The Nigerian government, on Wednesday, shared a video of a Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, pledging a $600 million investment to expand existing port infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services in Nigerian ports.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, had, in a statement on Sunday, quoted Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla, supposedly telling his principal in Saudi Arabia that ”we believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.”
Hours later, the company spokesperson told Lloyd’s List that regarding the present Nigerian government, “We are not able to comment on any investment talks at this stage.”
The statement from an aide to the Danish company is neither an outright confirmation nor denial of the said deal or pledge.
However, it sent tongues wagging, with several Nigerians disparaging the Bola Tinubu government, labelling his key media officials as liars.
But Ajuri shared a video alongside a statement via his Facebook page tagged, “CAUGHT ON TAPE: MAERSK PLEDGES $600M WORTH OF PORT INVESTMENT IN NIGERIA.”
He maintained that the pledge by the Danish company was not a lie.
Ajuri wrote,
“In February 2024, Maersk Terminals Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Keith Svendsen detailed the company’s $600m investment commitment on a visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite. During this meeting, which was captured on video, he reaffirmed Maersk’s commitment to investing more in Nigeria.
“You claim to secure an investment deal in April 2024 from Maersk, and you are posting “prove”- which is a meeting held in February 2024, in Nigeria.
Please cut us some slack.”
“It’s all going more wrong and getting worse. Can APC and Tinubu’s govt ever think outside of propaganda box to do the right things without the starting with lies?
Which investor, company or country will trust a govt with reputation for dishonesty, lies, propaganda and corruption?”
“The fact that you people are really spreading a clearly forged video to prove a lie is incredible.
No. What is incredible is the scores of people here who actually believe the video despite seeing it is clearly doctored!
What sort of country is this?
Damn! Spits.
“It’s not forged. There’s a disconnect between the audio synch but you’d see that the audio is faster than the actual video by 3-4 seconds.
Don’t be emotionally charged all the time.”
“Dear Jacob,
“Thank you for your feedback. In this video, Keith Svendsen, Global VP of @Maersk, was addressing @DrDorisAnite, the current Minister for Industry, who was only appointed in 2023. How, then, could this video be in 2022? Or @ARISEtv has a Time Machine that can teleport people into the past?
You can contact Maersk if you think the video is fake or AI-generated. They are on social media. This video of them confirming a $500 million investment in Nigeria is from February 2024.
Thanks again, and may God bless you. ”