How Fake News Almost Crashed my 40-year-old Marriage—Ex-information Minister Lai Mohammed
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the former Minister of Information and National Orientation, recently shared a personal anecdote highlighting the detrimental impact of fake news circulated on social media.
Speaking at an event in Lagos commemorating Prof. Wole Soyinka’s 90th birthday, Africa’s inaugural Nobel laureate for literature, Mohammed recounted how the proliferation of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation posed significant challenges during his tenure as minister.
He emphasized the far-reaching consequences of these issues, underscoring how they nearly jeopardized his 40-year-old marriage.
“Permit me to share publicly with you today, for the first time, how social media threatened the foundation of my forty-year-old marriage.
“It was sometimes in 2018 when I came to Lagos from Abuja for an official assignment.
“As usual, I retire to bed about midnight, but at about 3 a.m., my wife gently roused me from my slumber.
“At first, I panicked, fearing that there had been a security breach, but my wife’s mind belied that possibility, for she was calm and composed,” the ex-minister said.
He continued: “Solemnly, my wife asked me if I was fully awake as there were some serious issues to discuss.
“I could not fathom what was that urgent or serious to warrant being woken up at this time of the night.
“My mind immediately did a kaleidoscope of my rascalities and escapades in the last few months.”
Mohammed said the accusation from his wife which according to him, was ‘a bombshell’ narrated to him in Yoruba language, but roughly translated thus:
“Daddy, death can come knocking at any moment, please let me also, as your wife, be a signatory to your oversea account in Ali Financial which contains 1.3 billion dollars.”
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The ex-minister expressed disbelief that his wife wholeheartedly believed the fabricated tale circulating, alleging vast amounts of money in foreign accounts belonging to government officials/ministers during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I spent the next two hours or so, sweating to convince my wife that there is no iota of truth in the allegation.
“I had to fetch a calculator and reproduce the Federal Appropriation Act for 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 in the middle of the night and explain to her why it is simply preposterous for me to have 1.3 billion dollars in a foreign account.
“I explained to her that there is no year my capital budget exceeded N5 billion, which, at about N400 to a dollar, was just 12.5 million dollars.
“I explained that, even if I managed to divert every kobo of it to my personal account, it would take at least 104 years to save the sum of 1.3 billion dollars being peddled that I stole,” he said.
Mohammed added: “My wife insisted that the whole world believed the story and that her friends had as a result, besieged her with all kinds of requests.
“She said every effort on her part to deny the existence of this foreign account only succeeded in depicting her in the minds of her friends as a selfish, greedy, and uncaring friend.
“Is my wife truly convinced of my innocence? The answer is in the wind!.”
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Mohammed emphasized that social media remains the preferred platform for disseminating fake news, attracting various groups such as anti-state factions, anarchists, secessionists, terrorists, and bandits.
Reflecting on his tenure in government, Mohammed highlighted the discovery of 476 online publications dedicated to spreading falsehoods against the Buhari administration.
He specifically recalled the propagation of fake news alleging the demise of the former president during treatment in a London hospital, replaced by a clone named “Jubril from Sudan.”
Mohammed noted the persistence of the fake news challenge, extending into the 2023 general election campaigns, where President Bola Tinubu became a target. Manipulated videos and speeches attributed to Tinubu were circulated to undermine his administration’s policies and programs.
He pointed out that the proliferation of fake news has been exacerbated by advancements in Artificial Intelligence and deep learning techniques, enabling the creation of highly realistic manipulated content such as videos, audio recordings, and images.
“The consequences of disinformation and misinformation are far-reaching.
“They undermine democratic processes, sow discord within communities, and pose significant threats to public health and safety.
“Today, even the media is at risk of losing its credibility because of the proliferation of fake news on social media.
“Therefore, the media, as custodians of the public trust, must take decisive action to combat the scourge of disinformation and misinformation,” he said.
Mohammed noted the importance of holding social media platforms and other intermediaries accountable for amplifying disinformation and misinformation. He stressed the need for stringent regulatory frameworks to counter the spread of false information while preserving freedom of expression.
He urged social media platforms to prioritize the integrity of information over profit motives. Mohammed called for proactive measures to detect and remove harmful content from their platforms.
