Moghalu apologises to ‘OBIdients’ after scathing ‘online dragging’

Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, on Friday, issued a public apology to Peter Obi’s supporters, also known as ‘Obidients’, for referring to them as “unlettered and uncultured people of lazy social media age.”

Peter Obi was the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election.

On Thursday, Moghalu characterized ‘Obidients’ as “uneducated, uneducated people of the indolent social media age who don’t read or think critically”.

Moghalu made this statement in response to the online criticism of Nobel Prize winner Prof. Wole Soyinka for claiming that the Labour Party‘s vice presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed’s attempt to instruct the Supreme Court regarding the party’s lawsuit contesting the presidential election was fascist and unacceptable.

According to the former deputy governor of the CBN, Soyinka will endure their barrage of attacks just as he had dictators in the past.

But, Moghalu apologized on Friday for addressing ‘Obidients’ as “that unlettered and uncultured individuals may not completely grasp in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think carefully.”

READ ALSO:Moghalu hails constitutional amendments, advocates true federalism

On second thoughts, he acknowledged that it might be seen as a severe condemnation of people who are suffering as a result of the outcome of the general elections in 2023, but he said that this was not his goal.

Moghalu said, “In my tweet yesterday on Prof. Wole Soyinka’s comment on Datti Baba Ahmed’s own comments about the 2023 presidential election, I said WS is a principled fighter for justice and a phenomenon “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deeply.

“I want to apologize FOR THE PHRASE IN QUOTATION MARKS which, on a second thought, can be misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who are hurting from the outcome of the elections. That was not my intention.

“While we all bear responsibility for the words we choose to use (and I have the utmost respect for Prof Soyinka and Dr. Datti-Ahmed), I caution again, however, that there will always be different voices with different beliefs in a democracy.

“These voices are NOT illegitimate simply because we disagree with them or they do not agree either with our political preferences or with whatever manner in which we choose to express our views. This applies across the board to the supporters of ALL the leading candidates.

“This is a difficult time for our country, but I hope we can still be civil and measured even as we may disagree.”

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