olisaEze:
Good write up, Op! But the erosion of this most significant value did not start with Tinubu but OBJ. Since '99, every candidate that has won the presidential elections refused with flimsy reasons to attend the presidential debates. Making it easy for them after winning to deny the boundaries of their contract with the people. I believe it is never too late to right a wrong. Nigeria is in desperate need of a president in good health & a sound mind. No better way for the public to determine this than an open interactive session with other opponents. It is now up to Nigerians to place a standard by themselves, we’re not voting supporters but the candidates! If ur candidate cannot show up and explain his own manifesto, we don’t need SM debaters who are not contesting anything to explain to us again! Na who fit express imsef we go vote!

That’s not entirely true. OBJ attended debate in 2003 but Buhari didn’t come because he cited that it was disrespect to debate his senior military officer. So Obasanjo ended up being the only one to show. It was organized by AIT and Imoni Amarere was the anchor. The candidates were paired 2 by 2 for each session and Buhari vs Obasanjo was to be the last. Only Obasanjo showed up. The anchor asked him questions to which he replied. So he “debated”

Jones4190:
APC is sending 22 Governors, Senate President, Speaker of the House, 15 Ministers to Osun State to deliver Oyetola. They are united and ready to ensure Osun does not flip. On the other hand, Atiku Abubakar is holidaying in Europe and 13 PDP Governors are greatly divided, peter obi will soon travel to Morocco to study fish farming.

I laugh.

Congratulations! Now can you leave this thread with your spam and go to create your own thread if you have nothing to contribute to the topic.

The previous thread https://www.nairaland.com/7194893/never-said-investment-sabmiller-now#114116939

The headline is mischievous and the poster of the thread whom I respect goofed. Reading the letter with an unbiased mind would have made it clear that Obi was personally addressing crediting a circulation on the matter being linked to Soludo’s aide. A certain post online was being circulated that the aide confirmed the investment was now worth 100m dollars which the aide came out to refute.

1. Obi specifically wrote the letter to Soludo which indicates that he was setting the record straight as it concerned roping him and his government into the whole issue. If Obi was denying the statement, he would have issued a public statement and not one directed at the governor personally.

2. ’It didn’t emanate from us. Did anyone notice how the column deliberately left out the vital information of what Obi said didn’t emanate from him? More so, they should have posted the full letter so that we can all read it in context rather than cutting out pieces and adding their narrative to it.

3.

”When the news of the multiplication of Obi’s investment in SABMiller was published, I knew it did not come from you. I personally made it clear that it was not circulated by Obi’s Media, but probably by one of the youths, not under our control, but eager to throw in anything that glorified their hero–Obi,” the letter reads.

This is the argument they are using to justify their claim. Any sane mind would know that for the letter to talk about it not emanating from Soludo, it shows that he was clearly addressing the matter with regards to it being credited to the Soludo government. Heck, he even went ahead to justify the aide for coming out for a rebuttal which clearly shows he was addressing crediting the statement to Soludo’s aide and never said he didn’t make such statement.

Finally, this is a glaring hatchet job that won’t stand scrutiny and what is the cable so afraid of and not posting the content of the full letter instead of mutilating it to suit their directive?


Lalasticlala, we also need this on the front page especially as Seun and nairaland’s integrity and partisanship is becoming more glaring by the day.

In the build up to the general elections in 2015, media power was engaged arguably at its highest form in the history of elections in Nigeria up till today. Propaganda, Calumny, Disinformation, Misinformation, Slander and outright lies were dissipated from and by various media and both major parties were villain and victim. However, an incident from that time that has kept reoccurring made me to retrospectively look at the danger of falsehood.

A popular incident that has and still fills our political cum religious discourse today is the narrative that then President Jonathan visited Canaan land and Bishop Oyedepo declared to open the gates of hell against his political opponent. I remember this incident clearly as it was reported by even reputable media then and the Church had to come out to offer a rebuttal that such incidence never took place. The video of the service was even uploaded then but the political goons then had found a weapon to use against an opponent. Up till today, there is no evidence of that statement ever occurring. What baffles me is that several years after, as I engage with people, this false narrative is still being propagated against the leader of the denomination even when he was talking about something important that could have helped someone's situation. People lost all objectivity when it comes to certain opinion.

I remember when I was a kid (about 10 years old) and we were playing football in the compound, then one of the tenant in another apartment seized our football on the premise that we were making too much noise. I never knew where she got the idea from, but as soon as my dad came back from work, she came to our flat to report that I was abusing her with my friends because she seized our football. I can still recollect the amazement that filled me when my dad called me to the room and narrated the accusation. I vehemently denied and that was another problem because I invariably called the woman a liar (she was a colleague of my dad when they were in higher institution) and in African culture, an adult does not lie. I remember crying when my dad punished me not because of the severity of the punishment but because of the injustice. For years, I was bittered about that incident until I became matured and learnt how to bear certain things.

My issue now is, do we know the import of spreading lies and rumor confidently especially what we never witnessed? Do we know how dangerous it is and how suicidal some people can get because of the injustice they have received?

On a final note, in the bible, John the Baptist sent his disciples to go and verify from Jesus if he was the one they were expecting and the response of Jesus is very clear. After performing some miracles in their presence, he instructed them to "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard". Think about this the next time you are to report confidently about an incident you have only heard but not witnessed.