ABUJA (Sundiata Post) Lai’s reactions to some developments in the country before he got into government are different from the ones on similar developments after he had gotten into government.
1. On government’s proscription of groups
Before: In a statement he issued on the 9th of June 2013, Lai criticised the then government’s ban on Boko Haram and Ansaru saying that parts of the law used to ban them were unconstitutional.
After: In an article he wrote in the Washington Times of 12th October 2017, Lai urged Nigeria’s international partners to follow the country’s lead and proscribe the IPOB – probably with legal instruments that are not very different from the one that banned BH and Ansaru.
2. On Transparency International’s reports on Nigeria.
Before: Transparency International (TI) had released a report in December 2012 in which it rated Nigeria as the 35th Most Corrupt Country in the world. Lai accepted the report and said that it provides the evidence that President Jonathan’s claim in his October 1 2012 speech about improvement in corruption in Nigeria was false.
After: A few days ago, Lai was reported to have accused the same TI of frustrating the current government’s efforts with its unfavourable reports.
3. On reports of human rights abuses by international NGOs
Before: He accepted an April 2013 Human Rights Watch report on the killings in Baga and used it to accuse the Jonathan government and JTF of committing a massacre in the town.
After: In August 2017, Lai accused a sister agency Amnesty International of “cooking up” a report about hundreds of Nigerians being held in secret detention centres in the country. His government is also currently fighting Amnesty on its latest report about abuse of female IDPs.
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