Nigerians have put a comedian, Seyi Law, under fire for criticising Laolu Akande, the host of “Inside Sources,” a popular talk show on Channels TV, over his call for bold leadership and the reform of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Akande, in his latest programme on Friday, February 16, in his “My Take” segment, in a clarion call to government leaders, the president, and governors to ward off corruption in the country’s public sector, called for a general reform while making a passionate appeal for the sanitization of both the CBN and NNPC, which many well-meaning Nigerians had also spoken to in the past, but with no effect, saying the country needs courageous leaders to do the needful.
The former presidential spokesperson in charge said, “Our leaders must be bold enough, honest, and forthright to draw a line in the sand on the issue of corruption. It requires boldness. Corruption is corrosive. A former president said, If we don’t kill it, it will kill us.”
Wondering, “How is it possible that more than half of the oil lifted in Nigeria, for instance, is being stolen and no one has been caught or punished in several years? Akande, who also admitted that he served in the previous administration, said, “The situation we are facing today is worrying, and many of us still hope and pray that our leaders can summon the required courage to surmount the conditions and deal with the contradictions, especially in agencies in the CBN and NNPC, two of the most critical institutions that must be thoroughly reformed if our economy is to come out of what seems to be a doldrum.
But, responding to Akande’s “take” in his programme video published by Linda Ikeji on her Instagram page, Seyi Law commented, “This is coming from a man who was an aide to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, for 8 years. Truly, hypocrisy is a virtue to some people in Nigeria.”
However, his position didn’t go down well with other Nigerian responders, who took a swipe at him as himself a hypocrite, who is an agent of the current Tinubu-led administration.
A Nigerian who responded to Seyi Law’s comment said, “But you were an advocate of Tinubu, so you have no right to criticise him,” while another calling his bluff told Seyi Law, “Keep quiet, Mudafvka.” Asslicker isonu.”
A respondent exonerating Laolu Akande from the governmental flaw irrespective of his serving under the past administration as a media aide said, “His boss didn’t even have a stand or a say in that government. Is it him who will talk?”
Similarly, another Nigerian wondered why telling the truth about a situation became hypocrisy. The person explaining the situation under which Akande found himself asked, “How is it hypocrisy?” saying, “He was a media aide to the VP,” wondering, “When was serving a government the reason to lose your voice for a journalist who has been on the job of speaking and writing on national issues since 1999?”
“You are saying that someone who became a newspaper editor of a national newspaper in 1997 should lose his job and abandon his profession all because he served in the government for eight years out of 34 years post-qualification? C’mon, Seyi Law, where is common sense in that?” the respondent asked.
