By John Ogunsemore
Former Senior Special Assistant (New Media/Digital Communications) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, said public affairs analyst, Farooq Kperogi’s apology to the late ex-president’s widow, Aisha Buhari, is cowardice dressed as contrition.
On Sunday, Kperogi apologised to Mrs. Buhari after claiming in a Wednesday post on Facebook that she was divorced from the ex-president and had reverted to her maiden name, Aisha Halilu, before his passing.
Kperogi, who did not retract his claim, said it should not have been made public, hence his apology for the hurt caused to the former First Lady.
However, in a post on Facebook, Ahmad berated the United States-based academic, describing his publication as “reckless and ill-timed”.
He said, “Farooq Kperogi’s reckless and ill-timed publication about the personal life of the former First Lady, Her Excellency, Aisha Buhari, a widow in mourning, is a grave disservice to the very profession he teaches, journalism. You can’t be a journalism teacher and specialise gravely in speculative reportage.
“To act on secondhand claims, admit they were not intended to be public and then seek refuge behind an apology after the damage is done is not courage, it is cowardice dressed as contrition.
“Journalism should be about these three fronts; truth, accountability and respect, and Farooq failed on all three fronts.”
