The Founder, Cable Newspaper Limited., Simon Kolawole has denied authoring an article titled, “2023: On Peter Obi, let us verify!”
The rebuttal is contained in a Tuesday tweet from the ace journalist’s verified Twitter handle.
“DISCLAIMER: An article entitled “2023: On Peter Obi, let us verify!” is being shared on social media and attributed to me. I am NOT the author. Kindly verify articles attributed to me by searching the websites of THISDAY and TheCable, where my weekly column is published. Gracias!” he wrote.
DISCLAIMER: An article entitled "2023: On Peter Obi, let us verify!" is being shared on social media and attributed to me. I am NOT the author. Kindly verify articles attributed to me by searching the websites of THISDAY and TheCable, where my weekly column is published. Gracias!
— Simon Kọ́láwọle (@simonkolawole) August 23, 2022
A quick check by The Herald found that the article was authored by an Abuja-based socio-political analyst, Kolawole Johnson.
In the article cited on TheCable website, Mr Johnson opined that Nigerians have a “palpable hunger for good governance”, which makes them susceptible to being manipulated by politicians that appear to share their realities.
“The class struggle between the political class and the people appears to have indeed formed in the populace a political culture that tends to identify with whoever looks like them or appears to have shared in their pains.
“Goodluck Jonathan said he had no shoe; it resonated with the people, same as his meteoric rise from the rubbles. The Buhari living room with a 14-inch television and old sofa in Daura sold like wildfire as he was seen as part of the talakawas — the underprivileged. While some members of the elite saw the story of his never increasing herds as a lack of productivity, many of us called it contentment and proof of integrity. The people are not to be blamed, and neither are the gods; it is the effect of the political culture the system has practically conditioned the people to. Now, Peter Obi is harvesting from that. His simplicity is it.
“The political class lives large in opulence unrelatedly to the abject poverty around. Obi is wiser, though a billionaire yet appears like the common man. His lifestyle, in addition to his English orientation, having lived in England for years, became so apparent in government (hin no dey give shishi), that is yet working for him at the moment. Britons are known for their conservative culture.
“Just so we know, simplicity, just like integrity, poor background, and some other widely shared beliefs or mundane perceptions can not substitute for good governance. Thus, verify. Once we are in, we are stuck. The minimum is four years,” the article read in part.