The special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy communication, Daniel Bwala, has said that he received a private apology over his controversial interview on Al Jazeera.
Bwala, speaking when he featured on an episode of The Morayo Show published on Wednesday, said the network admitted it should have informed him beforehand that his credibility and past comments about President Bola Tinubu would form part of the interview.
He said he rejected the private apology and insisted it should be made public, adding that the matter is now before a court in England.
“They apologised to me privately. I said they should put it on social media. They said they would not because it would affect their credibility, because it’s not just them, but their mother programs at the Al Jazeera Network,” Bwala said.
It would be recalled that Bwala appeared on Head to Head hosted by Mehdi Hasan in March. During the interview, Hasan confronted him with old quotes, video clips and statements from his time as spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign.
The interviewer repeatedly referenced Bwala’s past criticisms of Tinubu, prompting the presidential aide to deny several of the statements.
“I never said that,” Bwala responded to many of Hasan’s questions.
Clips from the interview later went viral on social media, generating widespread reactions.
When asked by Morayo Afolabi-Brown, the host of the show, if he had taken any steps to reclaim his credibility, Bwala said he had instructed his lawyers in England to institute legal proceedings.
According to him, the broadcaster acknowledged that, under its ethical guidelines, it should have disclosed in advance that his past criticisms of Tinubu and his decision to later support the president would be scrutinised.
“The element of the apology was that they should have told me they were going to interrogate my credibility by asking why I now support someone I previously criticised. By their ethics, they admitted they ought to have told me, and they were sorry they did not,” he said.
“…because I called a number of media analysts, including Piers Morgan, whom I contacted through a third party, and confirmed that what they did was wrong.”
Bwala also accused Hasan of editing the pre-recorded interview in a way that misrepresented his responses.
He claimed the opening portion of the interview, in which he said he had warned Hasan that he would deny further questions about his past remarks because they were outside the agreed scope of the interview, was removed from the final broadcast.
“He took away the opening remark where I told him that I had indeed made those comments against Asiwaju and even said worse things, but that was not what I was invited to discuss. I told him that if he continued on that line of questioning, I would deny them. He removed that part,” Bwala said.
He argued that the editing created the impression that he was simply denying his previous statements without context.
Bwala said his legal advisers in England believe the broadcast amounts to defamation.
“The case is currently in court. We’re waiting for the verdict because my advisers in England said it is a case of defamation of character,” he said.
Responding to a question from the audience about what the Federal Government was doing to address the rising rate of emigration, popularly known as japa, Bwala said that some Nigerians who believe they are struggling financially are better off than many of their counterparts who migrated to the United Kingdom in search of better opportunities.
He claimed that many highly educated Nigerians in the UK work in care homes despite holding university degrees, adding that the cost of living leaves them with little disposable income.
According to him, some Nigerians with first-class degrees and postgraduate qualifications are employed as care workers, a job he described as “modern-day slavery”.
“Some of you in Nigeria who think you are suffering are better off than your colleagues that japa five years ago,” Bwala said.
“A Nigerian who finished with a first class or second class degree, and even adds another degree in the UK, many of them work in care homes. As far as I am concerned, it is modern-day slavery.
“On average, they earn about £2,600 or £2,800 a month, but almost all of it goes to rent, electricity, internet, television and other bills. By the time you add feeding and other expenses, there is very little left. That is why many of them are forced to do two or three jobs.”
Bwala compared their situation with that of a Nigerian earning ₦60,000 monthly, arguing that despite the lower income, such a person may have stronger family and community support and face lower living costs.
“I will compare that person with a Nigerian here earning ₦60,000. I’m just giving an example. That person may have relatives or friends who can lend or support them. Also, what we pay for electricity and some social services here is almost nothing compared to what people pay there,” he said.
Bwala acknowledged that Nigerians living abroad may enjoy better infrastructure and access to healthcare but argued that many still struggle to own assets because of the high cost of living.
“Your challenge here may be that you don’t have enough money to build a house or buy a car. That other person may not even own a car or be able to buy one in the next 20 years. Although they have better infrastructure and access to healthcare, they are not necessarily better off financially,” he said.
