By NewsBits
The Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, was reportedly summoned to Presidential Villa in Abuja apparently to apologize to President Bola Tinubu for throwing his support behind the statement made by Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate for the 2023 election, that it was inappropriate for Nigeria to accept grain donations from war-torn Ukraine.
Bago was also quoted to have called Obi ‘My Boss’ while supporting his assertion on the poor management of the economy. Late on Thursday, one of Nigeria’s leading Obidients, with the twitter handle, Nefertiti@firstladyship posted a picture of Governor Bago kneeling before President Tinubu with the insinuation that it was because he backed Obi and even called him my Boss.
A photo of the said visit, showing Bago kneeling before Tinubu, has, however, become the talk of the town, eliciting reactions from many Nigerians. The post by the leading Obidient read thus: The post has excited some members of the Obidient community, though there were some who passed it away as a younger man greeting the more elderly president.
Recall that Bago attracted attention when he concurred with Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate for the 2023 election, that it was inappropriate for Nigeria to accept grain donations from war-torn Ukraine. Bago called Obi “my boss” when he spoke at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja during the Leadership Award ceremony.
His words: “My boss,” the Niger governor told Mr Obi, “you are very right on what you’ve said. “We have no reason to be poor. People may not like you, but they must hear you. What you say is the gospel truth.”
“It is time we tell ourselves the basic truth. We need to feed ourselves. It is a shame for people (sic) like Ukraine in war to be giving us food. Nigeria needs to be productive. You cannot be out of poverty unless you start to produce. I’m not an advocate of handouts and palliative. I don’t believe in it.”
Obi expressed his disappointment and referred to it as a national embarrassment that Ukraine, which is currently experiencing war, is providing food aid to Nigeria. However, the Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, rejected the criticism, stating that it is not a disgrace for Nigeria to receive grain donations from Ukraine, which is dealing with the aftermath of war.
However, many Nigerians have taken to different platforms to react to the development.
