Nigerians don’t like publicising Buhari’s good works – Femi Adesina

Presidential media aide, Femi Adesina, has criticised Nigerians for not encouraging President Muhammadu Buhari in his efforts to revive Nigeria’s economy and secure the country.

The Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, also accused the Nigerian media of paying less attention to the achievements of Buhari, especially the gains recorded in the fight against insecurity.

In an article titled, ‘The story that didn’t hug the headlines’, Adesina said that people are more interested in criticising his principal than showcasing his achievements even when he deserves credit.

Making reference to the Global Terrorism Index 2022 report released last week by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) where Nigeria recorded the second-biggest reduction in deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa, the spokesman said in part; “It is something that should hug the headlines, dominate the talk shows, go viral on social media, and be of interest to social commentators. But not a murmur, nor a whisper, as I said earlier.

“As if in a conspiracy of silence, nobody talked about the report. The media didn’t report it, and those that did, superciliously tucked it away in a place where you would need to put on the torchlight before you would see it.

“Now, just imagine that the same report had indicated that there was a spike in Boko Haram killings in Nigeria, with the carnage exceeding that of the previous year by 100 per cent. All hell would have broken loose. It would be lead headline in most publications.

“Some television stations would scroll the story in their news bar round the clock, for many days. It would be the topic of discussion on morning and evening discussion programs. We would be almost deafened by the cacophony. So-called security experts and social activists would be invited, and they would be pontificating all day.”