An online platform, Discover Africa News (www.discoverafricanews.com), has dissociated itself from the opinion expressed by its Online Editor, Ms Fatoumata Oumar, on the wide-range protests ongoing in the country.
According to the owners of thr platform, “while we uphold the universal principle of freedom of expression which entitles everyone to their opinion, Ms. Oumar has been served a notice to step aside indefinitely from the Online Editor position, a responsibility she had handled passionately for nearly three years. This is to enable Management address the myriad petitions generated by her comment. In the interim, Mr. Kingsley UBA, who has been the Editor, West Africa, doubles as the Online Editor.”
On Saturday, Oumar had made the following update on her Facebook page: “I think the protests in Nigeria is largely aimless. Aimless protesters. Make your demands DEFINITE”. In another update same day, Oumar wrote: “I stand in solidarity with Nigerians, especially the Youth and Celeb as they unite to fight mis-governance through protests.
“To me, this is a sign of renaissance and it is welcome. As a journalist, covering Africa, I have information about Nigeria and I have written a lot of stories on Nigeria. Just like it is in some other parts of Africa, maladministration is endemic in Nigeria.
“But I worry that the ENDSARS protest in Nigeria is not properly thought-out. That is why they are still on the street even after the Government granted their demands. It appears me that the protesters should do more to get their thoughts together on what their demands should be. They must ask for definite things that would bring eternal solution to bad governance in Nigeria.
“I love the Nigerian spirit. You can deploy this to ask for something definite and fundamental. Other African countries have made demands at some points. We can mention them. Nigeria’s leadership recruitment system is flawed. These protesters voted them; voted corruption and brutality. A step in the right direction is to ask for a re-engineering of your electoral system.”
According to the release, signed by Yassim K. Yassim for the management, “In line with our founding principles, Discover Africa News, as an afro-centric news organisation will continue to give voice to Africans towards the development of all facets of Africa and then the world.”
