A former senior executive of MTN Nigeria, Akinwale Goodluck says insinuations that Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed “stole” and “plagiarised” the recently launched “Change Begins With me” initiative are untrue.
Akinwale said this in a letter on Sunday to online news medium Premium Times as he sought to set the records staraight over the issue.
He said he first heard about the initiative in a meeting with Mohammed on November 10 at the minister’s suite at the Hilton hotel.
The letter reads in part, “I recall very clearly that I met with Lai Mohammed on the morning of the November 10 in his hotel suite at the Hilton in Abuja. It was a day before the swearing in of the cabinet. I had called Lai Mohammed seeking a meeting with him primarily to congratulate him on his nomination as a minister and also because of speculation that he was going to be Minister for Information and Communication.
“After exchange of pleasantries and rubbing minds on the state of our Nation and expectations of the new cabinet, Mr. Mohammed gave me a detailed breakdown of his strategic and tactical plans to re-orientate our people to achieve the required paradigm shift and new thinking to take Nigeria to the promised land. His discussion was centered around change and how it needed to be implemented. He was very clear about the critical role social media would play and he promised that as soon as he settled down he would seek my assistance to meet with the mobile operators to explore how technology and social media will help propagate the change message and re–orientation of our values.
“He was very emphatic and it was the first time I heard “Change begins with me”.
Akinwale said he met with the Minister again after a week, this time in company of Michael Ikpoki, the immediate former Chief Executive officer of MTN Nigeria.
“It was a courtesy visit late in the evening at the Ministry of Information. The Minister reiterated the Change initiative and again sought the cooperation of the mobile industry.”
Akinwale said he held several meetings with Lai Mohammed afterwards as they deliberated on the idea, stating “it is therefore impossible that the idea of the Change begins with me campaign was first proposed to the minister at a meeting in December.”
He also said he received a SMS from the minister on February 23, 2016, that he should forward slides he had made for the idea to two of his aides, Segun Adeyemi and Adeleye Williams.
“Electronic communications leave an indelible trace. It is therefore very surprising that anyone would suggest that the Change begins with me campaign was not the brainchild of the minister. I state without any equivocation that Lai Mohammed had discussed the Change begins with me campaign extensively as early as November 10, 2015.”
Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.
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