A nursing college in Nigeria, on 27 March, queried a student accused of posting on social media a viral video clip showing the college students chanting that Nigerian First Lady Remi Tinubu was not their “mother.”
The college authority said the student, Osato Edobor participated in singing the “malicious” song against Mrs Tinubu.
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However, the college, Delta College of Nursing Sciences, Delta State, south-south Nigeria, quickly withdrew the query hours after it was issued, after the intervention of the State’s Commissioner for Health, Joseph Onojaeme.
The college provost, Rita Evbodaghe, who signed both the query and its withdrawal, said, “The school authority regrets any inconveniences this might have caused the (Delta) state.”
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Mrs Tinubu was in Asaba, Delta capital, on Tuesday, 25 March, to distribute 10,000 professional kits (Crocs and scrubs) to midwives in Nigeria’s south-south region.
A song ‘Na our mama be dis’ was rendered in Pidgin English as a part of the welcome formalities for the Nigerian First Lady.
“Na our mama be dis-oo, we no get anoda one,” the lead singer’s voice could be heard in the video background.
“Na your mama be this-oo,” the student nurses at the event centre chorused, apparently refusing to accept Mrs Tinubu as their “mother”.
The clip, which was embarrassing to the Nigerian government, has since gone viral on Facebook, X, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms.
The clip and the reactions that followed it reflect the growing discontentment against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The student who was queried would have likely been expelled or suspended from studies if not for the commissioner’s intervention.
Inibehe Effiong, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer, said it was “sickening” for the college to query the students.
“The students refused to assert that Senator Oluremi Tinubu is their mother. How did that give rise to a query? Is Tinubu’s wife the mother of the students?
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“Instead of focusing on improving the quality of learning, they decided to issue a silly query,” Mr Effiong said in his reaction to the college withdrawing the query.
“Withdrawal of the query is not sufficient, the Provost of the College should be punished,” he added.”
