Kperogi: I’m one of the reasons thousands of Buhari’s media trolls were employed

Farooq Kperogi, an associate professor of journalism in the US, says he is one of the reasons why the Buhari Media Centre (BMC) was established.

In a series of posts on Twitter on Thursday, the critic of Buhari described himself as an employer of labour in the country.

He alleged that millions of people with fake social media accounts were employed by the BMC to attack him due to his critical posts on the presidency.

In December, the professor had a meltdown on Twitter over a controversial news item he shared in the past.

He had shared a report which said Sambo Dasuki, a former national security adviser (NSA), died in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

When Dasuki was released, many online supporters of the president taunted the professor who later went off the radar momentarily.

In the new tweets, Kperogi hit back at his attackers.

“You’re a BMC Troll? I’m Your Employer! Sometime in 2017, a long-time acquaintance of mine who works in the Presidential Villa told me I had become a “big-time employer of labor in Nigeria,” Kperogi said.

“I was puzzled until he explained that I was one of the major reasons the Buhari regime inaugurated a shadowy troll farm called the Buhari Media Center, which now goes by other names. The BMC started with only about 40 people who have multiple fake social media accounts.

“But it’s now an entire propaganda and mind-management industry that employs thousands of people and sucks up millions of naira monthly. N-Power beneficiaries have now been incorporated into it.

“Their remit is to flood online comments with pro-regime propaganda, smear and libel government critics, invent slanderous falsehoods against critics, magnify the slip-ups of critics and use that as a crutch to deflect focus on the government’s unending fraud, etc.

“But the unhealthy fixation the Buhari regime has on me is flattering, frankly. This must either mean that, in their cluelessness, they hyperbolize my influence on Nigerians or that my exposes of their malfeasance is achieving the intended effect. Or both.

“Whatever it is, I’m glad to be one of the reasons a swarm of thoughtless and unemployable online trolls have a monthly paycheck.”

You're a BMC Troll? I'm Your Employer!-THREAD
Sometime in 2017, a long-time acquaintance of mine who works in the Presidential Villa told me I had become a "big-time employer of labor in Nigeria." I was puzzled until he explained that I was one of the major reasons the Buhari

— Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) January 2, 2020

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regime inaugurated a shadowy troll farm called the Buhari Media Center, which now goes by other names. The BMC started with only about 40 people who have multiple fake social media accounts. But it's now an entire propaganda and mind-management industry that employs thousands of

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— Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) January 2, 2020

people and sucks up millions of naira monthly. N-Power beneficiaries have now been incorporated into it. Their remit is to flood online comments with pro-regime propaganda, smear and libel government critics, invent slanderous falsehoods against critics, magnify the slip-ups of

— Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) January 2, 2020

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critics and use that as a crutch to deflect focus on the government's unending fraud, etc. But the unhealthy fixation the Buhari regime has on me is flattering, frankly. This must either mean that, in their cluelessness, they hyperbolize my influence on Nigerians or that my

— Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) January 2, 2020

exposes of their malfeasance is achieving the intended effect. Or both.

Whatever it is, I'm glad to be one of the reasons a swarm of thoughtless and unemployable online trolls have a monthly paycheck.

— Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) January 2, 2020