Naija Bet, a Nigerian sports betting firm, has dismissed claims that
it disrespected the country’s ailing President, Muhammadu Buhari, who is
currently in London undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment.
“We would just like to put this on record, Nigerians want their
president back, we are only trying to voice the yearning of the people
via the little platform we have,” NaijaBet tweeted yesterday in reply to
a tweet by The Guardian on the subject.
The president’s return to Nigeria has been subjected to a lot of
speculations though his office has consistently maintained that he would
return only when his doctors give him the go ahead.
Speculations surrounding his imminent return were heightened
earlier in the week when the presidential jet that had been on standby
in the United Kingdom since May 7 reportedly left London.
NaijaBet, in the light of the growing assumptions, decided to give
punters a chance to bet on President Buhari’s likely return date. The
move has been interpreted by some Nigerians as a slap on the ailing
leader, but the betting company said it did not mean to disrespect the
74-year old president.
“We want to show the president and the government that the people are
anxious for his wellbeing and anticipate his early return (hence the
short window dates as betting options).”
This is coming days after the United States television medium, Cable
News Network (CNN) mocked Nigeria over Buhari’s continued absence in the
country in its last edition of “The Global Public Square (GPS)”, a
foreign affairs show anchored on CNN by Fareed Zakaria.
In an apparent mockery of Nigeria and her president, CNN, on its
programme displayed: “The head of state from which country has not set
foot in his homeland in over two months?” It went ahead to tick an
option with the name Nigeria as the correct answer. The options were
given as Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Nigeria and Syria.