Oyogist.com has gathered that the special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has blamed churches and mosques as well as some sections of the media for promoting messages of hate.
He added that the #EndSARS movement was a vehicle of hate messages.
The President’s spokesman said this in an article titled, ‘If Nigeria Dies, Hatred Killed Her’.
Adesina wrote, “The EndSARS campaign began as an agitation against police brutality, in which there was unanimity of purpose. And suddenly, it became a vehicle of hate, against leadership, against national cohesion, an opportunity to settle political scores, and equally, prepare for a power grab in 2023. Hatred came into the mix.”
Several influential clerics, including the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, had openly expressed support for the #EndSARS protests even as the RCCG posted a video and stories of some of its youths that were victims of police harassment.
The President’s spokesman added, “When things boil over in graphic demonstration of hatred, it is a culmination of negative sentiments and tendencies. They come in persistent negative postings on social media, which generate and stimulate hate.
“From hateful messages from the pulpit, as if that was the message of love, Jesus Christ handed over to his followers. From unduly critical messages during Jumat services. From radio and television programs, in which bile is spewed. From talk shows which become a harangue of government, newspaper articles and columns tailored to instigate and generate dissent, and the like.
“Eventually, all culminated in hatred, which finds expression in genuine causes like the EndSARS campaign. When things boil over, they leave sorrow, tears and blood in their wake, as we have seen. And who suffers? The whole country. Who bleeds? Nigeria.”
