BOLA TINUBU… His Detractors… Social Media… And Futility By Olumide Olowookere

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LETTER TO DR. OLADIMEJI ALO

Dear Doc.

You never cease to amaze and impress me with your intellect. The depth of balanced analytical examination is something I applaud.

With @⁨+234 803 383 0967⁩, Bobajiro, Bobagunwa and a host of other cerebral giants here, debates on any issue on R Square platform is always a pleasure. Banters that are rib cracking sometimes get intense but never ever degenerates to ad hominem attacks

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Permit me to make some comments (having *d’omi sí’waju* with advance compliments

All these brouhaha about Tinubu’s education etc will come to nothing. It WILL NOT remove him from office. If the goal is to drag his name in the mud, impugn his integrity and make governance difficult for him, the attempt is futile too.

Here is why, IMO :

1) There is complete polarisation in the politics of the land. People love or loathe Tinubu with an intensity never seen before in Nigeria politics against anybody else. Attitudes and opinions are already cast in concrete. It is either black or white with no shade of grey whatsoever. Compromise has become a dirty word. No seeking for common ground.

2) *None of the allegations is new*. Gani Fawehinmi made every single one over 20 years ago. It was litigated all the way to the Supreme Court. Tinubu was absolved

3) The AIT broadcast a documentary called The Lion of Bourdillon in 2015, rehashing all the allegations – drug charges, alleged discrepancies in the educational documents submitted from secondary school all the way to the University in America, his alleged Iragbiji origin, massive corruption in Lagos etc.

Tinubu sued Raymond Dokpesi and DAAR communications for libel and defamation of character. He asked for 150 billion Naira in damages. The High Court restrained DAAR from further airing the documentary. Dokpesi countersued, but at the end of the day, he tendered an apology to Tinubu (see link below).

4) It is the exact same allegations that is resurrected now. The only difference today are 1) *SOCIAL MEDIA*, 2) *INTERNET* AND 3) *MAGNITUDE & NATURE OF THE OPPOSITION*

Let me clarify :

There was no Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc when Gani Fawehinmi filed his cases in the years 1999/2000. The spread of information was limited to newspapers, radio, and TV. Today, allegations are disseminated within minutes to a global audience. Millions can be reached within a day or too on WhatsApp and social media

The Internet is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it gives us immediate access to all sorts of information in just a few clicks so we can be better informed. On the flip side, anybody can create a website, post inflamatory, inciting and outright falsehood there to suit their objectives. People of similar persuasion as well as people who simply didn’t know any better obtain a version from those sites. The gullible take it as gospel and pass it on.
This didn’t exist before.

Then, the arena has greatly changed. It was Tinubu as Lagos State Governor that Gani went after in 1999. His active enemies at the time were mostly within Lagos. Now Tinubu has grown and expanded to the National level while still maintaining his grip on Lagos politics. Naturally, this means more opposition to contend with and stepping on a lot of more toes to achieve his goal.
So, the number of people who are against Tinubu has increased, almost exponentially.

Unlike 1999, social media and the Internet allows people to conduct searches. With the advent of photoshops, deepfake videos and digital documents manipulation, the adversaries produce fake “evidence” – “FBI” that doesn’t emanate from the FBI, fake employment disclaimer letters, fake court affidavits and countless memes on WhatsApp that make outlandish, ludicrous and patently false claims. The neutral and level headed fact check but the opposition lap it up, post it in their WhatsApp stayus and immediately forward.

*The cacophony is deafening*.

*My personal opinion is this will all come to naught*

By Olumide Olowookere