By Ishola Adeleke, YeyeNews.com, December 6, 2021
Special Assistant to the Nigerian president Alhaji Garba Shehu has criticized Forbes Magazine for its choice of Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo for the African of the Year 2021 Award. The magazine announced the choice of Mr. Akufo-Addo for the award in its latest edition noting that the Ghanaian president has “repositioned the country in the global marketplace as one reliant on its own resources and strength… and for consistently being one of the world’s fastest growing economies”.
But Mr Garba Shehu while reacting to the award by Forbes questioned the rationale behind the choice of President Nana Akufo-Addo for the award. “Who is Akufo-Addo to win such award where there is President Buhari? Ghana that has a GDP the size of Lagos cannot compare to Nigeria that President Buhari has taken from a nearly failed state to become the largest economy in Africa. It is clear Forbes was misled and we know those responsible”. He however declined to mention names of those responsible for misleading Forbes.
Also a member of the Buhari Media Center (BMC) in Lagos Olawale Kazeem disagree with Forbes calling their choice of recipient a “huge joke”. He argued that President Buhari is the most deserving of the award. “The entire world knows that President Buhari is a transformational leader who has turned the Nigerian economy around. It is simply a huge joke for anyone to give Nana Akufo-Addo this award. I think it’s high time leading African media organizations like NTA started an award series to honor the real outstanding African leaders”, Kazeem told YeyeNews.com reporter.
