Veteran actor Zack Orji has criticised opponents of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying many Nigerians form opinions from unverified social media narratives instead of carrying out proper research.
Speaking on the KaaTruths podcast, Orji recounted an encounter in the United Kingdom where some people challenged him over his support for Tinubu.
He said he replied, “Why would I not support him? He is the president of my country? Do you want me not to support the president of my country if I am convinced that he is doing things in the right way?”
Orji said he sees no reason to withhold support for the president, adding that he believes the administration should be given enough time to implement its policies.
He stressed that reforms are never easy because they are designed to dismantle old systems and replace them with new ones.
“Nigerians do not research, they run with the things they see on social media and I will tell you that three quarters of what you see on social media are not true. But you know the saying about give a dog a bad name so that you can kill it. That is what is happening, people are not researching,” he said.
Reflecting further on the UK incident, he added: “I was in the UK sometime last year and I was accosted by some people, ‘why are you supporting this man? Why are you supporting Tinubu?’. I said why would I not support him? He is the president of my country, do you want me not to support the president of my country if I am convinced that he is doing things in the right way?
“And if I am willing to be patient and allow him time? Reforms are not easy because reforms come to change the old order and bring a new order. But a lot of Nigerians, they do not do any research, they just run away with what they hear or the negative information that has been peddled and they start talking without knowledge.”
The actor also maintained that the Tinubu administration’s reforms are beginning to produce results, claiming that food prices are falling noticeably.
When told that many Nigerians are experiencing hardship directly and do not need data to judge the economy, Orji argued that “hunger is a universal issue and did not begin with the Tinubu administration”.
He recently described Tinubu as the most qualified among the likely contenders for Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election.