Nigeria: Government As Purveyors Of Fake News Today

 By Emmanuel Onwubiko

“A few lines of reasoning’s can change the way we see the World.”— Steven E. Landsburg.

I was actually ruminating on a very important theme that traverses all of humanity and indeed already indulged in my compulsive lifestyle of deeply reflecting on my newly acquired books (75% of my annual income go into buying freshly minted, topnotch books, hard copies) and one of the most recent copies occupied my consciousness because of the opening quotation aforementioned.

*Information Minister, Lai Mohammed

Titled Basic Economics: A Common sense Guide To The Economy, this quotation rather led me to think much more about the threats to the Nigerian economy by the widespread use of fake news by all kinds of government officials with dominant reference to Federal Government officials. Lies, misinformation and outright fake news are increasingly being forced down the throats of millions of Nigerians by those who run the government and therefore have seamless access to our humongous commonwealth and patrimony which they misapply as their whims and caprices dictate to them. 

Lai Mohammed: An Unmanageable Mistake!

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

When President Muhammadu Buhari announced the people he has selected to occupy some of the most strategic positions in his regime, there was understandable uproar across the country. Nigerians looked at the profile of these fellows and wondered what could have motivated their choice, what exactly in their credentials qualified them for such sensitive positions.

 

*President Buhari and Lai Mohammed

Ordinarily, Buhari would have simply ignored such an outcry, but he surprised Nigerians by volunteering an explanation. These, he said, were the people who had stood by him through the stressful years of his various unsuccessful attempts to become president. As he moved from one party to another in his quest to actualise his ambition, they stuck with him, undiscouraged by his growing history of failed presidential runs. So, this was the time to "reward" them for their steadfast loyalty. (These are the people now loosely referred to as Buhari’s "Kitchen Cabinet," or more recently, "the Cabal" in Aso Rock, whose activities Nigerians have learnt to monitor with considerable apprehension.)

Buhari's preference for cronyism which mostly celebrates mediocrity at the expense of merit and expertise (an odious, counterproductive practice that has sufficiently advertised its predictable dividend in his regime's very dismal performance in the last two years) is, however, not original. In the unmissed Olusegun Obasanjo regime, appointment into public office was celebrated as an invitation to "come and eat." And not a few in that wayward regime, and the ones that followed it, really overate and became horribly obese, as evidenced by their mysterious humongous   accumulations!

In decently-run countries, people see appointment into public offices as sacrifice to their nation. Some, driven solely by love for country, quit high-paying jobs to take these positions whose statutorily fixed salaries compel them to undertake drastic readjustments in their lifestyles by shedding some luxuries that were easily guaranteed by their former salaries. Their country men and women celebrate them as patriots and heroes, and they leave public office with their heads held high, and their names boldly engraved in their country's Hall of Fame.  

But in Nigeria, the story is different. That is why it should be understood that while for many months Nigerians waited for Buhari to announce his list of ministers, thinking he was busy carefully searching for the best hands to do the very significant and urgent   reclamation job crying for attention at such a very critical period in our nation's history, the man was, no doubt, busy considering whom to "reward" with what position. 

When the list was eventually released, it greatly disappointed and shocked many Nigerians leaving them wondering why it took the president all those months to come up with such hope-depleting appointments. 

The most demoralising confirmation that little or no imaginative thinking went into the making of that list, however, was Buhari's decision to "reward" Mr. Lai Mohammed, the industrious chief propagandist of his party, with the office of the Minister of Information. Although, I had learnt very early to grossly moderate my expectations of the Buhari regime, I never in my wildest imagination expected that the president would fall so cheaply into such a brightly advertised trap.

The Buhari Govt’s Tower Of Babel

By Onuoha Ukeh

When President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated his cabinet,  six months after assuming office, many Nigerians did heave a sign of relief, believing that a government had eventually been formed. With ministers duly assigned portfolios and sworn in, all was set for government to roll and begin to address the myriad of  issues plaguing the country, with the view to catering to the needs of the people. It was a legitimate wish by a people who had high expectations from a government that promised heaven and earth.

*Buhari 

Sixteen months after the government was formed, and 22 months after President Buhari took over the reins of governance, I have often asked myself this question: Is this really a government or just an assemblage of people, who are just doing whatever please them, in the name of working for the good governance of Nigeria? I ask this question because what we have as a government appears mainly like a mere party, where those in office operate like islands, doing and saying what they like, while humanity suffers. There is no synergy  whatsoever.  In the government, there are discordant and cacophony of voices.

This week, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, issued a travel advisory on the United States (US). No doubt, feeling that as a presidential aide on foreign affairs, she could talk about foreign policy and issues related to her office, this former federal lawmaker advised Nigerians not to travel to the US for now, if they do not have any compelling business in the North American country. She said her advice became necessary, since Nigerians, who have valid US visas, had been denied entry into the US. In her wisdom, Dabiri-Erewa wanted Nigerians to freeze their trips to the US until the immigration policy of the Donald Trump administration was clear.

Why Osinbajo Can’t Undo APC’s Damage

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

With the emergence of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as the Acting President, we seem to have suspended our disbelief. Against all logic, our hopes have soared to stratospheric heights. We wager that Osinbajo holds the magic wand to turn around the beleaguered fortunes of the nation and its citizens. But we need not sally forth at this moment of the nation’s life in exultation at the prospect of better times ahead. What we direly need is introspection. We need that to steel ourselves for the grim reality that would befall us at the end of the four years of the presidency under the All Progressives Congress (APC) – its abysmal failure to improve the citizens’ lot.

*Osinbajo 

To be sure, Osinbajo has the passion to turn things around. He seems to be conscious of the immiseration that the Buhari presidency that was hobbled by paranoia and parochialism inflicted on the citizens. This is why he has launched himself into a miniature shuttle diplomacy that has taken him to the much-disdained south east and south south. But as long as Osinbajo is the acting president, there is a limit to which he can do. Even if Buhari is no longer directly involved in daily governance, there are the power mongers in government who are deluded with the notion of power as their birthright who would drop his name and go to a direction that is different from that of Osinbajo. In fact, there could be cases of willful sabotage of the good plans of the acting president.

We do not deny that there could be genuine citizens in government who would see their service to the nation as paramount. Such people do not mind who their principal is – whether Buhari or Osinbajo. But we must note that most of the appointments were done by Buhari and a bulk of them not on merit but on cronyism and political and religious affiliations. For instance, most of the ministers are bereft of ideas of how to positively impact the citizens’ wellbeing. We are thus confronted with the danger that despite the good intentions of Osinbajo, those appointees who are incompetent cannot help to actualise his vision. Worse still, those corrupt officials who ought to have left the government under Buhari would still be in office. They would pretend to be serving the nation whereas they are busy stealing public funds meant to alleviate the suffering of the citizens. Yet, as only the acting president, Osinbajo cannot sack these appointees of Buhari.

The Scourge Of South Africa’s Ingratitude

By Ayo Oyoze Baje  

The recurring ugly decimal of premeditated brutalisation of Nigerians, by South Africans in their country has become a handshake beyond the elbow, calling for a vicious wrestling combat. That, in itself is a most unfortunate development. What with Nigeria’s famed Big Brother role in the African continental politics and economy? What about spearheading the struggle to free the country from the iron-grip of the blood-letting and asphyxiating Apartheid policy that claimed some 21,000 innocent lives, going by statistics from International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO)?

*Jacob Zuma and Muhammadu Buhari

It therefore, smirks of gross ingratitude, quite antithetical to the African Union Charter and the much-cherished African traditional ethos of hospitality that Nigerians should be at the receiving end of the transferred aggression of the same South Africans! According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Ikechukwu Anyene, President, Nigeria Union, in a telephone call from Pretoria confirmed attacks on members and looting of Nigerian-owned businesses in Pretoria West on Saturday.

In his words: “As we speak, five buildings with Nigerian businesses, including a church have been looted and burned by South Africans. One of the buildings is a mechanic garage with 28 cars under repairs, with other vital documents, were burned during the attack. The attack in Pretoria West is purely xenophobic and criminal because they loot the shops and homes before burning them. Also, the pastor of the church was wounded and is in the hospital receiving treatment.” He said that the union had reported the incident to the Nigeria mission and South African police.