The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has been severally abused and accused of propaganda and giving information that is contrary to real events but the Minister has said he never lies, challenging his antagonists to provide evidence for their claim.
“Incidentally, my father gave me the name Lai, also. So, it makes it very easy for them to make me a liar. But what I challenge them every time is, please, give me one thing I said that is not true. I have never told lies before.
“Emotionally, you may not agree with me, but in terms of facts and figures, I have never said anything that they can be disputed. You do not have to like it, but you cannot deny that they are facts.”
Tomato Scarcity
In May 2016, Nigeria, the 14th largest producer of tomatoes, witnessed scarcity of the commodity.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, explained that the low production was a result of disease called Tuta absoluta, locally called ‘tomato ebola’.
He listed the five States affected as Kastina, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, and Nasarawa.
The aforementioned States, including Gombe, Sokoto, and Bauchi, are the leading producers of tomatoes in Nigeria.
When Mr. Lai Mohammed was asked on a TV programme, he blamed Insurgent Group, Boko Haram, for the scarcity.
“People talk about the price of tomato but they forget one thing; they forget that the price of tomato today is a direct result of the fact that we have lost two years harvest to Boko Haram insurgency.
“Most of the people you see riding Okada (motorcycles) in Lagos are people who would have been in the farm to produce consumable items.”
Mr. Lai buttressed his claims by saying two seasons of harvest lost coupled with poor rainfall are responsible.
Although Bauchi and Gombe are North-Eastern States, they were not affected by the Tomato Ebola. Furthermore, Adamawa and Maiduguri are the worst hit of the insurgent group and they are not among the producing States.
Rabiu Kwankwaso prevented from landing in Akure
During the campaign support for the re-election of Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti State in 2014, Lai, Who was then the Spokesman of APC, said the then Governor of Kano, Rabiu Kwankwaso was barred from landing at the Akure airport by Federal officials.
“At least three Governors; Adams Oshiomhole of Edo, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano have so far been prevented from making the trip.”
While Amaechi was reported to be ambushed and refused entry and Oshiomole was also denied landing, that of Kwankwaso was false as his Spokesman, Baba Dantiye, said the Governor did not intend making such trip.
“The governor is in Kano here; he did not have plans of going to Akure, none that I know of.”
Victory against Boko Haram
Late 2015, the Minister told newsmen that Boko Haram has been defeated by the Nigeria Army and the group no longer hold any community to siege and the deadline set by President Buhari has been met.
“Today, I can report to you that the entire 70 plus kilometres stretch from Maiduguri to Bama and all the way to Banki which leads to Cameroun and the Central African Republic are in the hands of our gallant troops. They have so degraded the capacity of Boko Haram that the terrorists can no longer hold on to any territory just as they can no longer carry out any spectacular attack.”
It turned to be inaccurate as two days later, the group attacked a village Kimba Village in Borno, killing 14 people and setting houses ablaze.
Boko Haram, though largely subdued or under-reported, still carries attack on villages and communities in the North-East.
Although Mr. Muhammed may have said somethings that were not accurate, there are times his statements were distorted and interpreted wrongly.
Banning of Nigerian Music and videos produced overseas
In July, the Minister was alleged to have announced that Government would ban production of Movies and Films abroad by Nigerians.
“This government has agreed that henceforth, whatever we consume in Nigeria in terms of music and films, must be made in Nigeria. We cannot continue to go to South Africa or any other country to produce our films and then send them back to be consumed in Nigeria.”
The announcement was trailed with criticisms and outcry, as many asked why the Government would make such move with some stating that if the Government plans to ban movies and music videos that are produced overseas, it should also ban foreign medical check-up.
The Minister later clarified himself that, there was no plan to ban any foreign-based production as purported by the media.
“All I said was that if a programme is designated as a Nigerian content programme, we will amend the code to ensure that it is produced in Nigeria. I didn’t say I’ll ban the production of Nigerian movies and videos overseas.”
Masquerade Dressing
In May, the Minister said dressing of masquerade could create employment opportunities for 1000 persons per week.
“There’s a particular masquerade in the south east, it takes 100 people to dress him, another 100 people to undress him.
“If this masquerade is well-packaged, it can provide employment in one week for more than 1000 young men. These are some of the untapped potentials.”
While the number of dress masquerade wears varies, the Minister had meant that those who sew those dress, designs, dress him among others can go commercial by making it a trade.
Uncountable others
For every inaccurate Lai Mohammed quote, there seem to be a hundred others which he did not say. Although not as false quoted as Robert Mugabe, Lai Mohammed is arguably the most misquoted Nigerian. In April Mr. Mmohammed said the President handed the FEC meeting to his Vice to preside over as he wants to work from home “today”, the media reported it as the President wants to work from home “henceforth”.
Mr. Mohammed also never said President Buhari’s return from his media vacation was marred by aircraft fault, neither did he say the Government is confused on who to sign the budget, yet all of these were widely reported.
While the Minister has no facebook or twitter accounts, there are fake accounts using his name. Such fake accounts are heavily quoted by opposition and internet commentators. One of such accounts was @MohammedLai which is now suspended by Twitter.
While @MohammedLai existed, it was source of News for some media houses. It once claimed corrupt politicians stashed 7 trillion in Dubai. A claim for which Lai Mohammed himself was called a liar.
