Nigerians have been urged to be circumspect while criticising actions and policies of the federal government.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, gave the charge on Wednesday, while featuring on ‘Hard Facts’, an audience participatory programme on Nigeria Info 95.1 FM in Abuja.
Onanuga believed that the citizens should give government some benefit of doubt, especially on official pronouncements.
“You see, what I find in Nigeria is that people should try to trust officials. When they say something, they should not put asterisks or doubt on everything they say. They should believe, they should give government the benefit of the doubt when they say this is what is happening, not to continue to to doubt every statement made by government.
“For me as a journalist, we should trust when officials give certain figures, unless you have something to the contrary, you have to publish the official version of events,” he stated.
Asked how about 137 Kuriga schoolchildren in Kaduna State were rescued without the terrorists being arrested or neutralised, Onanuga said it was purely a security matter and Nigerians should not expect the military to go public on its tactics.
“Well, it’s a security matter…Must they tell you everything they do?
“They won’t tell you everything they do. The military keeps telling you in engaging with these terrorists, they use kinetic and non-kinetic methods. I’m not a soldier, sometimes I don’t even understand what they are talking about. But, they will not tell you everything that is being done. It’s a security matter; you never know whether they have killed those people who abducted those kids. Don’t forget that somebody died in their custody. You never know what happened. I’ve never been briefed about that. But, like I said, whatever government tells you, you should believe what government said,’’ Onanuga said.
