Greatest Liar Of All Time
Lai Mohammed

When Lai Mohammed faulted the findings of the Economist magazine that Nigeria is less secure under the stewardship of the Buhari administration, many Nigerians were not surprised. They have come to see Lai Mohammed as the personification of lying or the poster child of lairs. Lai Mohammed did not only fault the publication but incredulously claimed that Nigeria is safer with all the killing, banditry, and kidnapping going on. Including the recent killing of a general in the Nigeria Army. The more you listen to Lai, the more you start thinking about the stereotype or cliche that says lawyers are liars. This is because the lawyers in Buhari’s cabinet, from Festus Keyamo to Babatunde Fashola and Yemi Osinbajo who are all Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), lying is becoming second nature. Whenever these Buhari men speak, Nigerians usually expect nothing but lies. It seems as soon as you get appointed by Buhari, you swear an oath to say the lie and nothing but the lie. Among these lying lawyers, Lai Mohammed is the Primus inter pares. Second only to Babatunde Fashola who famously said years ago while campaigning for Buhari that a serious government like the one he became Minister of Power, can fix the issues of power supply in six months. More than six years later, Nigerians are yet to experience constant power supply.

I sometimes wonder how individuals become who they eventually or ultimately become. For Lai Mohammed, his journey in becoming the greatest liar of all time (GLOAT) in Nigeria, started when he was born into the family of Alhaji Mohammed Adekeye in 1952, a native of Kwara State. He earned a bachelor’s degree in French from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in 1975. He obtained a law degree from the University of Lagos and then completed the Nigerian Law School in 1986. In October 2002, Alhaji Lai Mohammed was a gubernatorial candidate in the April 2003 Kwara State elections on the Alliance for Democracy platform. He served as Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Chief of Staff during his first term. It was probably this period that marked a shift in the lia-ability of Lai. One can arrive at this conclusion taking into consideration that two other great liars served Tinubu with him, and probably swore an oath to never say the truth because of the implications of saying the truth after being a chief of staff of a man like Bola Ahmed Tinubu – one of Nigeria’s most allegedly corrupt politicians.

This hypothesis of Lai Mohammed becoming the greatest lair of all time in Nigeria while serving Tinubu can be substantiated when you take into consideration the magnitude of malfeasance that he was privy to and have benefited from during his service to Tinubu. This is often the reason why many chiefs of staff become governors or get juicy appointments from their boss like Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State who is also a great lair. As we continue to search for a leader that can engender a period of peace, prosperity, and progress, let’s not forget the Tinubu men and mentees we have in Buhari’s cabinet who are true reflections of who Tinubu is and the type of governance expected from him, if his ambition of becoming President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria becomes a reality. The irony of this happenstance is that Nigerians who are not in doubt about the personality of Lai Mohammed and individuals like Yemi Osinbajo and Babatunde Fashola who are all mentees of Bola Ahmed Tinubu will still assume that a Tinubu Presidency will not be filled with lies and unfulfilled promises like what we are presently experiencing from Muhammadu Buhari.

Ata Ukuta, Editor – www.towncryyers.com