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| Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity |
A leaked presidential speech has sparked
debates on national security and the president's safety.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi
Adesina, has disclosed that the mole in the presidency who leaked a draft copy
of the president’s speech on Monday, April 27, 2020, has been apprehended.
The leak had been widely reported
and also Adesina’s explanations on how the leak occurred and how the presidency
was left embarrassed by it all.
In an article which he titled ‘Enemy of the State’, Adesina
detailed how the culprit was apprehended.
“You have possibly watched the 1998
action-thriller film with the above title, starring Will Smith. It was the box
office hit story about a group of people plotting to kill an American
congressman, and the tape of the plot was discovered,” he
began.
“Well, an Enemy of the State struck in Nigeria
on Monday, but this time, it was no fiction. It was real life act of sabotage
from somebody who does not wish his own country well at all, and who derived a
sinister kind of pleasure from undermining the system.
“President Muhammadu Buhari was to broadcast to
the country by 8 p.m, to give an update on the battle against COVID-19, and
what becomes of the lockdown that had lasted four weeks, particularly in the
Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun States. Kano was also a point of
heavy interest, with the strange deaths ravaging the state. Was it COVID-19 or
not?
"As the country waited for the president
with great expectations, a purported copy of the broadcast began to circulate
on social media from about 4 p.m. Whodunnit?
“I took a look at the circulating document, and
within one minute, I knew that it was a rogue copy. What immediately gave it
away was the paragraphing. It was completely different from the one I had been
part of producing, and which had been recorded for broadcast by the president.
“Another tell-tale to the dubiousness of the document
was the date it gave. It said the lockdown in the affected states and the FCT
would be eased from May 2, while the authentic copy bore May 4.
“There were some other discrepancies.
Paragraphs that had been excised from the final copy were still intact, and the
document was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, which you would
rarely find in a presidential broadcast, which would have passed through a
number of select and trusted hands.”
“I made a few phone calls to those of us
involved with the script, right from origination, which was from outside the
presidency, to final editing, which I did, and the conclusion was easy to
reach. Somebody had spirited out the original draft, which had gone through
many stages of fine-tuning in terms of content and language, and thinking that
it was a world exclusive in terms of artifice and underhand action, he fed it
into the social media.
“Who would do such a thing, except an Enemy of
the State, someone who wants to ridicule the government, cause utmost confusion
in the polity, and smirk his lips in malevolent pleasure, as the government,
and possibly the media handlers of the president were flagellated, and taken to
the cleaners.
“Yoruba people talk of ‘ba ase je.’ Somebody
who spoils the feast. Everybody is rejoicing and making merry, and he comes to
pollute their joy. He could bring extremely bad news that sends everyone
scurrying home, or looking for cover.
"He could even urinate in the big pot of
soup in the full glare of the merrymakers. Or he could pour sand in the big pot
of rice on the fire. Ba ase je (spoiler of the feast) can strike in many ways.
That was the same thing the Enemy of the State did.
“Igbo people speak of the proverbial lizard
that ruined his own mother’s funeral. That was what the hidden hostile hand
did. But he forgot that in these days of technology, almost everything leaves a
trail. Before the end of that evening, computer evidence had narrowed down the
suspect, and he was already answering for his evil action.
“If that person had got the final, authentic
copy, that is the same way he would have leaked it. To what end, to what
purpose? Sinister. Sneaky. Hateful.
“Some people hate their own country, and
ironically would be the first to complain that things were not going well.
Every act of the government (any government) they would undermine. If they can
stick a knife into the soft underbelly of government in any way, they do it
with relish, and would be the first to grumble that things were not going
right. Enemies of the State.
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| FEMI ADESHINA AND PRESIDENT BUHARI |
“If the person that leaked the unedited draft
of the broadcast had access to more sensitive national documents, he would do
the same thing. If he cottons on information that could sell Nigeria to the
enemy, he would gladly do it. Thou art in the midst of foes, watch and pray.
“I am surprised that a large number of people,
including newspaper houses, fell for the gambit. They took their information
from the wrong source, and ended up publishing falsehood. That was what the
Enemy of the State wanted. Cause maximum confusion. And he succeeded to some
extent.
“The social media is being used for every
purpose: good and bad. It is the bastion of fake news, hate news, concoctions
and all sorts of conjurations. Will the users and consumers be more discerning?
It is said that the person that stole a keg of palm oil from the rafter is not
the only thief. The person that collected the keg from him is also a rogue.
Those who began to share an obvious leak, rebroadcasting it, are also not
guiltless. Be quick to hear, and slow to speak.”
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