The minister of solid minerals, Dele Alake, has been berated by Nigerians for wearing a N260 million Richard Mille wristwatch while in a meeting with the CEO of Glencore, a Swiss-based company.
Alake, who was in the meeting to woo the Swiss company to invest in Nigeria, infuriated Nigerians who spotted the minister wearing the wristwatch.
Photos of the minister wearing the wristwatch have gone viral on social media and have attracted condemnation from a cross-section of Nigerians.
Reacting to the photos, Chinedu, an X user, noted, “That’s exactly what investors say about our civil servants; how can he afford that? If a UK politician wears a Richard Mille, he’d be hounded out of office if he couldn’t explain the source of funds he used in buying it. Low-level elite.”
Another X user, simply identified as Fortuna, noted that “no government officials from developed countries will wear such expensive wrist watches even though they can afford them.”
He added that “poverty of the mind comes from a lack of self-worth, believing you have to drive big cars, designer clothes, and expensive wrist watches to make a statement.”
For Desire Chukwuemeka, he alleged that “our political class suffers from a serious inferiority complex. Everyone who sees a politician with that kind of expensive watch already knows he is a thief. So it’s not even sexy again. We know the thieves.”
“That’s what they don’t understand. Won’t the helper query their mentality? If you have money to buy this watch, why do you need my help with investing?” Oluwasegun asked.
Marvellous Israel berated Alake for wearing such an expensive wristwatch, saying, “You’re looking for an investor to come and invest with money you wear on your wrist. They think everyone is as dumb as those that support them.”
