By Olayemi Esan
Following criticisms trailing a viral video where the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami addressed a section of the media in Hausa language where he is being accused of favouring an ethnic group above another, the Minister has clarified, that he first addressed the media in the English language.
In an interview as reported by Daily Independent, Malami's spokesperson, Dr. Umar Gwandu explained that his principal first addressed newsmen in English language but later spoke in Hausa following the request by international media stations like the Hausa-speaking service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
He said the stations had appealed to the Minister to also speak in Hausa language for the effect of the soundbite after the English language address.
“If you have any journalist who attended the press conference, you can call him to verify. He (Malami) first spoke in English language but because there was BBC Hausa and other international media stations that broadcast their programmes in Hausa language at that press conference, these stations asked for insert because of the essence of the soundbite and the minister obliged them by speaking in Hausa. The radio station is different from newspaper or television.
“The Minister spoke in Hausa, which is one of the three major languages in Nigeria because he understood and can speak the language. He would have done the same if he can speak Igbo and Yoruba too. Non-English speakers should not be denied access to news,” he said.
