Billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist, Aisha Achimugu, has been in the news in the last couple of days for the wrong reasons. This time, it is not for her regular philanthropic activities, new business breakthroughs, or the crowd-pulling parties but for unfounded stories about her being on the run.
Curiously, the purveyors of the falsehood did not bother to even ask the basic questions—either from the EFCC, the organization they claimed was after her, or even the unknown, unlisted, or fictitious person or persons behind the claim that she was arrested and detained. Obviously, the write-up was a masterminded, malicious, and wicked act to malign an innocent Nigerian citizen.
A call to Aisha Achimugu would have been more professional rather than casting aspersions on a woman who employs hundreds of Nigerians and has close to five thousand on scholarships.
Unfortunately, the writers of the hatchet write-up simply didn’t take into cognizance all these and the implications their false report could have on her reputation as a businesswoman and a good global ambassador of Nigeria.
All that concerned them was to paint her in a bad light.
We called up the philanthropist, and in her usual calm and jovial mood, she was able to clarify things. For a start, she was neither detained by any government agency, nor, to the best of her knowledge, was any warrant of arrest issued on her. She ended the conversation with her usual laughter, asking, “Am I a terrorist or a wanted criminal?”
Again, anyone who cares to ask would know that Aisha Achimugu is not a government employee but a businesswoman whose operations are guided by internationally accepted principles of business, and all her businesses have safeguards in place to ensure transparency and her business governing council well protected.
Reliable as their sources were, they could not pin down exactly what Achimugu was wanted for and the offences for which they claimed the Commission would soon declare her wanted.
Sources close to the billionaire businesswoman affirmed that, contrary to the news that she’s on the run, she is outside the country on a business trip as she always does. The sources also said she has decided to allow God to fight for her, as He always does. She was also quoted to have said that, in the spirit of Ramadan, she forgives all because Ramadan is the month of forgiveness and love. She believes that it is only fair that when women rise, they should be given credit for their achievements rather than being pulled down or having their rising attributed to illicit wealth.
According to her, all it would have taken to confirm the veracity of the story was to place a call to her, because she is one of the few top successful persons who are not only accessible but have no airs around them. But the writer didn’t.
Aisha Achimugu has been in the news in the last couple of years, with many, including women, taken aback by her level of philanthropy, extensive global network, and business strategy.
The business mogul is one of the few women in the country employing over 400 Nigerians. Apart from this, she has been a source of pride to the country, attracting foreign investments while also leveraging her contacts and business acumen to give the country positive ratings outside the country.
Only recently, she was honoured at the Parliament in England, UK, with the African Achievers Award, and in the US with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the immediate past US President, Joe Biden, at events that gained a lot of momentum in the media due to the goodwill they brought for the country.
Also, in Nigeria, in the last couple of weeks, a reputable national newspaper gave her an award as the Entrepreneur of the Year.
Lest we forget, she is also a National Honours Awardee among over 250 million Nigerians.
She has, through her astuteness, proven to be a good ambassador for the country. But all these seem not to matter to those who are hell-bent on tarnishing her hard-earned reputation and hard work, not minding the fact that such reputations are necessary for successful networking.
In another breath, observers, however, feel it is not only unfair but out of place for invitations by the EFCC to be major news items among the many issues Nigerians are facing—painting invitees in a bad light even when they were ordinarily invited to clarify issues not directly involving them.
Such news items, when dropped and circulated, would have done much damage even though the person maligned was innocent. Nigerians should stop using the media to tarnish the image of those fighting to give the country positive ratings outside.
Aisha Achimugu is undoubtedly one of those fighting to give the country global positive recognition. We claim to be attracting direct foreign investments, yet we use the media to discredit those who have been accepted in the business world globally.
