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Party Chieftain Abuses
Journalists, sends them out of Event venue
On 9 July 2007,
Dr. Ahmadu Ali, the Chairman of Nigeria’s ruling political Party:
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rained insults on Nigerian journalists,
calling them a bunch of ignoramus and illiterate for allegedly
misquoting him.
In a
fit of anger, Dr. Ali described Nigerian journalists as a bunch of
ignoramus who had always found it impossible to understand his English.
His
rage and outburst arose from media reports of his criticisisms on July
4, of former President Olusegn Obasanjo‘s privatisation and agricultural
policies. The criticisms were widely reported by most Nigerian media.
He
poured his vituperations on the media during the visitation of the
reinstated executive committee of the Imo State (South-east Nigeria)
chapter of the PDP to him at the Wadata Plaza, the PDP national
secretariat in Abuja.
Midway into his speech when he discovered that there were journalists
covering his speech, he changed the subject and lashed out at the
journalists, saying they were poorly educated. He also accused the media
of misquoting him in the past because, according to him, they lacked the
capacity to understand his English.
He
said there was no way the journalists could have understood the English
he spoke because they failed to study hard when they were in school.
According to Dr. Ali; ”It is probable, mark my word… I know we have a
press that largely are ignoramus and they tend to say they don‘t
understand or they cannot decipher my English.
”They
can‘t because they never studied the way I studied. I said it is
possible, it is a totally different kettle of fish from probable. I
emphasised that because, by now they will go and write a different
heading.”
When
the journalists protested the insults he ordered the security operatives
attached to the party‘s headquarters to send them out of the premises.
”Get
rid of them. Get rid of them,” he ordered. And while they were leaving,
he shouted: ”Good riddance.”
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