In trying to explain why the media’s attacks on the personality of the honourable minister of Communication and Digital Economy are baseless, I would try to link it with a shift in opinion that happened to major US politicians from 2004 to date. The clips the media uses as proof for Pantami’s alleged support for terrorism are about that old. Apart from a basic lack of understanding of the context of the clips, many of them deliberately misinterpret the clips in order to use said clips as evidence for his alleged support for terrorism, an epic example of confirmation bias.
We all know that the United State supports and legally backs same-sex marriage. It wasn’t always the case. In fact, President Obama was the first president to support same-sex marriage in the United States. Prior to that, many same-sex couples lived in the shadows, as the government only recognised marriage between man and woman. Even in the military and other government institutions, they had a don’t ask don’t tell policy. A person was not allowed to be openly gay in the public sector. All these changed with Obama’s legislation. However, if one looks back to just a decade before, Obama had said on record that he as Christian believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, though in 2006 he questioned his position in his popular book, The Audacity of Hope. In the book, Obama says that: “And I was reminded that it is my obligation, not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided…that Jesus’ call to love one another might demand another conclusion.” It wasn’t until 2012 that Obama publicly announced his support for same-sex marriage, becoming the first president to do so.
At the same time, Joe Biden the current president of the United State is currently a supporter of gay marriage. He wasn’t always. During the 2020 election campaign, the Trump campaign team unearthed a video of Biden in 2006 saying that: “marriage is between a man and a woman and states must respect that-”. In both instances, the famous politicians recognised the political environment and changed their opinions on something they felt strongly against.
Citing the example of the above two politicians, it would be incredibly stupid for a person to suddenly start printing articles saying that they are against gay marriage, using videos that are almost two decade old as evidence, without seeing the need to clarify their current obvious positions.
This is the exact thing the Nigerian media is doing to Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami. And his case is even worse than the examples I cited as he has never publicly supported terrorism or order his followers to go on a killing spree of innocents. His whole life is enough evidence to show his position on terrorism and western education. However, some unscrupulous people have made it their life mission to destroy the good work he is doing in the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, and frankly speaking, I believe the main reason for the dislike is because he is too Muslim for them. He is a minister who conducts tafsir during Ramadan. A first in Nigeria! Another reason could be because he doesn’t play ball. If one wants to call for his resignation, it should be based on his performance in his current position and not because of his religious believes or perceived unproven support for terrorist. Critics should always remember that nobody is perfect. A person is okay as long as his good outweigh his bad.
In conclusion, I would like to urge us all to be objective in all we do. All the facts I mentioned can be fact-checked. You all have access to the internet and I am willing to accept corrections. Let’s respect ourselves. We live in a pluralistic society and we have to understand our differences in order to work together. Working together is the only way we can advance the country. Finally, I’ll like to pose these questions to those calling on Pantami to resign: Who would you want to replace Pantami after he resigns? Do you want us to go back to the days of Adebayo Shittu? Can you name two ministers that are doing better than Pantami in this current cabinet?
May Almighty Allah protect us all from the evil of our enemies.
PS: I don’t support or endorse gay marriage. It is against my religion. I just used it as an example.
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