18th May, 2020
Presidential aide Bashir Ahmad has attracted criticisms after he tweeted that the Niger Bridge is President Buhari’s gift to Nigerians.
“When the Second Niger Bridge is completed, it will be a gift that will keep the President
@MBuhari’s administration in the minds of millions Nigerians for a very long time. #PMBAtWork”, he wrote at 11.44p.m on Sunday.
Nigerians woke up to read the tweet today and some threw stones at him.
“Nigeria’s Money Not Buhari’s Gift. Nigeria is Bigger than one man”, said a Twitter user Nekka Smith.
“Public infrastructure from Govt is not a gift but the core responsibility of the Govt. That said, you are right that whoever completes the project will be leaving an indelible footprints on the mind of the Easteners and most users of that route”, another Nigerian Emmanuel Eze, replied.
“Does this bridge look(s) like something Buhari can complete and commission?”, wondered another contributor, a Dr. Elmo Atiku, a clear Atiku sympathiser.
Here are some other reactions:
https://twitter.com/Ezbaronkings/status/1262251237950525440?s=20
https://twitter.com/Mazipita/status/1262256820317564928?s=20
A gift? Is this how elected officials feel when they initiate projects funded with tax payers' money?
— O L A Y E M I (@yemmyse) May 17, 2020
You can't be ungrateful to a man who remembered you after decades of your abandonment by successive administration
— Amin Suleyman (@aminman2008) May 18, 2020
Igbos are the most ingrate set of people on this earth .if Buhari likes let him transform igboland to London today they still will hate him.Can you imagine Goodluck Jonathan spent five years on the throne without doing anything for them and he is their hero over Buhari
— MSA MSA (@kayi_allah) May 17, 2020
Do you reason at all?, even if he is actually building the bridge, is he using his own resources ? This is the money generated from that region from their natural and ingenuity resources. And you open your mouth to call what is supposed to be their right a gift?, You are sick.
— Ikechukwu Onuoha (@iddomega_onuoha) May 17, 2020
Despite the dust the tweet stirred, Ahmad’s tweet has attracted 5,300 likes and 1,300 retweets by 14:00 on Monday.
And it triggered two hashtags on Nigerian Twitter: #Niger Bridge and #Bashir.
Both trending topics had a combined tweet of over 15,000 by Monday afternoon.