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The Guardian newspaper has defended its recent cover story, which addressed the current economic difficulties facing Nigeria.
This response came after Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, criticized the article, titled “Misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices,” published on October 25, 2024.
Onanuga claimed that the report “openly incites unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocates regime change under the guise of journalism,” describing the headline and content as inflammatory and deviating from responsible reporting.
In its rebuttal, The Guardian labeled Onanuga’s comments as a “patent misrepresentation” of their report. The newspaper stated, “The story is a factually balanced, dispassionate, well-researched and intensive report chronicling Nigeria’s civilian administration from inception to the current state of affairs, without any atom of hateful or inciting elements, remarks, innuendoes, and or connotations against the national and sub-national governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The publication emphasized that it merely aggregated the concerns of Nigerians from various backgrounds regarding the nation’s troubling situation, with the hope that the government would respond appropriately to these challenges. It firmly stated, “There is nothing in the report that advocates, propagates, endorses or suggests a military overthrow of the current government, as suggested by the Special Adviser.”
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