Bashir Ahmad, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on new media, has tackled Zlatan, a singer, for seemingly making a joke of an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on COVID-19 cases in the country.
The NCDC had taken to its Twitter page on Sunday night to announce that 86 new cases of the novel disease had been confirmed in the country — an indication that the novel coronavirus is on the rise in Nigeria.
The ‘Yeye Boyfriend’ crooner, who retweeted the update, however, appeared to have made a mockery of the development with several laughing emojis.
Advertisement— #ZLATAN20 (@Zlatan_Ibile) April 19, 2020
Zlatan’s reaction had consequently left opinions divided on the social media platform with many questioning the rationality behind his choice of the emojis.
Joining the fray, Ahmad called out the singer for catching fun with an issue which has continued to affect many people across the country.
He cited Buhari’s comment in his nationwide broadcast on April 13, that the COVID-19 was a matter of life and death and therefore shouldn’t be joked about.
“Zlatan, as President Buhari stated in his national broadcast on April 13th, ‘this is not a joke, it’s a matter of life and death,” he wrote.
Zlatan, as President Buhari stated in his national broadcast on April 13th, ‘this is not a joke, it’s a matter of life and death.’ https://t.co/P1IpHfz7ax
Advertisement— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) April 20, 2020
The president’s aide also explained that his decision to reply Zlatan was informed by the fact that he is a celebrity with huge followers and could inadvertently mislead them with such gesture.
“I can see some people are angry with my reply to Zlatan’s tweet, which he made a joke out of NCDC’s last night update on #COVID19Nigeria. I didn’t reply him as Zlatan, I replied him as a celebrity, who has hundreds of followers. Again, ‘this whole #COVID19 issue is not a joke,” he added.
I can see some people are angry with my reply to Zlatan’s tweet, which he made a joke out of NCDC’s last night update on #COVID19Nigeria. I didn’t reply him as Zlatan, I replied him as a celebrity, who has hundreds of followers. Again, ‘this whole #COVID19 issue is not a joke.’ pic.twitter.com/qgA8aI2gdB
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) April 20, 2020
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