Summary: President Tinubu skipped the 2024 UN General Assembly, and his aide Ademola Oshodi is not having any of the criticism. Find out what he said and why it’s got Nigerians talking.
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It seems some Nigerians have been doing the most on social media, and Presidential aide Ademola Oshodi has finally had enough.
President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, Ademola Oshodi, has come out swinging against critics who suggested that the United States could somehow arrest the Nigerian president — using that fear as a reason to justify Tinubu’s absence from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
His response? A sharp, no-nonsense rebuttal that had the energy of a man who has clearly been reading too many Twitter threads.
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“Did America Arrest Gaddafi? What About Castro?”
Oshodi wasted no time calling out what he described as “pure nonsense,” pointing to historical examples of world leaders who had far more complicated relationships with Washington — and yet walked freely on American soil when they needed to.
“The US didn’t arrest Gaddafi. They didn’t arrest Fidel Castro. They didn’t arrest Ayatollah Khomeini,” he reportedly stated, making it clear that the idea of America detaining a sitting Nigerian president on the sidelines of a UN summit is, to put it mildly, far-fetched.
And honestly? He has a point. The United Nations Headquarters in New York operates under a special diplomatic framework — the Headquarters Agreement — which essentially guarantees safe passage and immunity to world leaders and diplomats attending UN sessions. America arresting a sitting head of state at UNGA would be the kind of diplomatic catastrophe that even Hollywood scriptwriters would consider too unrealistic.
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So Why Did Tinubu Skip UNGA?
That remains the big question on many Nigerians’ lips. The UN General Assembly is not just a photo opportunity — it is one of the most important platforms on the global stage where world leaders address pressing international issues, forge alliances, and represent the interests of their nations.
Nigeria, as Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, arguably has more reason than most to show up and show out at such events.
While Oshodi has defended the President’s absence and shut down the arrest narrative, he has not offered a particularly detailed explanation for why Tinubu chose to stay away. Nigerians, ever sharp and never short of opinions, have continued to ask questions — and rightfully so.
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The Bigger Picture: Accountability Is Not an Attack
Here is the thing — holding leaders accountable is not the same as spreading fear or misinformation. Nigerians deserve to know why their president was absent from one of the world’s most prominent diplomatic stages.
The “America will arrest him” theory may indeed be nonsense, as Oshodi rightly pointed out. But dismissing all criticism with that same brush does not answer the legitimate questions that many Nigerians — home and abroad — are raising.
As the saying goes in these streets: “The fact that one allegation is false does not mean every question is foolish.”
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What Do You Think?
Was Oshodi right to push back against the arrest narrative? And do you think Nigeria’s absence at UNGA matters on the global stage?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. The conversation is just getting started.
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