governmental wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, at precisely 6:22 p.m., Nigerian time.

Not a couple of Nigerians were pleased at the arrival of Mr President. Guvs, ministers, lawmakers, standard rulers and cultural performers were at the airport to invite him back home. Nigerians understand how to value their leaders, specifically humane ruiners like today afflict of locusts inhabiting our political environment!

No Nigerian President has actually been as fortunate as President Tinubu. I do not wish to play God here; otherwise, I would have offered that no other President would be as fortunate as the Jagaban.

As the country breathed freely at the return of Mr President, all of us awakened to see our previous Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, including in a Television Commercial (TVC) for an Indian health center, Krishna Shalby Hospital, Ahmedabad, India, where he had actually gone through a knee replacement surgical treatment.

Like a common TVC design in an ad agency shooting set, Abdulsalami cut an image of an incipient design having a hard time to memorise his script. The scriptwriter for the health center did one of the most damage when the private scripted: “When clients take a trip throughout borders for specialised care, their trust indicates whatever.” What an embarassment!

To intensify the circumstance, the health center declared that Vice President Kashim Shettima checked out the center and met its management to go over Abdulsalami’s development and health and wellbeing. It then proceeded to reveal Shettima’s see as a “growing rely on India’s health care” shipment system!

If you are a Nigerian and you are not scandalised by all the shenanigans, then you are undoubtedly ‘made from sterner things.’ Nigerians would remember that the exact same General Abdulsalami and the late General Muhammadu Buhari shared the very same health center ward in a UK health center in July 2025. Abdulsalami was released from that medical facility and ward a couple of days before Buhari handed down and his remains was reminded Nigeria.

We can not however stress over when we will leave the woods. Absolutely nothing appears to be working here. And many sadly, there have actually been no motivating words from the President other than his airport cliché of “prepared to kick, all set to work”.