‘Get Your Facts Right’: El-Taofik Yusuf Tackles Dino Melaye Over ‘Everything About Tinubu Is Fake’ Claim

An Associate Professor at the University of Greenwich, London, Dr. El-Taofik Yusuf, has challenged former Kogi State Senator Dino Melaye over his claim that “everything about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fake,” urging the politician to substantiate his allegations with credible evidence.

Yusuf, in a strongly worded response to Melaye, said the former lawmaker’s sweeping assertion amounted to an “absolute proposition” presented as political analysis without the evidence required to support such a serious claim.

According to him, while Melaye possesses political instincts and the capacity to engage public discourse, “to declare that everything about President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is fake is not a demonstration of intellectual sophistication.”

He said claims of such magnitude must be backed by evidence of comparable magnitude, warning that without such evidence, political rhetoric could become a substitute for reason.

Yusuf acknowledged that robust criticism of political leaders remains an important component of democracy, stressing that democratic societies depend on scrutiny, dissent, accountability and the courage to question those in power.

However, he argued that criticism loses intellectual strength when it is driven by absolutism and fails to recognise the importance of proportion, evidence and nuance.

“The real danger of unconstructive criticism is not simply that it may be inaccurate,” Yusuf said.

“More profoundly, even criticism containing an element of truth can become intellectually counterproductive when expressed through absolutism without reflexivity.”

He maintained that such an approach could hinder rational inquiry and make it difficult for citizens to distinguish facts from conjecture, evidence from emotion and legitimate scepticism from political hyperbole.

The university don urged political actors and citizens to adopt a more rigorous approach to public discourse by questioning the evidence behind conclusions rather than simply accepting or rejecting claims based on political affiliations.

“The intellectually disciplined citizen does not ask merely, ‘Do I agree with this?’ The more consequential question is: ‘What evidence would justify this conclusion?’” he said.

Yusuf described that approach as the dividing line between critical thinking and what he called “political theatre.”

Addressing Melaye directly, he urged him to continue questioning and challenging those in authority but advised him to ensure that his facts are properly established before making sweeping conclusions.

“So, Mr Dino Melaye, keep questioning, keep challenging, and keep the intellectual fire burning, but get your facts in order before you sit for the examination,” he said.

“In serious political discourse, reality, not rhetoric, must remain the final examiner.”

Yusuf, who is an Associate Professor at the University of Greenwich, London, concluded by suggesting that the controversy surrounding political criticism in Nigeria reflects a broader problem in the country’s public discourse.

“The real crisis is deeper, and we all know it,” he said.