Alhaji Lai Mohammed, former Minister of Information and Culture, lamented on Thursday the evils of fake news, claiming that a phoney report about a phantom $1.9 billion deposited into his account nearly wrecked his forty-year marriage.
Mohammed stated that all hands must be on deck to combat the threat of fake news, saying that one may not realise the significance of false stories until they become a victim.
This came as he supported President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress government, claiming that it should not be blamed for the country’s hardships.
“One day, my wife woke me up in the middle of the night and spoke in Yoruba, She called me: ‘Daddy,” and I said, ‘Yes, what is it?’ She said, ‘We all know that death can come at any time; we may say it wouldn’t be this early but it may be, but whatever happens, it will be good if you make me one of the signatories to your bank account to prepare for any eventuality. Even my friends and many other people are already begging me for money after seeing the report of so much money in your account.’”
The former minister said he had to take his time to explain to his wife that the report was entirely fake news and that the allocation for his ministry in a year was N5bn, making a total of N40bn for the years he spent in government.
He said he had wondered how someone would sit somewhere to cook up that a whooping sum of money is in his bank, adding: “This is why I strongly believe that this menace of fake news should be curbed.
“You won’t know the weight of it until it is about you. It has destroyed many marriages, many people have even committed suicide because fake news were published about them on social media.”
Speaking on the prevailing economic crisis in the country, Mohammed said the government of President Tinubu meant well for the nation and very soon Nigerians would have a cause to smile.
The Head of the Mass Communication Department, Dr Lanre Akinola, said the essence of the engagement was to provide a forum for town and gown to meet and chart a new course for national development.
He said, “I am glad the students are excited to meet with the former minister. They have interacted with him, they have drawn inspiration from his very rich lecture and they must have picked a whole lot of lessons that can help them turn out to be the best in life too; it has been a rewarding experience.”