Nigerians Have Every Right To Criticize Underperforming Public Servants – Mr Macaroni

Nollywood actor and popular skitmaker, Mr Macaroni has come out to blast former presidential media aide, Bashir Ahmad over his comments on the destruction of Rahama Saidu’s properties in Kano. He recently had his say via his social media page, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, it is sad to see an ex-presidential aide telling Nigerians that it is wrong for a citizen to criticize a Governor who is a public servant, and he wonders how criticizing a governor should lead to the destruction of her properties.

He added that people should stop defending oppression because citizens should have every right to express themselves.

Bashir had said, “I honestly didn’t want to say anything about this Rahama Saidu’s issue. What she did was completely wrong, she shouldn’t have called out the Governor’s name in that manner. However, the treatment she received afterwards, especially the burning of her shop, is absolutely ridiculous and condemnable. Nothing can justify such an act. I sincerely hope the Kano Government will intervene, ensure justice is served, and the perpetrators are held accountable.”

Reacting, Mr Macaroni wrote, “This is a former Presidential Media aide who has OON attached to his name telling the world that it is wrong for a citizen to criticize the Governor who is a public Servant. There is no justification for the destruction of Rahama Saidu’s properties!!! And the first part of Bashir’s message blames the victim instead of outrightly condemning the attack!

So a citizen expressing her frustrations is justification for the destruction of her properties? Do the people no longer have the right to express themselves? You love to defend oppression when it affects others but turn around to condemn it when it affects you… Despicable!”

WOW.

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.