The National Orientation Agency, NOA, has defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to proceed on a 10-day holiday, as a prerequisite for sustained effectiveness in the governance of the nation.
President had on the 4th of September, proceeded on the 10-working-day vacation between France and the United Kingdom, as part of his 2025 annual leave.
The announcement of the vacation in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had generated serious public debate and resentment.
The negative reactions center around the timing and necessity of such a break, considering the series of national challenges the country is going through.
But, the NOA believes these reactions do not understand the fundamental truth of modern statecraft, that strategic rest is not an abdication of leadership but a critical prerequisite for its sustained effectiveness.
Reacting to the development, the Director General of the NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, observed that the cognitive and emotional burden carried by a head of state is a matter of grave national importance, adding that decision-fatigue, the dulling of creativity, and the sheer exhaustion emanating from perpetual crisis management are not abstract concepts.
According to him, they are tangible threats to judgment and, by extension, to national well-being.
Issa-Onilu posited that a scheduled holiday, must be reframed not as a lavish vacation, but as a necessary strategic retreat, a period dedicated to recalibration, reflection, and long-term thinking, insulated from the incessant barrage of daily operational urgencies.
“The Nigerian presidency is an all-consuming office, an array of demands that operates on a schedule designed to test human limits. The notion that a leader’s diligence is measured by their constant visible toil is a dangerous fallacy.
“In the 21st century, leadership efficacy is measured by outcomes and strategic foresight, not by optics. A well-rested mind is no doubt sharper, more resilient, and more capable of the understanding required to navigate the complex geo-political and economic currents that define our time.
“By taking a designated break, President Tinubu is not reneging from his responsibilities. He is engaging in an act of profound responsibility by taking deliberate steps to preserve his capacity for sound judgment.
“Furthermore, the very continuity of government is a testament to institutional strength. A robust civil service and a clear constitutional chain of command, culminating in the capable hands of the Vice President, are designed precisely to ensure the seamless functioning of the state during any temporary absence of the commander-in-chief, whether for diplomacy, health, or well-considered rest,” he said.
The NOA boss warned that to dismiss the concept of a presidential holiday is to ignore its institutionalised practice among the world’s most powerful and stable democracies.
Acknowledging that much of the criticism against President Tinubu’s holiday stem from a place of genuine empathy, considering the daily economic realities, Issa-Onilu noted that expecting a leader to operate indefinitely without a structured pause is to court the inevitable consequences of burnout, which involve impaired judgment, increased irritability, and strategic short-sightedness.
These, he noted, all pose a far greater risk to the nation than a planned and managed rest.
“The media team of the President has equally said it was a working holiday, meaning that while taking the opportunity to rest, the call to duty can come at any time during the period.
“Normalising this practice for future administrations removes the stigma and signals a transition to a mature democracy with strong institutions may encounter.
“A system that can function f lawlessly during a leader’s absence is a system of strength, not weakness,” he said.
