Recently, someone sent me an unsolicited WhatsApp message. As a columnist, and being naturally curious, I read any written message sent to me. After all, column ideas can come from unusual sources. However, on this occasion, after skimming the message, I dismissed it right away. Why? Well, the content of the message was too outlandish that only the credulous would readily believe it.
According to a story attributed to “a senior Presidency insider” and “exclusively confirmed” to a news outlet called “ISTA News Bulletin” President Bola Tinubu planned to rename Nigeria as the “United States of Nigeria (USN)”, transfer significant powers to the states and abolish Sharia law across the North. The proposals for this radical redesign of Nigeria were set out in a document code-named “Project True Federation”, with President Tinubu expected to present a bill to the National Assembly by December 15 to give legislative effect to the sweeping and momentous constitutional changes. My immediate reaction was utter incredulity, and, as I said, I immediately dismissed the story.
However, recently, the story appeared to have gained enough traction that the presidency felt the need to deny it. On May 21, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, issued a statement saying: “The Presidency wishes to state clearly that there is no truth to the viral fake story claiming that President Bola Tinubu seeks to carry out constitutional amendments that will change Nigeria’s name to the United States of Nigeria and abolish Sharia law in the Northern region.” The Presidency said the story was part of a “dubious plot by some desperate politicians to create disaffection in our country, stir up a political crisis, and heat up the polity ahead of the general elections,” adding that “Nigerians should ignore the viral story in its entirety because the purveyors of the fake news are agents of destabilisation and merchants of disorder.”
