The Minister of Communication, Dr. Isa Pantami has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. Pantami was appointed the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 and was later elevated to the post of Minister in 2019.
Since his appointment, he has been at the forefront of the drive to ensure that Nigerians enroll for their National Identity Number– a responsibility of the National Identity Management Commission and its DG. Also, he has more or less outshone the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communication Commission, Umar Garba Danbatta when it comes to interacting and dealing with the telecommunications companies.
He recently lifted the ban on new SIM registration last week which had held sway since December 2020. This was after Nigerians questioned the reason for the ban.
Pantami who doesn’t shy away from his Islamic principles and beliefs is currently being lampooned for his past radical preaching, as well as jihadist and extremist views.
Why has Nigeria’s Minister of Communication been in the news?
It all started with Daily Independent publishing a story that the Minister of Communication has been added to the terror watchlist of the United States. Although the story has since been retracted and the newspaper has apologised, it did not stop Nigerians and journalists from further scrutinising the story.
Well, further checks by some media outlets revealed that Pantami has indeed made incendiary comments in the past that appeared to support the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda. Even the content of some of his preachings are unarguably extreme.
David Hundeyin, a Nigerian journalist quoting one of Pantami’s sermon (he spoke in Hausa) in an article titled “Isa Ali Pantami – The Inside Story of Nigeria’s Minister of Communications” wrote: “With respect to inquiries/clarification on this topic, I decided to respond timely so as to underscore the importance of the Topic to the people. A very important thought that came into my mind, is that what our brethren-Al Sunnah (Salafists) want to know is how the Talibans who lived in Afghanistan were subjected to trials from Allah on this earth. Subjected to a test of faith and love.
Furthermore, there were a group of people, Infidels, from the Western World, who don’t have any other target in this life except to destroy the good image of the Talibans in the eyes of their Muslim brethren, to destroy the Taliban image even in the eyes of the Infidels themselves, by means of accusing the Taliban of deeds which were not committed by them.
After initially denying ever-making such a statement, the Minister made a u-turn stating that he was immature when he made them.
He said: “Some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity.
“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.”
Battle of the Hashtags: #PantamiMustResign vs. #pantamimuststay
As expected, Nigerians were for and against the Minister of Communication. As a result, some called on him to resign because of his alleged support for Al-Qaeda and his radical sermons while others asked that he should remain and continue his job as Minister.
Nigerians took to Twitter to express varying opinions on the issue. In-between, pro-Pantami and anti-Pantami hashtags trended. Prominent among them are #PantamiMustResign and #pantamimuststay.
Do you think Pantami should resign? Drop your thoughts in the comment section!
