Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the head of the World Trade Organisation, has spoken out against a fake social media post that wrongly quoted her criticizing President Bola Tinubu’s approach to dealing with security issues in Nigeria.
The misleading post, titled “Trump didn’t ‘hit’ us – our leaders did,” falsely claimed that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala accused Nigerian leaders of talking too much and not taking enough action against problems like banditry and insurgency. It also wrongly said she told President Tinubu to stop making speeches and focus on protecting the people.
On Saturday, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala used her official X account (formerly known as Twitter) to call out the post as fake and harmful. She made it clear that she never wrote or said those things. She also warned people not to believe or share the false information and mentioned that legal actions are being taken against those who made the fake post.
“Watch out, this story on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook is not true! We are taking action! The person who made this up couldn’t even spell my name right,” she tweeted.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala criticized the impersonation and urged those responsible to own up instead of hiding behind her name. Meanwhile, on his Truth Social platform, Trump made a comment about the U.S. possibly taking strong action if alleged killings continued, which led to a lot of backlash.
President Tinubu and the Nigerian government responded to the criticism by stating that Nigeria is committed to democracy and religious freedom. In a post on his X account, Tinubu highlighted that the Nigerian Constitution supports freedom of religion and that his government works with leaders of all faiths to ensure peace and security.
President Tinubu also rejected the idea that Nigeria is a country that doesn’t tolerate different religions, saying that this view is wrong and doesn’t match Nigeria’s diverse and united nature.
He reaffirmed that religious tolerance is a key part of Nigeria’s identity and will always be important.
