I Can Never Leave Tinubu; He Made Me –Lai Mohammed
By Trek Africa Newspaper
Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has refuted insinuations in some quarters that he has abandoned the camp of President Bola Ahment Tinubu.
According to him, there is nothing that could separate him that made him, the fact that he is not part of the current government notwithstanding
Mohammed made the denial today at Caleb University, Imota Lagos where he delivered the maiden public lecture of the university.
According to him: “Asiwaju gave me my very first opportunity in government and built my foundation in politics.
“He made me Chief of Staff (COS) in Lagos, an indigene of Kwara.
“All my years in government I never left him for one day.
“There is nothing that can separate me from Asiwaju”, not even the fact that he is not part of the current government
“Why would I want to be part of the government, am I the only one?”, Mohammed queried rhetorically.
Also responding to a question that the government of the day was using him to sell propaganda and lie to the populace to the point that critics were now juxtaposing his first name with lying, he stated that all those were mere allegations without proof.
“Those who said I Iied, nobody bas come out to tell me precisely one lie that I told.
“You see, many people act in the position of ignorance.
“They do understand how government works”, he asserted, adding that that ignorance fuelsl their conclusions about persons in government.
He referenced with the fact that the ministry which he headed had about 21 parastatals under it which he said made delegating assignments inevitable.
Adding that the same limitation also affected those usually mentioned for consideration in government appointment , he stated: “How many people did I know beyond Kwara and Lagos? I had to rely on those I know to nominate people from other geopolitical areas” he stated, adding that even that had its challenges.
The Information and Culture minister, cited an instance where he had made recommendations about certain qualified individuals for certain positions which he duly presented to the president for ascent, and which he was certain would be endorsed, only to discover that out of four such nominees, only one made it.
He said it took some time for him to realise that somewhere along the line, someone had altered the list.
Asserting that it was usually challenging to reflect balancing in appointments due to a number of limiting factors, he added: “For the first time, I realised how little I knew about Nigeria”.
Trek Africa Newspaper reports that Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s lecture at the event was titled: “Fake News, Disinformation And Artificial Intelligence: Defending Truth and Public Interest in The Digital Age.
