Lai Mohammed Is A Sycophant Who Rants To Keep His Job, By Elias Ozikpu
I had no intention of responding to Lai Mohammed’s recent rant in respect of the judicial report on Lekki Massacre. But the furore that his eventual reaction to the report has elicited is disturbing for several reasons, as if he was expected to say anything reasonable. It is surprising that Nigerians still attach some importance to the subjective and awkward opinions of a man who lacks the slightest trace of credibility.
For days, Lai Mohammed was in a deep coma after the Lagos Judicial Panel submitted its report, dismissing his baseless claims that there was never a massacre, even though he is fully aware that the Buhari dictatorship massacred countless Nigerian youth at the Lekki Tollgate on the evening of Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
His recent rant was not because the Lekki Massacre did not exist, but how was he to face the public after the Lagos Judicial Panel spectacularly dumped his unfounded claims in a garbage can? How was he going to maintain his relevance in the face of the torrential condemnation against him without making another boorish remark under the guise of standing by his reprehensible opinion?
Lai Mohammed is a man with a zero reputation, he cannot win a councillorship election in his ward in Kwara State. In fact, on July 30, 2019, he confirmed that news about his rampaging lies reached his seven-year old grandson who in turn asked his infamous grandpa why Nigerians call him “Liar Mohammed.” So is the extent of the damage this man has caused not just to himself, but to his younger and even unborn generations. And, sadly, this unwanted legacy will remain indelible in Nigeria’s political history. What you sow, you reap.
Lai Mohammed has no stake in dictator Buhari’s draconian regime. He is only a noise-making employee who could be fired at any time. And being appallingly incompetent and too old to be in his position, what does he do to remain relevant before the dictator? He embarks on a campaign of sycophancy [what our people refer to as “eye service”] in a desperate but shameful bid to keep his job as a loyal servant.
When it comes to Lekki Massacre, Lai Mohammed is insignificant and his uncivilised opinions should be shoved off as if they never existed. Those we should concern ourselves with are: dictator Buhari, who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria; Yusuf Tukur Buratai, who at the time was the Chief of Army Staff of Nigeria; Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Chief Security Officer in Lagos where the government-approved massacre occurred. Although there are other individuals complicit in the massacre, these are the principal defendants who must be made to face the music for their crimes.
Everyone complicit in the Lekki Massacre will face trial at the International Criminal Court [ICC], and there’s absolutely nothing a discredited minister of misinformation can do about it.
The Lagos Judicial Panel’s report stands. It need not be approved by an insignificant Lai Mohammed or by those it indicted.
Is it not an irony that Lai Mohammed who is quick to accuse everyone except himself of spreading what he calls “fake news,” happens to be the biggest disseminator of the fake news he pretends to campaign against? That this is even coming from a supposed Minister of Information tells the world how incompetent and disastrous this man is. Is it not outright misinformation and fake news to label an evidence-based investigative report “fake news” just for the sake of seeking public attention?
According to Lai Mohammed, Amnesty International’s investigation into Lekki Massacre was fake news, CNN’s investigation into Lekki Massacre was fake news, Lagos Judicial Panel’s investigation into Lekki Massacre is also fake news. He is the only one who holds the key to what constitutes authentic news.
Approximately seven years since the Buhari dictatorship assumed office, Lai Mohammed as Minister of Information has failed woefully and spectacularly to gather information on the activities and possible ways of tracking down kidnappers, terrorists, armed robbers, et al. He abandoned his duties and became dictator Buhari’s sycophant-in-chief in order to replace competence with loyalty.
When the Buhari tyranny comes to an end any moment from now, Lai Mohammed should go beyond sycophancy, noisemaking and attention-seeking under the electoral mandate of others. He should test his own popularity by running for a counsellorship election in his ward in Kwara State then wait and see what happens!
Elias Ozikpu
Playwright, novelist, essayist, polemicist, citizen journalist, permanent enemy o oppressors
