When investigative Journalist David Hundeyin, broke the news on his X, about how he triumphed over the temptation to craft an article to smear the Dangote refinery and be rewarded ‘handsomely’, not many people believed him.
Hundeyin had last weekend in a series of posts on X, written
about how he struggled first with the idea of going public with serious
allegations against an international NGO, known as Dialogue Earth, accusing
them of attempting to commission a smear campaign targeting the Dangote
Refinery while pretending to be addressing environmental concerns.
According to him, the foreign NGO, which was known
previously as China Dialogue Trust, offered him N800,000 which is about $500 to
write an article to be focused on environmental issues surrounding the Dangote
refinery.
“I debated long and hard whether to do this publicly, but I
think a message needs to be sent to a group of external interests working in
tandem with the internal interests described in the quoted tweet to counteract
the interests of half a billion West Africans. A message that at whatever level
we exist, we take our destiny seriously and we are not to be trifled with.
“Last week, I received an N800,000 offer from an
international NGO called Dialogue Earth (formerly known as China Dialogue
Trust) to write an article essentially saying that Dangote Refinery is terrible
for the environment because something something “Environmental Concerns,”
something something “Climate Change,” something something “Energy Transition
Policy,” something something “COP 28.”
“The (unstated but clearly implied) thrust of the brief was
for a prominent local voice to put their name on an article that is an argument
or a premise for the the Nigerian government to kill the refinery based on its
“energy transition commitments” and “environmental policy.” This conclusion
wasn’t immediately apparent when they reached out to me, but I suspected where
it was heading, and I quickly accepted the offer so that I could see the brief
and obtain hard evidence. I’ve attached screenshots from the brief below…”
Hundeyin stated.
Some netizens however, believed him, praised him for having
the will power to make such important exposure in the interest of the Nigeria
people. They also advised him to stay safe.
For people doubting whether the post and claim were facts,
Hundeyin spoke on the same issue on Arise Television during the week. There, he
explained what went down.
According to him, there are foreign actors who exploit
Africa’s energy challenges which manifested recently in a narrative war against
Dangote Refinery aimed at maintaining energy poverty in Nigeria.
He stated clearly that he went public with the issue so that
people will know that ‘there are external interests invested in the energy
poverty that Nigeria and West Africa have historically faced’.
Hundeyin who emphasised the importance of public exposure as
a powerful tool against hidden agendas, maintained his earlier claim on X, that
he was offered N800,000 by an international NGO, known as Dialogue Earth, to
defame the Dangote refinery. N800,000? That’s what it would have taken him to
do a stinker against the Dangote refinery? The bribe amount sounds quite
ridiculous to many who also see it as a huge insult on the journalism
profession.
His words, “People need to know that there are external
interests invested in the energy poverty that Nigeria and West Africa have
historically faced. I don’t believe that my going public with it is going to
change the world, however, I think that the power of public exposure is one of
the last few powers that regular people in this part of the world still have.
“A lot of the powers that these foreign actors wield can be
wielded because it is done in secret because people don’t even know they
exist.”
Just as he wrote on his X, the investigative journalist
disclosed that for long, many foreign actors have been benefiting from Africa’s
persistent energy challenges, adding that if he didn’t go public on this
encounter, it would have been labeled conspiracy theory as usual.
“Prior to this incident, if you were to come out and tell
people that there are players in the global development space or in the NGO
space who would very much like the status quo to be preserved in terms of
Africa being poor and Nigeria suffering from energy poverty, despite being one
of the world’s largest energy exporters, it would sound like a conspiracy
theory.
“There is a narrative war being fought by foreign entities,
using African faces to lead this attack,” he said.
In essence, the move by the NGO involved was ‘part of a
broader strategy to preserve the status quo of energy poverty in Africa despite
the continent’s vast resources.’
Asked whether he believed some other journalists may have
been approached by not just the NGO he mentioned but by other foreign entities
to scuttle major projects in the country, he said, “Absolutely, 100%! First of
all, in this instance, I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t the only journalist that
they would have reached out to though I can’t prove that yet. In the aftermath
of going public, they mobilised a narrative response on a news platform.
There’s already a pushback where what I did was termed
sensationalist…essentially, that it’s not a big deal that I kind of
misrepresented what was being done and that I’m basically an attention seeker.
That I did it to chase clout.”
The said offer that would have worked against Dangote
refinery was according to the journalist, not the first time he was approached
for commissioned work but actually, the first time he got an offer to write
against Nigeria’s interest.
“It is not the first time in terms of being commissioned,
that I have been approached to write a story or an article. It is very common
within the journalism space but this is the first time that someone has come to
me with an offer to write about something that affects my country, and affects
me potentially, basically telling me to write against my own interest.”
Hundeyin maintained he made the revelation in the interest
of Nigerians while not expecting action from the government.
“I expect the government to do absolutely nothing as they
always do. I didn’t do this to get a response from the government. It was to
educate the public because I think it is only the public that can rescue this
thing now, because clearly the government of the day at the very least, doesn’t
seem to care if Dangote refinery takes off or not.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com