Date: 2013-04-28

Kwara ACN chieftain Mohammed Dele Belgore has asked the state government and Senator Bukola Saraki to apologise to the public after a leading online newspaper confirmed to be false claims that a documentary on Shonga Farm won a Grand Prix Award in the Agriculture and Green Economics category of the Deauville Green Awards. "Following a disagreement between us and the government over the truth or otherwise of the claim that a documentary film on Shonga farm won a Grand Prix Award in the Agriculture and Green Economics category of the Deauville Green Awards, the Premium Times online newspaper, on April 26, published a well-researched story published on the matter," Belgore's media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, said in a statement on Sunday. "Relying on its findings, the paper wrote: 'Kwara State Government's spokesman, Femi Akorede, (and Saraki) had said that the documentary, titled A farm for Africa, won the Grand Prix Award in the Agriculture and Green Economics category. The documentary never won that category, Premium Times check revealed'." The Premium Times' story is titled "Kwara Government lied on Shonga Farm French award, says Belgore." Asking the government and Saraki to apologise for the embarrassment caused the people of the state, Ajakaye added: "Now, despite these glaring evidences against their position, we regret that the Kwara State Government and its officials are not remorseful. This indicates that the decision to claim an award they never won was deliberate.  "And in its warped attempt to defend its lies even when confronted with irrefutable evidences, the state government ended up contradicting itself. For instance, in its Thursday April 25 response to our statement, the government insisted (without any verifiable fact) that the documentary on Shonga Farm 'beat 200 other entries to win A Grand Prix Award.' Did Akorede forget so soon that he had claimed in his statement on Thursday April 18 that the film "beat off tough competition from seven other entries." So how many entries did the documentary actually beat? "We also note that the government, obviously overwhelmed and embarrassed by the facts in our statement, insisted it won a 'Grand Prix Award' without stating this time, as it shamelessly did in the April 18 statement, the category of the award it won. 'Grand Prix' is not a category of award in that competition. You cannot win just a Grand Prix; it must be a Grand Prix in so and so.  "The lesson the state government should draw from this self-inflicted embarrassment is that falsehood cannot travel far undetected. Finally, we demand from the government and of course Senator Saraki a public apology on behalf of Kwara people who are embarrassed by this very dishonourable conduct."