5 ways Osinbajo spokesperson attacked Guardian Editor

Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,

Ogbodo had written an article which turned out to be very critical of Osinbajo. It was all Akande needed to dust his laptop and shoot from the hip.

Interestingly, Akande used to be the US correspondent of The Guardian back in the day.

Here are five ways Akande sought to deconstruct Ogbodo:

1. Ogbodo has destroyed the Guardian's investigative reputation

Akande writes: "There is something incongruous about the Editor of the Guardian Newspapers, a paper once known for its strident advocacy against abuse of power and corruption, to excoriate a Vice President who repeatedly calls out perpetrators of grand corruption.

"Even more astonishing is the fact that the Editor, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo abdicates the investigative role of his newspaper when there are allegations of corruption, but works hard to disparage both the information supplied and the informer".

2. Akande says Guardian editor is a rabid PDP apologist

Here's how the presidency spokesperson put it: "While it is clear that the Editor is a rabid PDP apologist, and this is obvious from the direction that he has taken the newspaper since he assumed the role, one would have thought that, even if only to give an appearance of fairness in the great tradition of a newspaper celebrated for balance, (and "the best tradition and ideals of republican democracy") he would still not descend to the use of abusive language against the Vice President".

3. Did Akande just call Ogbodo 'ignorant'?

You decide for yourself: "Perhaps it might help to reiterate what the VP said at the Quarterly Business Forum held on the 19th of March, 2018. His basic premise was

"He said that, unlike any other country, it would be either ignorant or negligent of any economic planner in Nigeria not to fully appreciate the massive hemorrhaging that comes from corruption. He went on to point out that despite the fact that the nation earned between $100 to $114 a barrel of oil between 2011 and 2014, investment in capital was abysmal".

4. Ogbodo doesn't understand how much corruption has destroyed Nigeria

"How corruption can defeat our best hopes for the future!", Akande writes.

He adds that: "Nigeria’s recursive economic growth is not merely because we have for years ran a mono-product economy, it is more because the proceeds of that single product is hijacked by a few. So even when oil earnings were high, the number of the poor, sick, malnourished and child mortalities continued to rise".

5. Ogbodo is an example of corruption fighting back

In Akande's words: "For the editor of a major Nigerian Newspaper, like The Guardian, to attempt to trivialize all that, rather than hold the perpetrators to account, is the tragic paradox of corruption fighting back through the very forces established to fight it".

Ok, we are off!