The poster boy of successful banking in Nigeria and the chairman of Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony Onyeamachi Elumelu, was recently dragged in the mud by an award-winning journalist, David Hundeyin, when like every other Nigeria, the UBA boss complained about bad governance in the country.
Freelanews recalls how Elumelu lashed out at Nigerian leaders for the myriad of challenges that Nigerians are battling every day when he took to his official Twitter handle on Thursday. He revealed that he had to listen to his colleagues’ complaints about power outages, hikes in the price of diesel and food.
“This morning, I am listening to my colleagues at the office bemoan the very pressing issues that they face every day in this country, and how things have been getting worse and worse – no electricity for 5 days, hikes in the price of diesel, frightening food inflation, etc.
“How can a country so rich in natural resources have 90% of its citizens living in hardship and poverty? I have often said that access to electricity is critical for our development, alleviation of poverty and hardship. And speaking of security, our people are afraid!
“What is Nigeria’s problem? We need to hold our leaders more accountable! Elections are coming – security and resources need to be everyone’s agenda – let’s be vocal about our nation’s priority.
“Evil prevails when good people are silent. We need to be vocal about 2023. Let’s focus on Nigeria. Demand and advocate for leaders that deliver,” Elumelu wrote.
Hundeyin, who described the banking giant in words short of hypocrite, stated that Elemule shouldn’t be one of those complaining about bad governance.
@freelanews “It was a deliberate and malicious act against the interest of the claimant and the first defendant (Zenith Bank) continues to enjoy the largesse in bad faith,” the judge said. #fyp #tiktoknaija🇳🇬 #goviral #zenithbank ♬ LOYALTY. – Kendrick Lamar
In a serialised tweets on his handle, the journalist made some staggering revelations, alleging press intimidation and threat to his life.
“Lol oga billionaire too is wailing about bad governance. But if you write a story about bad corporate governance within UBA, he’ll have police tailing you for weeks and people calling your phone at night inviting you to addresses in Ikoyi where they’re waiting to pick you up.
“Because of this man I spent 7 months of my life in 2020 living in multiple Airbnbs in Lagos, hiding in Dubai and Accra, and using Ubers under a fake name. Baba don come Twitter in 2022 dey cry because of diesel and jet fuel. It’s only problems which affect him that are valid,” he wrote.
Not done, Hundeyin alleged that TOE, as he is fondly called, is always in the habit of getting journalists and bloggers locked up for writing articles against him.
“Somebody that regularly uses his money and influence to get journalists and bloggers locked up without charge or documentation if they write something he doesn’t like about him or his brand – that one too now has something to say about “evil thriving when good men do nothing.”
“People that have every single person who is somebody in Nigeria on their WhatsApp, and who speak to presidents and governors everyday will come to Twitter and weave threads here. Baba if you have something to say, drop it in your WhatsApp groups. Why are you telling us?” he asked.
The writer and author alleged that he was witch-hunted back in 2020 for doing his job as a journalist.
“I don’t think you understand how terrifying it was for me in January 2020, to get a call from a security analyst the night after I published that story telling me, “I hope you’re not sleeping in your house this night.” What was my crime for gods sake? I WROTE A STORY.
“I put a bold face on it at the time, but I was scared utterly shitless because that was my first time coming to terms with what actual journalism in Nigeria means. Next thing Ramon Nasir called my phone (I still have the recording) inviting me to Alliance Francaise at night.
“If not that I spoke to my editor who immediately warned me not to go and to find my way out of the country ASAP, I might have showed up for the supposed meeting with Kennedy Uzoka in the dead of the night. That’s how clueless I was at the time. What was my crime? Doing my job.
“This story right here, was the beginning of problems in my life in 2020. I fled to Dubai for a few weeks, then sneaked back into the country and spent the next 7 months living without a fixed address, hopping from Ikeja to Lekki via Airbnb,” he submitted while providing a link to the story. READ HERE
Hundeyin, however, acknowledged that he was lucky because he had the means to disappear, while many journalists of lesser means rot in prison or detention.
“And by the way, I was very lucky because I even had the means to disappear and live the way I did (Airbnb is not cheap!) Other journalists and bloggers have spent MONTHS inside Kirikiri because Tont Elumelu did not like something they wrote.
“So to see this same man now acting all brand new on Twitter as if he’s not a senior prefect within the very system he’s criticising makes me feel some type of way that I can’t begin to express. God forbid,” he stated.
The journalist then went ahead to share voice recordings of the conversations he had with Nasir, who is the Media Officer at bank, as proofs of all his allegations.
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