Kingsley Moghalu is the latest Nigerian personality to have incurred the wrath of the Obidients, an appellation given to the followers of the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the last February 25 election.
A former CBN deputy governor and presidential candidate for the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in the country’s general election in February 2019, may have gotten more than he bargained for when he tried to mediate and share his own opinion in an ongoing debate over an alleged Obi’s stolen mandate.
The issue started when Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, was being dragged on social media for calling out Obi’s running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, over a comment attributed to the latter.
But defending Soyinka, Moghalu said the Nobel laureate would survive his critics.
ALSO READ: ‘How dare you?!’ Obidients criticise Aisha Yesufu, Rinu for questioning Peter Obi
He tweeted, “Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is a principled fighter for justice in our country and around the world. He is a phenomenon that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deep. He survived dictators. He will survive you.”
Moghalu was immediately dragged on Twitter where his post garnered over 4,000 comments, mostly from critics, who felt insulted by the phrase “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deeply”.
Seeks Forgiveness
Realising his error, hours after the first tweet, Moghalu tried to put out another post explaining that he was misquoted and sought for forgiveness from the Obidients. He wrote:
In my tweet yesterday on Prof. Wole Soyinka’s comment on Datti Baba Ahmed’s own comments about the 2023 presidential election,I said WS is a principled fighter for justice and a phenomenon “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deeply”. I want to apologize FOR THE PHRASE IN QUOTATION MARKS which, on a second thought, can be misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who are hurting from the outcome of the elections. That was not my intention. While we all bear responsibility for the words we choose to use (and I have the utmost respect for Prof Soyinka and Dr. Datti-Ahmed), I caution again, however, that there will always be different voices with different beliefs in a democracy.
These voices are NOT illegitimate simply because we disagree with them or they do not agree either with our political preferences or with whatever manner in which we choose to express our views. This applies across the board to the supporters of ALL the leading candidates.
This is a difficult time for our country, but I hope we can still be civil and measured even as we may disagree.
Obidients react
If he thought he apologised with the tweet, the former CBN deputy governor was in for a shocker as his tweet was again swamped with fury with diversed opinions. Some praised the politician for being mature, while majority slammed him again.
@danizydonn: I like this. A mature knowledgeable man. You made a rash comment, and apologize. No need to double down on a view that spites people more than it does in trying to mend broken hearts. People are angry, and as a leader, it’s best to choose words carefully.
@mummyk01 wrote: 🤣🤣🤣, oh Prof, you’re actually not apologizing for the words you used but for our understanding of those words. With all due respect sir. Let this matter be. We heard you loud and clear. The oppressed will one day be free in this country. God will heal us soon.
@PeterObiUSA: The beauty of reading 📖 threads 🧵 replies on twitter is that bone realizes quickly that Nigerians, largely think alike. I love the replies ❤️❤️❤️. I regret once believing you and your character and capacity! Regret staying on several twitter spaces listening to your words.
@charliphontain: Your Apology is welcome but not accepted, used to rate you higher than OBI but now, i know better, you are just a politician with sweet words 🧐🧐…
In my tweet yesterday on Prof. Wole Soyinka’s comment on Datti Baba Ahmed’s own comments about the 2023 presidential election,I said WS is a principled fighter for justice and a phenomenon “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social
— Kingsley Moghalu OON (@MoghaluKingsley) April 7, 2023
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
