By Pascal Ibe
As social media continues to gain popularity, the number of influencers on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube also rises. These influencers, with their substantial followings and the power to influence our youth and society, are like fuel for the path they choose to tread.
One would be surprised to see or believe that the respected influencers intentionally using ethnic bigotry posts to attract followers or gain irrelevant attention.
For weeks now, it has been like a battlefield by uncivil persons on X, they continue to share any material in order to defend their tribe or portray other ones as ugly and bad.
Not different from these bigots, an X user named,
Chigbo Ogenyi on August 17, 2024, shared screenshot of a 2017 tweet by former minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, which targeted the Igbo tribe.
According to the tweet, Kemi allegedly said the Igbos are becoming insignificant in Nigeria’s financial system.
“Before end of 2023, Igbos will be insignificant in the Southeast and Nigeria, “the tweet stated.
The X user shared the photo and said he can’t forget the tweet.
The post by Chigbo Ogenyi gamered 25k and over 200k reposts.
The comments and replies by some users on this post indicated that many believed this actually came from Kemi Adeosun.
Adeosun Kemi was appointed Nigeria’s Minister of Finance by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2015.
On 7 July 2018, Nigerian online newspaper Premium Times alleged that Kemi Adeosun had illegally obtained her NYSC exemption certificate to get into public office. On 9 July, NYSC Director of Press and Public relations Adeyemi Adenike released a statement that confirmed that Adeosun legitimately submitted a request for an exemption certificate, but also stated that investigations were still ongoing to verify the approval of the exemption certificate.
On 14 September 2018, Adeosun resigned as Minister of Finance in a written letter to the President due to the alleged NYSC Certificate forgery scandal.
Verification
On whether this post was actually made by Kemi Adeosun in 2017, first, manual checks showed the tweet looks like it was just fabricated and edited.
The reason for stating this is that FactWatch observed that this tweet attributed to Kemi Adeosun had a different look and structure from other tweets in 2017.
For instance, below is the screenshot of tweet by ex president Muhammadu Buhari in 2017👇
See other screenshot of 2017 tweets Nigerians.
FactWatch searched Kemi Adeosun’s X profile with over 95k followers, but we couldn’t found this particular tweet.
In a report by Vanguard on June 26, 2017, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, denied ever insulting the Igbo people as reflected in this tweet.
We saw a post on the verified Facebook profile of Kemi Adeosun, in which she distanced herself from the tweet.
She posted on Facebook, “It has come to my attention that there’s a fake Twitter post circulating in my name, suggesting that I said something derogatory about Igbos. Kindly disregard it.
“It’s nothing but a shoddy attempt to photoshop a hateful statement onto my Twitter handle. I did not say or tweet any such thing.
“Every part of Nigeria is important to our financial system and our Economy, and as a Government we will support ALL to achieve their full potential, “Kemi said.
Verdict
The tweet by Kemi Adeosun insulting the Igbos, recirculated by an X user recently is FALSE.
Findings showed the tweet in 2017 looks unreal even as the Nigeria ex finance minister denied it.
