By Divine Nwakanma
Fans at the World Cup took comedy to another level, as they mimicked
Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Balabloo-blu-bulaba” misspeak.
Engineered by JP comedy, the video which has gone viral had World Cup fans from India and Qatar making fun of the gaffe.
Recently in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Tinubu, the presidenyial flag bearer for the APC in the 2023 election, at a meeting with private sector stakeholders, tried to justify his shunning of town hall and debates organised by media organisations during his remarks.
He slurrily said, “a town hall, different from “balabloo-blu-bulaba”, to the consternation of his listeners. It was not clear if APC presidential candidate was struggling to pronounce “hullabaloo”.
The apparent gaffe has elicited much criticism among Nigerians, with many pointing it out as further evidence of Mr Tinubu’s mental inadequacy.
But Mr Keyamo in attempting to water down the misspeak as a deliberate “sense of humour” by the politician.
Sharing a video of Mr Tinubu’s incoherent speech on Twitter on Friday, Mr Keyamo said:
“Listen to the sense of humour of @officialABAT. He says he prefers a proper town hall meeting to the gibberish his opponents say elsewhere.”
“He practically demonstrates the gibberish they say by uttering those tongue-twisting words to show the nonsense his opponents say elsewhere,” Mr Keyamo added.
Mr Tinubu, a septuagenarian, has been under strict scrutiny by Nigerians for his frail health. His many public gaffes, which critics say are symptoms of dementia, are constantly being highlighted as Nigerians get ready to elect a new leader on February 25, 2023.
At the flag-off of his campaign in Jos this week, Mr Tinubu suffered an embarrassing slip, screaming “God bless PD-APC at Jos presidential rally.” It was an unintended reference to opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before quickly retracing his speech to properly mention his party, the APC
The former Lagos governor had in October, hailed Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai’s creativity in turning the fortunes of his state from a “rotten situation into a bad one.”
Before then, the APC presidential candidate had forgotten how to pronounce the name of his party, referring to APC members as belonging to the “Action Group” party.
“And the commitment for us as members of the Action Group,” Mr Tinubu said while addressing members of his party in a viral video seen on social media in July.
Earlier in April, Mr Tinubu told Nigerians that their Permanent Voter Cards are “expired,” a claim refuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Watch the video here: https://www.facebook.com/100080481665457/posts/pfbid0gtZkdFg2vt8kwVHJpLKAbDpvFgbhsDxGdDD1DE1RA8wfUDRFLWYHdAF395yJ4jAXl/?app=fbl