Onanuga, Bwala behaving like attack dogs – Catholic priest, Oluoma

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A Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Rev. Fr. John Chinenye Oluoma, popularly known as Fada Oluoma, has criticised presidential media aides, including Daniel Bwala and Bayo Onanuga, accusing them of responding to criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration with personal attacks instead of reasoned engagement.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Oluoma reacted to the controversy surrounding recent comments by Cardinal John Onaiyekan on Nigeria’s economy following the cleric’s interview on Arise Television.

According to the priest, Cardinal Onaiyekan simply pointed out that many Nigerians were experiencing economic hardship, contrary to what he described as the President’s optimistic assessment of the economy.

Oluoma faulted the response of one of Tinubu’s media aides, who accused the cardinal of bias and unethical conduct, describing the reaction as unnecessary and provocative.

He particularly criticised Daniel Bwala, alleging that the presidential spokesman escalated the attacks against the Catholic cleric.

> “The first problem is with the president’s media aide who escalated this by accusing the Cardinal of bias and unethical behavior. That’s totally unnecessary and provocative. Then characters like Daniel Bwala took the campaign of calumny against the Cardinal to insane level.

> “I don’t know why media aides to presidents in this country think their job is to behave like attack dogs.

> “I expected Bayo Onanuga and his cohorts to respectfully and intelligently disagree with whatever the Cardinal said that they didn’t like.

> “All they needed do is explain how ‘rosy’ the economy has become or is becoming under Tinubu. Just reel out the macro and micro indices that support your position on the economy and allow Nigerians to judge. Bantering the cleric for saying what is OBVIOUS does your government no good,” he wrote.

The priest argued that government officials should have responded by presenting economic data and policy outcomes to support the administration’s position rather than attacking the messenger.

He maintained that many Nigerians were facing severe economic hardship, noting that ordinary citizens judge the state of the economy by the prices of food and other essential commodities.

While acknowledging that President Tinubu’s administration had introduced structural reforms that could benefit the country in the long term, Oluoma said those efforts should not be used to dismiss the immediate economic challenges confronting Nigerians.

He also defended the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and Cardinal Onaiyekan, insisting that they have consistently spoken out on issues affecting the welfare of Nigerians under successive administrations.