By Emeka Johnson
Popular Noble Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka says President Muhammadu Buhari was not insulted in the audio tape being allegedly credited to the Minister of Transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi.
He said media reports insinuating that Amaechi in the clip which was allegedly leaked by some chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lambasted Mr President for poor performance were not true.
Soyinka made the defense Wednesday at a symposium on fake news organised by BBC with the theme, “Nigeria 2019: Countering Fake News”.
The Noble Laureate, who is a close friend of the former Rivers State governor, tasked traditional media organizations not to jeopardise their hard earned reputation by spreading fake news like the social media and electronic media outfits.
He said, “Just two or three days ago, I read an item where a minister was supposed to have insulted the President and it was carried in some media and I checked the statement and of course there was a video and so on and I looked through it, I read the text again and again and I said I have to relearn the English language because I didn’t see where the insults were.
“So sometimes, print media feels compelled to compete with the electronic media and this is a great mistake because there is a reputation, there is an expectation and you should not be embarrassed to show yourself superior to a medium which is accessible to the lowest, the very dregs of society.”
