The Presidency has taken a swipe at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for his conspicuous silence following the rescue of kidnapped schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire, Oyo State, by Nigerian Army troops.
In a post on his X (Twitter) account, Presidential Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, noted that nearly 18 hours after the pupils and their teachers regained freedom, Atiku had yet to offer any congratulations to the Tinubu administration, the security forces, or the traumatized victims.
Onanuga recalled that Atiku had repeatedly used the abduction as a political talking point over the 57 days since it occurred.
“Now that the abductees are out, all is quiet on Atiku’s internet lane. No comment. No words of praise,” he wrote.
He further suggested that the veteran presidential candidate might be waiting for negative developments to attack the government.
Onanuga, however, acknowledged opposition figure Peter Obi for speaking up and calling for thanksgiving—though he noted that Obi stopped short of commending the Commander-in-Chief.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
