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Tribune At 74: A Reporter’s Diary [OPINION]

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By Suyi Ayodele

I was just about five days old in Benin as the Edo State correspondent of the Nigerian Tribune when I thought I had run into a turbulence. I got a traditional summon.

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“You are the new correspondent of the Tribune?” Chief Nosakhare Isekhure, asked. I said Yes, sir. The old man was the Chief Priest of Benin Kingdom. He looked deep into me and continued: “I called you here to welcome you and to also encourage you. I read the story you did on Lucky Igbinedion and the teachers. That is how to work, and that is what the Tribune represents. The founder, Chief Obafemi Awolowo lived for the people. Tribune is the paper for the people, and I hope you know that.” I nodded.

The Governor Lucky Igbinedion versus teachers’ story the chief referred to was published on the back page of the Nigerian Tribune on, October 26, 1999, with the headline: “Edo teachers dare governor.”

The High Chief went on to tell me how he called a few journalists to his palace and gave them some documents. Chief shifted in his chair and expressed anguish and utter disappointment on how he discovered that the documents found their way into the hands of some people in government. Pointing at the entrance to the living room, he asked if I saw the shrine on my way in and I answered yes. Adjusting himself again, the chief said he found it difficult to believe that anyone would come to his palace and behave the way the journalists did after he spoke to them and gave them the supporting documents. Then he affirmed: “The gods and our ancestors will handle those ones. You are a young man, and you have the years ahead of you. Always stand by the truth, verify your stories and be professional”, he counselled. He offered some prayers and we left. On our way back to the office, Tribune’s sales executive in Warri who was with me to answer the summon, Mr. Adekunle Oladini, elaborated on the particular issue the chief raised and the ‘trouble’ the matter generated.

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I assumed duty in Benin on Friday, October 22, 1999. I just came back to the office from an official assignment, my first, given from the headquarters. It was the coverage of the official opening of the First Bank branch on Textile Mills Road, on Monday, October 25, 1999. The sales representative, Mr. Festus Fadare, gave me the message thus: “Chief Isekhure called that you should come and see him.” I asked who Chief Isekhure was. Fadare’s counterpart in Delta State, Mr. Oladini, answered: “The Chief Priest of Benin Kingdom.” He added that the chief was some two houses away and volunteered to take me to “his palace.” Mr. Oladini led the way and I followed. We entered the house located on Sokponba Road, a little distance from the Tribune office. On the right was an arsenal of traditional items. You have got to fear the objects assembled in that dimly lit corner. That was the Isekhure, nay Benin shrine. We entered a large sitting room, with carved chairs. Facing us as we entered was the Chief Priest himself, Chief Isekhure. He sat on the biggest chair, or if you like, a throne, donning all white apparel with a peculiar hair style I later learnt is exclusive to Benin palace chiefs. We prostrated and greeted him. He answered us “koyor”. Then he ushered us to our seats with a wave of the hand.

FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Reliving Adetiloye’s Counsel For Nigeria

Why did I choose to start this page with that story today? By Thursday, November 16, 2023 – some 48 hours away, the Nigerian Tribune will be 74 years old. The paper first hit the newsstands on Wednesday, November 16, 1949. Of all the things Chief Isekhure said during my encounter with him, two things remain the most important to me till date, and those two things are the driving forces behind this column, and every one of my engagements in Tribune. The first is that the Nigerian Tribune is always on the side of the people. The second is equally important: the newspaper stands for nothing but the naked truth. At 74 years of age, the Tribune has held on tenaciously to those two fundamental principles. Irrespective of the darts, rocks and pebbles thrown at it, the paper has remained resolute, unbending, and unyielding. I found these principles in their naked form in my first encounter with the newspaper at the funeral of the late Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin in Owo, Ondo State, some 26 years ago. I relayed the story in my piece, “Adekunle Ajasin: If only the dead could rise”, published on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

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The Tribune resilience that I encountered that fateful November 14, 1997, was that of Lasisi Olagunju, the current editor, Saturday Tribune. He covered Pa Ajasin’s funeral alongside his photographer, Tommy Adegbite, for the Tribune titles then. As a freelancer, I flew on the wings of Tribune to cover the most militarized funeral, ever, because Olagunju, having become familiar with my lack of a functional identity card as a freelance reporter with the defunct Sunday Diet, edited by Sheddy Ozoene, he offered to take me along. This is how he put it in his Oyo dialect: “Ko si’yonu. Iwo o maa tele wa ni (No problem. Just follow us wherever we go). With that encounter, Tribune came across as a place where there are willing hands to help. Trust yours sincerely, I stuck to Olagunju and Adegbite like a leech and gained entry to all the venues of the funeral rites. Whatever I achieved for the Diet titles during Ajasin’s funeral was made possible because Tribune gave me the wings to fly!

I returned to Lagos; and when there was no hope of a permanent job in The Diet family, I dusted my certificates and returned to the University of Ibadan for a Master of Arts degree in English Language. The very week my supervisor, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, approved all my MA project’s chapters, my cousin informed me that she had information that Tribune was recruiting reporters. The following day, I went to the Imalefalafia office of the paper, where I met some other applicants. We were all subjected to a written test and asked to come back the following week to check the results. I returned as asked and behold; I passed the aptitude test. The successful candidates were further subjected to oral interviews, after which 12 of us were employed. It was at the point of being assigned beats that Olagunju showed up in the office of the then Director of Publications (DOP), Mr. Folu Olamiti, and requested that I should be posted to the News Desk because he had met me before on the field. Olagunju was then the News Editor. That was August 2, 1999.

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As a new reporter, I was one day in October assigned to cover the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)’s Network News. I did and the report I generated was well used the following day. On resumption for duty in the afternoon of the following day, Olagunju simply told me: “Won ni kii nmu e wa loke” (they asked me to bring you upstairs). No more information. I just followed him as we climbed the stairs, wondering whether my village ‘people’ had again followed me after four years of searching for a job! Again, Mr. Olamiti and the then Editor, Pastor Segun Olatunji were present. A brief interview, I was dismissed. Later in the evening, I was summoned by the Human Resources (HR) Department and handed a letter redeploying me to Edo State as the state correspondent for the Tribune titles. What is the essence of this narrative again? Tribune has an eye for talent, and it makes use of its resources. Only an organisation which builds confidence in its employees would assign a probationary employee to go and manage a state like Edo, which was one of the biggest markets for the titles then! So, if Nigerian Tribune has survived this far, one of the contributory factors is the ability to build, nurture and encourage staff to explore their worlds. We shall return to that shortly. What did I make of my stay in Benin as a state correspondent? Without sounding immodest, I wish to state here that those five years I spent in Benin were the most exciting and eventful of my earlier days in journalism. My return to the Tribune family after 16 years of corporate experience underscores how Management valued, or still values, my modest contributions.

Leaving the Tribune family for a corporate job was one decision I did not want to take. I was having fun with the Tribune titles. All the encouragement needed was in huge supplies. But a day came on August 4, 2004, when I resigned my appointment with the foremost newspaper. And for 16 solid years, I was physically away from the newspaper but maintained an open and cordial line of relationship with virtually everybody in the family. Then the ‘tsunami’ happened in my ‘corporate’ work, and I was made “to feel the weight of a paper”, on June 23, 2020. On my way home from the Lagos Island office of my ‘corporate’ job, I put a call across, again, to Olagunju. After the exchange of pleasantries and jokes, I told him: “Oga, I have information for you”. He asked what it was. “I have been asked to go home”, I announced. “What happened?” He asked. I said nothing. “Ok, pele o. a ma soro lola” (sorry, we will talk tomorrow). The day broke. Olagunju called. “Ekiti man, how are you? He asked and I said I was fine. He expressed sympathy again and added: “I told the MD yesterday what happened to you. Hold on, he wants to talk to you.” The next voice I heard was that of the MD/EIC, Mr. Edward Dickson. He expressed the usual sympathy and then added: “Wo Suyi, ma worry. Come back to us. Tribune is your home; you are a member of the family. You will be happy after all”. That was less than 24 hours after I was shipped out of a company, I spent 16 years with, and another one that I left was asking me to come back home! You are still wondering why Tribune is thick and remains solid? Here is the reason. Check most newspapers in Nigeria; hardly do they allow any ex-member of staff, who they tagged, “politically exposed” to return to the newsroom after their tour of duty. But that is not so with Tribune. What the paper looks for is competence and experience. My case is an example. During my interaction with the MD/EIC, preparatory to my resumption, his emphasis was that I should bring my experience in the corporate world to bear on the job. I hope he and all those who built that confidence in me are not disappointed. Re-absorbing an ex-staff is a gain and Tribune has demonstrated that that is one of its strengths above its competitors.

FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: It Is Finished

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Another strong point of the oldest newspaper in Nigeria is that Tribune runs a very flexible policy that allows its personnel to further their education. In the Editorial Department of the paper today, you cannot find up to five people who don’t have one postgraduate degree or the other in addition to their entry qualifications. The same Editorial Department has over the years produced not less than six doctorate degree holders. I am here talking about the likes of Dr Segun Olatunji, who was a former MD/EIC, Dr Omotayo Lewis, who heads the Sales Department at the moment; Dr Kehinde Oyetimi, who was the Head, Features, before he left to join the Department of English and Literature, University of Ibadan in 2022; Dr Bayo Alade, who left Sunday Tribune some few months ago; Dr Lanre Akinmoladun, formerly of the Sub-Desk of Nigerian Tribune, Dr Leon Usigbe, the Abuja Bureau Chief, and of course, Dr Lasisi Olagunju, Editor Saturday Tribune. The beauty of Olagunju’s editorship is that, again, in the history of newspaper title editorship in Nigeria, Olagunju is the first title editor to hold a PhD! That is a major strength of the Tribune. The paper may not necessarily pick the bills for the academic attainments of those mentioned above and many others, but it creates an environment that allows its personnel to engage in personal development through training and re-training. There are no encumbrances, no limiters to prevent any member of staff from attaining any academic height. The Tribune has that deliberate policy of encouraging its staff to go to school and be trained. So, if you are living in Lagos and you have the impression that Ibadan reporters are “Ara Oke” – people of the hinterlands – you need to meet the Tribune eggheads.

Seventy-four years is a long time in the life of a man. It is much longer in the life of a corporate body. Like human beings, corporate bodies also suffer high mortality rates. Many newspapers that were Tribune’s contemporaries and many after it have since gone under and long forgotten. Today, Tribune remains the only longest-surviving newspaper having outlived the likes of Daily Times, owned by the Federal Government, Daily Sketch, which was established in 1964 by the late Samuel Ladoke Akintola government to counter Tribune. There were The Democrat, The Republic established by Major General Shehu Yar’Adua and the New Nigerian Newspapers, established for the north by its only premier, Sir Ahamadu Bello. The Tribune is not standing today because it suffered no tribulations or persecutions. No! In fact, it can be said of the newspaper, like the Psalmist did in Psalm 34;19, that: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him from them all.” Festus Adedayo, one of the legendary columnists in the Tribune family, took the nation on the voyage of persecutions the Tribune has suffered in the hands of successive governments right from its inception in 1949, in his Flickers of Sunday, November 12, 2023, under the title: “Nigerian Tribune: Salute to the elephant at 74.”

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It is a fact that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the founder of Tribune, was never allowed to become the president of this nation because he refused to pander to the wishes of the north and call their cows buoda (brother), to eat meat. It is also a fact that anyone down south, who wants to amount to anything at the national level, politically, must eat the phlegm of the northern hegemony. The Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), of yore did it and the promoters amounted to nothing, after the initial gragra! The late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola relied on his political, social, and economic IOUs sowed to the north, but they all failed him. The present leadership adopted the blueprint of the NNDP, to ascend to power; we wish them well. But the Tribune I know will not likely endorse NNDP’s blueprint to be numbered among the ‘friends’ of the government. A legend in the pen profession, the very inimitable Lade Bonuola (LADBONE), the grand old MD of The Guardian, situated this properly in his last week column titled: “Truth and its majesty”, in The Guardian thus: “…. There is all manner of dirt being thrown at the newspaper editors and their columnists for their position on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is too late to get the Tribune to bend to anybody’s inclination, tendencies or beliefs or gag her editors…. Tribune has lived up to her billing. She is the oldest lady among the pack of private newspapers in the whole country today; where are her peers? She has remained standing because she has successfully warded off all pressures considered inimical to the interest of Nigeria…” Nothing could be more encouraging!

This is exactly who we are in Tribune. Incidentally, and in fairness to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his core media boys, they are not complaining. They do not see Tribune as their enemy. The ones carrying the battle for the president are the agborandun, the busybodies, people who drag praise name with Esu Odara, who answers the name: The ones who cry on behalf of the bereaved and the bereaved gets scared (Abelekunsukun-ki-eru-o-b’elekun). But does it really matter? Should everyone’s life be measured in terms of naira and kobo? Should we all sleep and face the same direction? I answer with a resounding no, to all the questions. Come to think of it; with all that we have been saying, and the country is like this, what would have been our lot if everyone had become a yes man?

The Tribune has come a long way, at 74. Its wine can only get better and sweeter. It is too late in the day for the newspaper to change the colour of its editorial contents. The people matter. Truth is constant. Those who stand by the truth don’t usually have the crowd. The crowd itself doesn’t usually get the job done. “The fewer we are, the greater the share of honour”, is the popular saying of my old secondary school principal, Chief Animashaun Agidigbi. Tribune is an institution; its weapon of survival is truth, and the pillar, the people. The legend who established the newspapers, those who nurtured it to maturity and those who handed over the batons to our generation, did not make any mistake. Posterity waits by the corner to dish out to everyone who has passed through the institution, and those who will still pass through, the measure each deserves. “Hi a tori mi baje” (May it not spoil in my time), is a prayer for sustainability in my native Ekiti dialect. On this note, may I paraphrase the evocations of Birago Diop in the poem, Viaticum, as I say to Tribune at 74: And whenever you approach the wicked, the men with black hearts, whenever you approach the envious, men with black hearts, before you move the Breath of the Ancestors. Ase!

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Police Urge Bauchi Residents To Remain Calm Amidst Soldier’s Death In Bauchi

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The Police in Bauchi state has called on all the residents of the state to remain calm after a soldier was shot dead by a police officer in the state.

CSP Ahmed Wakil, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) made the call on behalf of the Commissioner of Police in the state, Sani Omolori-Aliyu.

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According to him, Inter-agency security forces have initiated a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident which led to the death of the soldier.

The PPRO recalled how a blogger narrated the incident that a member of the Nigerian Army attached to 33 Artillery Brigade was fatally shot while attempting to intercept a truck suspected of transporting solid minerals from an illegal mining site in Futuk, Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state by a mobile police Inspector on illegal duty.

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The blogger also said that the incident occurred on August 25 at about 7:50 p.m. when personnel from the 33 Artillery Brigade, Bauchi, purportedly stopped a truck with the registration number Gombe 676-BLG at a checkpoint in Futuk village.

“The report further added that the truck driver refused to comply, prompting the Guard Commander, Master Warrant Officer, Ali Haruna, now deceased, to pursue the vehicle with his team on motorbikes until they managed to intercept it.

“That upon stopping the truck, Inspector Yusuf Ibrahim, a mobile police officer, exited his vehicle and opened fire on the Guard Commander, striking him in the abdomen.

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“The blogger added that the soldiers at the scene overpowered the policeman and disarmed him. The injured officer was transported to the Gombe Specialist Hospital for urgent medical attention, but tragically succumbed to the gunshot wound,” said the PPRO.

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He however, explained that preliminary investigations, revealed that the truck is associated with Guruje Mining Company Limited and ZURFI Company Limited, which possessed valid legal licenses in Gwana, Alkaleri LGA.

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He said that this authorisation pertained to the extraction of lead and zinc minerals, which was obtained from the Mining Cadastre Office, Federal Republic of Nigeria, effective from 12th May 2023.

Wakil added that the companies have complied with all mining operational protocols of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007 and possessed a certificate of incorporation pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2020.

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“The mobile police officers attached to these companies were formally requested and approved to provide security for the safety of expatriate workers and fulfil other security responsibilities associated with the company. Inspector Yusuf Ibrahim was among those assigned to this duty.

“The company successfully extracted a substantial quantity of lead and zinc minerals, which were proposed for export, and relevant fees as revenue paid to the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, referenced by RRR code 3212-7561-4841.

“The Bauchi state Police command has constituted an investigation team of experienced detectives in collaboration with the Nigerian Army military police and are tasked with collecting and assessing all relevant information surrounding the incident’s remote and immediate causes,” Wakil said.

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How Becoming Bank Manager At 27 Changed My Life, Tony Elumelu Urges Trust In Africa’s Youths

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Prominent African businessman and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, has reflected on the defining moment of his early career when he was appointed a bank branch manager at just 27 years old.

In a post shared on his LinkedIn page on Tuesday, Elumelu recounted how his appointment at AllStates Trust Bank changed the trajectory of his life and shaped his passion for empowering young people.

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When I was 27, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime: I became a branch manager at AllStates Trust Bank, a young bank in Nigeria.

“Banking was beginning to change the country, it was the sector to be in, ripe for transformation, ready for disruption, for democratisation.

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At that time, few believed a 27-year-old could successfully lead a bank branch. But that opportunity changed the entire course of my life.

“It gave me confidence. It gave me a platform. Most importantly, it gave me perspective,” he wrote.

Elumelu, who is the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and chairs Heirs Holdings and United Bank for Africa, noted that his journey began not with financial capital but with trust.

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His post continued, “That’s why today, I am passionate about giving young people the same chance I was given. Because I know what’s possible when someone believes in you early.

“This belief is at the heart of everything we do at The Tony Elumelu Foundation. It’s why we invest in young African entrepreneurs – because someone once invested in me.

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My journey didn’t begin with capital. It began with trust. Let’s keep believing in Africa’s youth. They are ready to lead, grow and transform our continent.”

In a follow-up post on X on Friday, the business leader further highlighted three lessons from his experience as a young bank manager.

“Shared recently on my LinkedIn page how I became a bank manager at just 27. I got a lot of questions. One stood out: How could someone so young handle such responsibility?

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“Many doubted a young man could lead a bank branch. That chance changed the entire course of my life,” he wrote.

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Outlining the lessons from his journey, Elumelu wrote, “Lesson 1: Age is not a barrier. If you can execute, are hungry to learn, and committed to results — you can lead at any age. Leadership is about clarity of vision and that discipline to execute.

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“Lesson 2: The most powerful capital is trust. My journey didn’t start with money — it started with trust. Trust was the seed that propelled everything else. Give young people trust, and they will surprise you. I was trusted, I repaid that trust.”

In the third lesson, Elumelu explained why perspective matters in leadership.

He wrote, “Leadership is not about doing everything yourself. It is about empowering, setting direction, and providing clarity. The sooner you learn this, the faster you grow.

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That’s why today, I am passionate about giving young people the same chance I was given. Cascading luck. Catalysing opportunity.”

Elumelu said these principles continue to drive his commitment to youth empowerment through his foundation.

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It is the reason we invest in Africa’s youths at the #TonyElumeluFDN, because someone once invested in me,” he wrote.

My story is proof that when we trust in our youths, they are ready to lead, grow, and transform our continent. Let’s keep believing in Africa’s youths,” he concluded.

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Lawyer Sues Sanwo-Olu For Blocking Him On X

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Human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, has filed a lawsuit against Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly violating his fundamental rights by blocking him on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account.

In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1739/25, which was shared by Ogun on Friday via his facebook page, he said the governor’s decision to block him since 2021 was triggered by his “constructive criticisms” and “demand for accountability” over the October 2020 #EndSARS killings.

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In 2021, I noticed that the Governor blocked me on his official X handle @jidesanwoolu owing to my constructive criticisms of his policies and demand for accountability in respect of the October 2020 #EndSARS Massacre,” Ogun wrote.

According to him, being blocked has deprived him of access to vital information.

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“Blocking me on X has prevented me from accessing public updates and receiving information about policies and governance in Lagos, which constitutes a violation of my right to receive information without interference,” he said.

In his originating summons cited by The PUNCH, the lawyer asked the court to declare the action unconstitutional, arbitrary, and discriminatory.

According to the lawsuit, Ogun said he sought “a declaration that, as a democratically-elected public office holder in Nigeria, the Respondent (@jidesanwoolu)’s blocking of the Applicant (@mrfestusogun), a citizen of Nigeria and resident of Lagos State, on X (formerly ‘Twitter’) is wrongful, unconstitutional, arbitrary and constitutes a gross.”

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He further prayed the court to compel Sanwo-Olu to unblock him, issue a public apology, and stop targeting critics online.

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An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Respondent, his agents, privies or any other person or entity acting through or on his behalf, from further blocking the Applicant on X or any other social media platform,” the suit read.

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Ogun, who described himself as “haunted, traumatised and emotionally disturbed,” stressed that the matter went beyond his personal grievance. “This suit is not just about me. I have filed this lawsuit in furtherance of public interest and with the hope that it sets a precedent in our digital rights jurisprudence,” he said.

The lawyer also invited the court to take guidance from a 2019 ruling in the United States.

I invited the Nigerian court to be persuaded by the decision of the US District Court in Knight First Amendment Institute v Trump where President Trump was found to be in violation of the 1st Amendment when he blocked US citizens for criticising him on Twitter,” he stated.

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Ogun argued that intolerance to opposing views undermines democracy. “Intolerance to criticism and accountability is unconstitutional and undemocratic. Nigerian authorities continue to crack down on dissents, critics, journalists, bloggers and vocal citizens on social media using arrests, detention, surveillance, collusion with big techs and outright blocking, as weapons. That narrative must stop,” he warned.

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