$500m NTA Loan Request: Nigerians Lampoon Lai Mohammed

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 Editor

Nigerians have taken to social media to criticise Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed over his plans to borrow $500m to raise the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to the standard of Cable News Network (CNN).

The minister, who spoke during an appearance before the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans to defend the loan the ministry applied for from President Muhammadu Buhari’s $29.96 billion loan for funding infrastructure in the country.

According to him, the NTA has the “manpower and the technology” but the only thing left was to digitise the network.

Mohammed said the creative industry was not just about television but also about film, music, fashion and photography, and that the industry employs over one million young persons directly and indirectly.

Reacting to the statement, Nigerians express their surprise at the decision, why others queried the decision to spend such an amount on the digitization of a TV station.

See reactions below:

If Lai Mohammed wants NTA to compete with CNN, privatise it. CNN doesn’t belong to the American government. Unshackle NTA from Startimes, privatise it and focus on endeavours that directly lift Nigerians out of poverty. Enough of this jamboree style of governance! https://t.co/wK4wndevr9
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) February 10, 2020

Lai Mohammed requested $500m loan to transform Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to Cable News Network (CNN)?

Nigeria, put Lai Mohammed in your prayers! 😆🤣https://t.co/tXlW23liU2
— AyeMojubar 🎗 (@ayemojubar) February 10, 2020

Lai Mohammed must be a descendant of Alice, he wants to perform wonders to transform NTA to CNN with a loan of $500m. 😂😂 Let him tell us what he needs the money for.
— King Monye 👑 (@iamkingmonye) February 10, 2020

So I decided to see what's trending and boom! Lai Mohammed popped up.
That baba shu go and rest Biko. Is it not clear to him yet that he's the only one who believes what he says?.
— Ijeoma Alfred-Ategie (@Ijeomastella20) February 10, 2020

#LaiMohammed Walahi this govt has not stopped to amuse me,dey want 2 borrow $500m to re digitalised NTA, a moribund state monopoly that has not served the objective of which it was designed to do.Dis lying machine Lai Mohammed is the one championing it,we don suffer 4 dis country
— Olumuyiwa.com.ng (@OlumuyiwaBlog) February 10, 2020