Journalist and broadcaster Oseni Rufai has stirred a fresh national debate after faulting the Federal Government’s handling of the evacuation of former President Goodluck Jonathan from coup-torn Guinea-Bissau, contrasting Nigeria’s response with that of Côte d’Ivoire, which ultimately airlifted the former leader to safety.
Posting on his X account on Friday, Rufai noted that Ivory Coast — a country with an estimated $86 billion GDP — stepped in to rescue Jonathan, while Nigeria, with a far larger economy, did not deploy any of its presidential aircraft for the mission.
The criticism comes in the wake of Jonathan’s temporary entrapment in Guinea-Bissau, where he had travelled as part of a 36-member ECOWAS, AU, and West African Elders Forum delegation observing the country’s presidential election. The process was abruptly derailed on Wednesday when military officers seized control, shut the borders, suspended electoral activities, and surrounded key state institutions.
Rufai also referenced reports of Nigeria’s acquisition of a ₦150 billion presidential aircraft, suggesting that a government able to invest so heavily in its presidential fleet should have been capable of swiftly evacuating a former head of state in distress.
“At least the president could have deployed one of the planes,” he wrote, arguing that Nigeria should not rely on a smaller neighbouring nation to safeguard one of its most prominent statesmen.
Sources confirmed on Thursday that Jonathan and other Nigerian officials were eventually evacuated with support from a multinational task force that includes Nigerian personnel. The Federal Government had earlier stated that arrangements were underway for their return and assured that Jonathan was safe.
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The evacuation followed heightened anxiety after First Daily reported that the former president had been trapped amid the escalating military takeover. The coup occurred after both incumbent president Umaro Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias declared victory despite the absence of official results.
With Jonathan now back on Nigerian soil, Rufai’s remarks have triggered wider public scrutiny over Nigeria’s preparedness, diplomatic agility, and crisis-response capacity—particularly at a time when political instability remains a recurring threat across West Africa.
The Federal Government has yet to respond directly to Rufai’s comments, but analysts say the episode exposes deeper questions about Nigeria’s regional leadership and the expectations placed on Africa’s largest economy in moments of crisis.