President Bola Tinubu says he and others in his generation have much to teach young Nigerians to be responsible and patriotic citizens while he condemns those sponsoring planned August protests as unpatriotic, claiming to hold foreign passports. 

When he hosted a delegation of Islamic leaders led by Sheikh Bala Lau at the State House on Thursday, Mr Tinubu said the future of Nigerian children should be a priority in the minds of the older generation.

“What should be uppermost in our minds is the future of our children. We have a lot to teach them on what it takes to be a good citizen and what it takes to be a responsible citizen,” Mr Tinubu.

Berating sponsors of looming August nationwide protests over economic hardships unpatriotic, Mr Tinubu said, “The sponsors of protests do not love our country. They have no love for the nation. They do not understand citizenship. They have alternative passports.”

However, Mr Tinubu’s public image, dented by corrupt enrichment, certificate forgery, identity theft, ownership of a diplomatic Guinean passport, and involvement in narcotics trafficking, raises questions about his moral rectitude to teach young Nigerians how to be responsible citizens.

Mr Tinubu’s involvement in a drug trafficking case that saw him forfeit $460,000 to the U.S. government in the 1990s resurfaced shortly after he declared in 2022 his interest to run for president. 

In 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released fresh documents holding Bola Tinubu’s encounter with American authorities over allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

In June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C, fixed a new date to advance a motion to release or withhold Mr Bola Tinubu’s records by its security agencies, following a FOIA request by Aaron Greenspan teamed and Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin.

The duo in 2022 requested in the FOIA that the FBI release Mr Tinubu’s case files under their control, particularly his role in a narcotics-trafficking ordeal that had him forfeit $460,000 to the U.S. government in 1993.

In 2022, Peoples Gazette published a series of damning reports on how Mr Tinubu, who was Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007, corruptly enriched through questionable Lagos tax administration via Alpha Beta.

The newspaper also uncovered how Mr Tinubu’s Alpha Beta siphoned billions to shell companies.