Onanuga, Atiku’s aide trade words over ‘shoot at sight’ comments

Onanuga

A public war of words occurred on X (formerly Twitter) between the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, and Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, over comments on vandalism and the use of language.

The exchange, which occurred on Sunday, was triggered by a report on alleged vandalism of rehabilitation work on the Ilesha–Ibadan Expressway.

Reacting to the report, Onanuga, via his X handle @aoanuga1956, condemned the act and called for severe punishment for those involved.

“Just shoot these unconscionable vandals/thieves at sight. They are worst species of citizenships,” Onanuga wrote in a post.

Hours later, Shaibu responded through his handle, @phrankangel, faulting the statement and describing it as inappropriate for a government official.

“As a government spokesman, you cannot call for citizens to be ‘shot at sight.’ That is not law enforcement, it is lawlessness. Anyone who talks like this has no business in public office,” Shaibu said.

He added that criminal acts should be addressed through established legal processes rather than extrajudicial measures, warning that such rhetoric could set a dangerous precedent.

Later the same day, Shaibu returned to the post to point out what he described as a grammatical error in Onanuga’s statement, arguing that the correct expression should be “shoot on sight” rather than “shoot at sight.”

Onanuga replied on Monday, dismissing the criticism and insisting that both expressions were acceptable.

“Foolish boy. Both usages are correct. Upgrade your grammar,” he wrote.

Shaibu responded with a detailed explanation, maintaining that “shoot on sight” is a fixed idiom in English and should not be altered.