'People read my statement upside down or ill-digested it' - NAN MD, Bayo Onanuga

'People read my statement upside down or ill-digested it' - NAN MD, Bayo Onanuga

Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, yesterday expressed  doubt over the shouts of hardship many Nigerians are complaining of.  According to him, this could be mere propaganda as research carried out  by him shows that life is not as hard as many Nigerians say it is.‎  (Read here).

Mr Onanuga has now reacted to the backlash he received over his  position on the state of things in the country, stating that the  observation he shared was ill digested by Nigerians. Read his statement after the cut...

I need to make myself crystal clear to all those who have  responded, some with vulgar abuse, some with disparaging remarks, to my  statement on Facebook on the situation in my country.

First is  that many people demonstrated in their reactions that they did not  understand what I wrote. They simply read my statement upside down or  ill-digested it. Several points I raised were mere hypotheses, mere  suppositions, not conclusions. I asked: is it true? Have we been  exaggerating our economic conditions? Can the media conduct some reality  check?

In saying so, I remember a photograph of kwashiorkored  kids published recently by one of our respected newspapers to illustrate  'the hardship' in the land. Of course, the photograph does not reflect  any true reality about Nigeria, it was lifted from a foreign  publication.

I thank all those who responded by countering my hypothesis with their own propositions about our condition.

I agree we all live in different parts of the country and I fully accept we see things in different light.

Second,  no where in my statement did I suggest that our country is not going  through a difficult time and that our people are not going through some  hardship. The President himself has admitted this on several occasions.

As  the economic crisis rages on, everyone has been affected one way or the  other, including those in government at all levels. Even Africa's  richest man, Aliko Dangote has had his wealth vastly reduced by the  economic crisis.

As Nigerians we need to understand very quickly  that we are going through the worst economic crisis in our history.  Wailing, apportioning blames are not, in my view, the appropriate  reactions to the crisis. We need to begin to change the way we live. If  you are used to consuming imported things such as Thailand Rice,  American Long Grain rice, the times dictate we jettison the idea and go  for local Abakaliki or Ofada rice. If you like foreign dresses, it's  time to switch to the locally made fabrics. If you have a vehicle that  guzzles petrol, it's time to switch to fuel efficient ones.

And  the latter reminds me of the American reaction when crude was trading at  $140 a few years ago. Many Americans dumped their SUVs. Many of the  rejected vehicles were shipped to Nigeria. Now that petrol price is high  in our country, as a result of the Avengers crisis and the unfavourable  forex regime, is it not time also we copied the Americans, dumped the  SUVs and jumped on public transport or shared transport?

My  takeaway from my experience today is that Nigerians seldom read  critically any post. We read superficially and make comments, most often  trivialising serious issues.

And finally, I have spent the past  36 years post-graduation defending the cause of the Nigerian people.  Contrary to some opinions, my view is not influenced by my official  position. Those who peddle such lies do not know me. I pray God to  forgive them.

This post first appeared on Linda Ikeji's Blog. Read the original article here.

Source: 'People read my statement upside down or ill-digested it' - NAN MD, Bayo Onanuga

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