Right of response and few other matters, by Abdu Labaran Malumfashi
Story by Jessica Mbamah
To my knowledge (not the best, anyway) the Right of Response (RoR) comes in a write up to the writer of the article, a direct phone (call) to the writer of the article, or a statement of one’s position (agreement or disagreement), sharing it directly to the public, or a public speech aimed at indirectly addressing an issue raised through by the article writer.
This is not the RoR as normally published in the conventional media, where many letters and names of their writers would be printed for the benefit of that publication’s readers. This is the social media type of RoR.
Someone called me directly in response to my article ‘Is Blood Thicker Than Water?’, which I shared on the social media on 18-5-2025. He called to tell me that ‘blood is not thicker than water all the time’. He argued that, ‘blood can, or even connive with outsiders to, betray one’.
According to him, he has been betrayed by a close blood relation, who he had never thought would cheat him so vilely like someone he did not know from Adam. He claimed to have not only been betrayed several times by the same person, but that close relation of his has also severally connived with many people to cheat him. He said he had to involve a third party to stop his relationship from his cheating ways. He however, spoke on the condition of anonymity, because he did “not want my employer to know about it”.
Another person’s RoR is to often accuse me of being part of those who brought the problem to the nation, even though I am not the person’s actual target. The target is someone else, who appears untouchable and therefore out of the traducer’s reach.
Everyone has the right to hold their opinion, are also at liberty to share them with the public, and at even more liberty to agree or disagree with what the article writer supports or disagrees with. It is their right to defend what they believe or disbelieve in, dispassionately, as long as someone’s reputation is not maligned DELIBERATELY.
Of course, there are many other people who responded to some of my articles, but since I intend to discuss other matters, I will say something about them some other times, but not now.
OTHER MATTERS.
(1) The Katsina Security Meeting In Abuja.
As expected, the security meeting held in Abuja on 24th August 2025, by some leading indigenes of Katsina state, is naturally trailed by mixed reactions, ranging from acceptance by the hopefuls, to cynicism by the sceptics. But those who think that the meeting is worth its while are, expectedly again, in the majority. Yours sincerely is one of them.
Expectedly, once more, people, especially those in the frontline areas of the activities of the bandits, cannot bear the menace anymore, the meeting is naturally seen as ‘long overdue’. But, as the saying goes, ‘it is better late than never’. A mighty kudos to the convener of the meeting, not least because the menace of banditry is present in all but nine (9) local governments in the state, and all of them in Daura Local Government area.
Although those who think well of the meeting are in the majority, the sceptics have a point that need NOT to be dismissed by the wave of the hand. Some of the attendees might be there ostensibly to express their concerns, but are actually there to report back everything discussed to their masters, some of whom may be the sponsors of the bandits. It is alleged that the bandits are being sponsored by some big men in the government, hence the intractability of the banditry, and the general insecurity in the Northern part of the country.
It is not easy to be a Northerner these days, especially those in the North West and the North East, because one is expandable if they belong to the lower rung of the ladder in the society. But those who get government’s protection at the expense of the public are given a wide berth by the bandits.
Another meeting should therefore, hold in the state with some people from the affected local government areas before the results of both meetings are submitted to the government. Then a further meeting with the government of the state should take place, the outcome of which should be implemented without wasting time.
(2) The Shout Down on the Islamic Cleric, Shiekh in Abuja.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that a popular old Islam preacher was booed, and shouted at by some of the people in ‘his’ Abuja Mosque. They accused him of turning the pulpit into a campaign platform, which, according to them was utterly wrong. And for the first time, the microphone broadcasting his Friday sermon to the outside world, was quickly removed to prevent doing so.
Some of his staunch followers were said to have secretly advised him to stop that style of preaching, because, according to them, ‘things could get out of hand’, and if it happens again, it might be bigger, therefore, beyond their control.
Well, the Islamic preacher was, and is still, an advocate of ‘Islam/Islam’ ticket (pairing), and therefore, not unlikely to face such a backlash from some of his listeners. That is by the way.
In a related development, the Supreme Council for Shari’a in Nigeria (SCSN) has voiced out its disappointment with the wife of the president, the First Lady, for showing preference to members of her religious belief. According to them, she ONLY gives cash and kind assistance to the people of her faith, but not to the followers of the other major religious faith.
They also accused the First Lady of influencing the appointments made by the president, which mostly go to her brethren in faith, even though they totally REJECTED him in the 2023 election. This is not only against the Nigerian Constitution, but against the very people of the faith that vigorously campaigned, and elected her husband as president.
The ‘Muslim’ president has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for ‘his’ faith, even as he appoints, promotes, protects and supports the faith of his wife all the times, without feeling any guilt or shame.
READ ALSO: Nigeria/Israel Defence Agreement: A win win situation for the later, by Abdu Labaran Malumfashi
(3) 419 by the fairer gender (Blackmail, in another word) did not start today
Obtaining by 419 (deceit) is not the monopoly of the male gender, the fairer gender is also very much involved in the scam.
About seven years ago, I rendered an assistance to a woman I had never seen in my life. She had publicly complained that she was going to lose admission to a tertiary institution in Jigawa state because she had ‘no money for registration’. She pleaded with members of the public to come to her aid, as she could not afford it, having ‘come from a poor family that did not have the money needed to pay’.
I innocently asked for her account number and sent in my widow’s mite, as my assistance, which I hoped she would add to what other sympathisers would send to her. But that simple act of mine turned out to be the beginning of my problem with her.
After two months, I received a direct request for money from her. I did not have the amount she requested, and would not have given her even if I had. So I ignored her and the request she sent.
After a while, she then posted some explicit (X rated) pictures of herself along with a phone request I am ‘SUPPOSED to have made, as a condition of me sending her the money she requested. She somehow made the request as emanating from me, and THREATENED (blackmail) to go to my necks of the woods and paste ‘everything all over the town’ if I did not oblige her request. I was, and to some extent, still not computer savvy to contrive such a thing on my phone, anyway.
I called her bluff by refusing to give in to her BLACKMAIL. However, six months later, she called me on phone to ADMIT that she had wanted to extort money from me, because I happened to be the only person who had never met her, and did not attach any strings to my assistance to her. I simply said to her, “that then is your way of thinking me? With some accompanying sobs, she asked me for forgiveness.
The second incident happened about four years ago when some five people, among them two ladies, came to me in my office and said they wanted to interview my boss, for him to give his input on a book they were writing about a certain public personality. After convincing me of the genuineness of their mission, I took them to the boss, and took my leave, since I could read from his expression that I was not needed anymore.
After some time, they came back to my office and appeared not ready to leave. Knowing my principal to generous (to a fault at times), I thought he might have told them to wait in my office and wait for a ‘message’ from him. The waiting extended to when my principal had long closed from the office, and had since been somewhere else.
Realising he had not made any financial promise to them, gave them most of the little I had and politely told them I was closing for the day. A few days, one of the ladies returned, convinced that there was more to be made from where what I gave them on that fateful day came.
She requested for school fees for her private secondary school-going child, telling me that she was a widower, whose husband died some years earlier. Ever the generous that yours sincerely was, I gave her the money without any strings attached.
But after I refused to ‘help’ with another school fees she did exactly the same thing that the Jigawa lady did. However, she doctored her phone to look like I sent the lewd request to her at the time I had been a couple of months lying sick in hospital. On seeing her phone message on the sick bed, I called her and told her some unprintable things, and asked her to ‘go and do your worst’. I added that she would meet her equal one of the days.
She quickly reversed herself to claim that someone else, ‘not you’ sent her that lewd message. She was another 419er (not the US Football team) who was not successful in her dastardly effort with me.
(4) OBJ on MBM’s Presidency
It hardly surprising that former President Olusegun Obasanjo would rate Muhammadu Buhari’s government as the ‘worst ever in Nigeria’.
For a start, Muhammadu Buhari did not remove subsidies on petroleum and electricity, he regularly bailed out state governors financially, he gave the governors their monthly allocation, he regularly paid federal workers their salary, he did not float the Naira, and did not always go cap in hand begging the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for assistance’, which he embezzled soon after he got the ‘loan’.
But Tinubu on the other hand, apart from giving governors the monthly allocation from the Federation Account, did ALL the above, without EVIDENCE of them on the ground for the world to see. The only things the world sees in Nigeria are the RAMPANT CORRUPTION, severe poverty, extreme hunger, and perversive hardship that are the constant companions of most of the Nigerian citizens.
In any case, for a number of reasons, he would, not, because he is the coward that he would always be. He should have said so when the immediate past president was alive, where he could have defended his government by himself.
Now that easy job will have to be done by Maigaskiya’s former aides. Buhari’s popular alias, because of his scrupulously clean image. For a person who had held many offices that matter in Nigeria without enriching himself from public funds, he really deserved his nome de guerre of Maigaskia.
But no one, even the drunk, will call Obasanjo Maigaskiya, because he is absolutely NOT. He came out of prison allegedly with only N20, 000 (N20K), but left office (presidency) a Dollar billionaire. His Expansive Otta Farm, Otta Library and other establishments in Otta are things that only a multi billionaire could possess. Not to talk of his other possessions elsewhere.
OBJ, as Obasanjo is popularly referred to in the country, has a dislike for Buhari because another former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, had great regard and respect for Buhari. OBJ’s rabid hatred for General Abacha was understandable, because it was the late Head of State who threw him in jail, charged with trying to overthrow the government, which but for the plea from within the country and outside, he would have faced the firing squad, a fate of those found guilty of trying to stage a coup.
Obasanjo would also dislike Buhari because, NOT UNLIKE himself, the immediate past and late number one citizen, was also a Military Head of State. A record that the egotistical OBJ would have loved to be the LONE holder.
Above all, Obasanjo started the demonisation of Hausa/Fulani ethnic group. As president of Nigeria, he retired all military personnel from the region who had held political offices such as Aide de Camp (ADC), from their places of work. He also started all the EVIL things that President Tinubu was doing against the North. He it is who KILLED most of the industries in the region by denying it adequate electricity. Such industries as TEXTILE, aplenty in the Northern region then, are today spoken of in the past tense.
Above all, Obasanjo was being a typical Yoruba person who would rather be found dead, than be seen criticising his tribe person, no matter how awful the performance of that person may be. It is certainly an impossible task finding a ‘worst ever government’ in Nigeria’s history, than President Tinubu’s.
In any case, the new found romance between OBJ and Tinubu, whom he refused to recognise the Local Governments he created in Lagos state, will only gain the President more ENEMIES among most citizens in Nigeria, and many other Nigerians in the DIASPORA.
May God make us end well with our dignity intact in these hard times of compromises.
Malumfashi writes from Katsina.
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