A Social Critic, Femi Fani-Kayode, Ohaneze Ndigbo and a civil rights organisation have descended heavily on the Presidency over a controversial Sallah audio message, which the presidency on Sunday claimed was from President Muhammadu Buhari.
Erstwhile Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has said that the voice message,, is “fake and a scam”. He stated this in a chat with Daily Post Sunday night as he reacted to the recorded poice message, aired on by some radio stations, including the BBC.
Mr. Fani-Kayode accused Buhari’s handlers of taking Nigerians for a ride.
He said, “Like I wrote in my latest essay, Nigeria is not a free nation.
“The essay asked some fundamental questions and the the truth is that Hausa/Fulani control this country.
“Every body knows the recording is not the president’s voice. We are firmly in the grip of dictatorship.
“They are on top of the pyramid, the rest of us are slaves. God forbid that Nigeria continue like this, we must free ourselves.”
The “strategy gone wrong” voice message was the same handlers of late President Yar’Adua used when he was very ill in Saudi Arabia, he added.
“This is just like the one Yar’Adua purportedly had with BBC. They were trying to make us believe it was him.
“We are seeing the same pattern again. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry and I don’t know whether I am witnessing a comedy show.
“I speak from an informed position and I can tell you clearly and categorically that the person who spoke was not President Buhari.
“Those behind this scam are very insensitive and they have the IQ of a monkey.
“The person spoke in Hausa because it is what they consider as the official language of Nigeria. They couldn’t even communicate in English.
“Can you imagine President Obasanjo or President Jonathan sending a Christmas or Eid message to the nation in Yoruba or Ijaw language?
“The whole thing is a fraud and a lie. There is no reason why the Nigerian people should not know the truth about the condition of the president.
“The cabal doesn’t own him; he’s our president. He has been away for 50 days now in a stretch and that by any standard is not acceptable.
“I urged the people to demand that the president be made to resign; that all powers be taken from him and transferred to the acting president.
“And those around Osinbajo should allow him act as president not as coordinator. We need direction and leadership now; not fake recordings in Hausa language.”
The presidency was further lambasted by umbrella group for the Igbo, Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The group regretted that Nigeria had descended to the level of a ‘Banana Republic’, if the President could address Nigerians in Hausa.
Ohaneze’s Deputy Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu, who spoke to the Punch in Enugu on Sunday, doubted the authenticity of the message.
He hinted that there was a big problem if the message was found to be authentic. Ibegbu urged that the message be investigated.
“First of all, we have to ascertain the veracity of the voice because in these days of technology, a lot of things can be cloned, including human voice,” the Ohanaeze spokesman.
“But if it is true that Mr. President addressed Nigerians in a local language, it means something is wrong somewhere.
“I want to believe that the voice is not real, but if it is Mr. President that actually spoke, then, it means that we have descended to the level of a Banana Republic.
“The Federal Government should tell Nigerians whether it is actually Mr. President’s voice, or not.”
Ibegbu noted that the address couldn’t have been meant for Nigerians if it was delivered in Hausa.
He said, “Which message; message to who; in what language? Is Hausa our lingua franca? If Mr. President wants to address us, he should talk to us in English, which is our lingua franca.”
Also the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, CHDR, has criticized the audio. It said the President’s use of Hausa in his salah message was discriminatory as more than half of the population would not understand him.
CDHR President, Malachy Ugwumadu said, “The lingua franca of Nigeria is not Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba or Ibibio, but English. Therefore, while we appreciate that the President is not in the best of health condition, it is far-fetched that he would communicate on this occasion in a language that is not understood by more than half of the population. That was not well advised.
“This is a heterogeneous society, where we have over 200 indigenous languages. I think the President should focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. If he mustered the energy to talk at all, he should talk in a way everyone would understand. It is not proper.’’
The controversial audio message was the first time Nigerians heard from their President since Mr. Buhari left the country for the United Kingdom 50 days ago for urgent medical treatment.
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