Jerry Rawlings' Recorded Comments Exposes Premium Times as a Habitual Peddler of Falsehood.

Our attention has been drawn to the report on Premium Times with the title "Video Evidence Counters Jerry Rawlings' Denial" which is a desperate attempt by Premium Times to cover up their earlier malicious and dishonest story with the title "Jerry Rawlings slams Nigerian government, others for allowing corrupt politicians escape justice" which had been rubbished by former Ghanian President, John Jerry Rawlings, who released the transcripts of his speech at the event in Abuja which formed the basis of the Premium Times story. Former President Rawlings rightly described the report by Premium Times as a package of lies and distortions.

President Rawlings' office in exposing the lies in the Premium Times story said his "address did not make reference to the government of Nigeria and he made no scathing attack on the Nigeria government as the Premium Times reported. President Rawlings also did not make reference to the Nigeria leadership’s failure to punish politicians who steal public funds.The first three paragraphs of the report are complete fabrications".

The video of President Rawlings' speech put up by Premium Times to defend their story only reinforces what President Rawlings said that at no time did he indict Nigeria or the Jonathan administration's anti-corruption record. Their initial report was entitled "Jerry Rawlings slams Nigerian government, others for allowing corrupt politicians escape justice", but at no time in the speech he gave did President Rawlings ever make such an assertion.

Rather than using such words as "shame" and other ad hominen words and phrases to attack former President Rawlings for exposing their dishonesty, Premium Times should be bold enough to admit that they have a habit of misrepresenting the truth and giving the worst possible interpretation to the most innocent statements in service of the course of their sponsors.

Such misrepresentation is obvious when Premium Times claims in their defense that because President Rawlings gave his speech in Nigeria and to Nigerians then any reference he makes to corruption must be about Nigeria and President Jonathan. Such a defense is only indicative of their desperation. The media should not operate based on assumption but on certainty.

The fact remains that Premium Times has a demonstrated pattern of stories based on falsehood and I will detail a few instances.

On the 12th of June 2013, Premium Times published a report titled “World Bank indicts Jonathan’s government, says massive poverty, unemployment killing Nigerians”. That report was fictitious and malicious and had no basis in truth. The World Bank whose report Premium Times relied on released its own press release based on the same report with the title "Nigeria Economic Update: World Bank Forecasts Rising Growth, Less Inflation, Urges Closer Federal and State Government Cooperation". This official release is still available on the World Bank's official website (http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/05/13/nigeria-economic-update-world-bank-forecasts-rising-growth-less-inflation-urges-closer-federal-and-state-government-cooperation). How Premium Times was able to come up with their own version of the story which contradicted with the World Bank's Official press release that praised rather than condemn Nigeria remains a mystery. Perhaps Premium Times live in an alternate universe with another World Bank other than the World Bank that exists on planet earth.

On June the 14th of 2013, Premium Times released the story with the headline "Nigeria: Exclusive - Okonjo-Iweala Opens Up, Says Nigeria Economy in Danger" and quoted an unnamed source. This story is false as was evidenced when the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, released the transcripts of that meeting which showed that the Premium Times story had no basis in truth. Indeed contrary to their story, the Nigerian economy is healthy and has received the highest Foreign Direct Investment in Africa for the last fiscal year, is set to become Africa's largest economy when our GDP is rebased, and has been listed by multi lateral bodies including the Clinton Foundation and the Bretton Woods institutions as amongst the world's 10 fastest growing economies. This is even as the World Bank in May of 2013 promoted Nigeria to a Middle Income Nation from the Low Income Nation status Nigeria had hitherto had.

Today, in embarrassment at being exposed, Premium Times says “Now that the former Ghanian leader and choristers of the Nigerian administration like Reuben Abati and Reno Omokri are sweating profusely to confuse people that “Africa” does not mean “Nigeria and other countries” we ask them to also expand their imagination to understand the framework of interpretative reporting". However, it is enough to politely explain to them that it is not the media's job to "interpret" what people say, rather it is their job to report what people say and to report it truthfully.

Premium Times may be confusing tabloid journalism for responsible journalism. If they wish to be a gossip site, they should make that fact known to their readers and focus on gossip rumour and hearsay which seems to be their forte and desist from passing off falsehood as reliable news.

Reno Omokri
Special Assistant to the President (New Media)

^^^...And who the cap fit, let them wear it!
Who the cap fit, let them wear it!
Said I throw me corn, me no call no fowl;
I saying, "Cook-cook-cook, cluk-cluk-cluk."




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOoVncYmk-0

But Mr. Rawlings did not stop there. As shown in the video below, he went on to narrate how a former attorney general in his country was widely castigated for fighting official graft, but later celebrated as a hero. As he rounded off his account, Mr. Rawlings asked his audience, which included the President of the Senate, David Mark, if Nigeria had such a hero
“Yes indeed, you do,” Mr. Rawlings answered. Then, speaking briefly off a prepared text, he added: “You do. Some of them (Nigerian anti-corruption heroes) are being persecuted by the ogas (bosses) at the top.”
He later offered some clarification that he did not “know about this one (in apparent reference to whether President Goodluck Jonathan was also hounding anti-corruption fighters). But I know about some in the past.”