Fake News Almost Ruined My Marriage – Lai Mohammed – TrendyNewsReporters

Former Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed has revealed how a fake news story claiming $1.9 billion had been paid into his account nearly destroyed his 40-year marriage.

Mohammed, who served as a minister during the Buhari-led administration, shared these words while speaking at a programme organised by the Department of Mass Communication, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, on Thursday, July 18.

In his words;

“The threat of fake news is a threat that needs to be addressed by all of us. It’s something that almost cost me my marriage of about 40 years. While we were in government, there were fake news that I had $1.9 billion in my bank account and unfortunately, a lot of people believed that, including my wife.

One day, my wife woke me up in the middle of the night and spoke to me in Yoruba. She called me, “Dad,” and I said, “Yes, what is it?” She said, “We all know that death can come at any time; we may say it would not be so soon, but it could be, but whatever happens, it would be good if you made me a signatory of your bank account to prepare me for any eventuality. Even my friends and many others are already begging me to give you money after seeing the report of so much money in your account.”
The former minister said he had to take time to explain to his wife that the report was a hoax and that the allocation to his ministry in a year was 5 billion naira, making it a total of 40 billion naira for the years he spent in government.
He said he wondered how someone somewhere could have made up such a story, saying that there was a huge sum of money in his bank.
“That’s why I strongly believe that this menace of fake news must be curbed. You won’t know the full extent of it until it affects you. It has destroyed many marriages, many people have even committed suicide because fake news about them has been published on social media,” he said.