There are few public voices in
Nigeria ready to speak truth to power. The
story of ‘Ordinary Ahmad’ is far from ordinary. Ahmad Isah hosts a regular
morning call in radio show ‘the Brekete family’, where Nigerians in the Federal
Capital Territory come to Ahmad with their problems. His show enables citizens
to voice complaints on wide ranging issues from non-payment of pensions, unfair
dismissal, poor treatment in government hospitals etc. Many of these issues are strongly linked to
corruption.
Ordinary Ahmad regularly makes
phone calls to Nigeria’s top government officials and politicians live on air
to help resolve citizen’s problems. This is accountability at its most
direct. His show has been off air for almost
four weeks. No one seems to be sure why. I join other Nigerians in hoping that his
show will come back on air soon.
A taste of ‘Ordinary Ahmad’ in
action.
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