ON September 1, Unu Amaro Kam Siri Kwado @AfamDeluxo made a post that Obinna Ukwuani an Igbo man has been appointed the Chief Digital Officer of the Bank of Kigali, in Rwanda.
The post had other claims that another Nigerian, Kaycee Madu, was appointed Minister of Justice in Canada and that an Igbo man stands a better chance of succeeding outside Nigeria.
The tweet reads “Bank of Kigali has appointed an Igbo man, Obinna Ukwuani, as it Chief Digital Officer. A few days ago, Kaycee Madu, was appointed as Minister of Justice in Canada. As an Igbo man, you stand a better chance of reaching greater heights outside Nigeria.”
The tweet has pulled over 2000 likes, 502 retweets and over 60 comments as at press time.
The claim about the appointment of Obinna was also made by @AfricaFactsZone which has garnered over 2,300 likes.
THE CLAIMS:
Claim 1: Bank of Kigali has appointed an Igbo man, Obinna Ukwuani as its Chief Digital Officer.
Claim 2: A Nigerian, Kaycee Madu was appointed as Minister of Justice in Canada
Claim 3: Igbos’ stand a better chance of succeeding outside Nigeria.
THE FINDINGS:
Claim 1
The FactCheckHub visited the Twitter handle of Obinna Ukwuani @oukwuani and found out that the new appointment – Chief Digital Officer, Bank of Kigali was updated on Ukwuani’s profile.
He also included previous organisations he had worked with such as Paystack, Nova Pioneer and the school he attended– Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Aside from the update on his social media account, A report announcing the new appointment was published by The New Times – a news medium in Rwanda. He was featured in the business section. His responsibilities, the report said would include, “leading the digital factory division of the bank, for product innovation and development in digital banking.”
In the verification process, The FactCheckHub observed The New Times newspaper tagged the handle of the Bank of Kigali @BankofKigali while tweeting the published article and the bank retweeted it.
In addition, Ukwuani also acknowledged some of the congratulatory wishes made on Twitter including that of Unu Amaro – the claim under review.
The FactCheckHub contacted Ukwuani to verify if he is an Igbo man as asserted and he said “I was born and raised in the United States. My home in Nigeria is Ngwo, Udi, Enugu. That is where my name is from,” he stated in response to a Direct Message sent to his social media handle.
Enugu is a state in Eastern Nigeria where the people are Igbos.
Claim 2
The claim that Nigerian Kaycee Madu was appointed as Minister of Justice in Canada trended when the news came out. Several persons, including media organisations wrongly described him as Canada’s Minister of Justice.
The FactCheckHub did a verification that found out that Kaycee Madu is the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General of Alberta a province in Canada.
Claim 3
This claim that as an Igbo man, you stand a better chance of reaching greater heights outside Nigeria is an opinion with no verifiable data yet.
THE VERDICT:
The claim that the Bank of Kigali has appointed an Igbo man, Obinna Ukwuani as its Chief Digital Officer is TRUE.
The claim that a Nigerian, Kaycee Madu was appointed as Minister of Justice in Canada is TRUE. He is however the Minister of Justice in Alberta, a province in Canada.
The claim that Igbos stand a better chance of succeeding outside Nigeria is an opinion and does not have any verifiable data.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin
I almost thought ukuwani was from ukwuani in Delta State…
Is well