Nigeria’s tech ecosystem received a boost when Bosun Tijani, founder and CEO of CcHub, a long-standing accelerator, was nominated as the country’s new minister of communications and digital economy.
But shortly after Tijani’s nomination, old tweets in which he criticised the Nigerian government began to resurface.
TechCabal reports that in one tweet from 2019, Tijani said, “‘Nigeria’ is a bloody expensive tag to have against your name. Leave patriotism for a minute – that tag is a bloody waste of energy. A second foreign passport isn’t sufficient to clean the ‘sin.’”
At his ministerial screening on Saturday, the founder was quizzed by senators at the Nigerian parliament.
Tijani’s response was that taken alone, the tweets did not paint the entire picture.
He explained that he made the tweet about Nigeria being an expensive tag after an incident at the Chinese Embassy because of his Nigerian passport.
“I am a patriotic Nigerian. I believe so much in this country and I won’t do anything to undermine the integrity of this country,” he said. “The tweets online don’t represent me at all. As a young man born and bred by Yoruba parents, I tender my sincere apology. I am profusely sorry.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio accepted the apology on behalf of the Senate after some Senators spoke in Tijani’s defence citing his impressive credentials.
The tech ecosystem has also rallied in support of Tijani with several key players like Andela founder Iyin Aboyeji, ex-CEO of Printivo Oluyomi Ojo, and Lifebank CEO Temie Giwa-Tubosun tweeting in support of the founder.
At this time, Tijani, who also apologised for the tweets, is yet to be confirmed as the minister.
