Bashir Ahmad, the Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, has cautioned Zlatan for laughing over the rising cases of coronavirus in Nigeria.
Following the reported 86 confirmed cases on Sunday, April 19, 2020, the singer who had earlier claimed he doesn’t believe the novel infectious disease exists, took to his Twitter handle to react to the reported cases with laughing emojis.
Cautioning Zlatan for poking fun with the reported cases, Ahmad wrote; “Zlatan, as President Buhari stated in his national broadcast on April 13th, ‘this is not a joke, it’s a matter of life and death.’”
Just as it might be thought of, Ahmad’s cautioning of Zlatan generated mixed reactions on social media.
Addressing why he had to caution the singer, the presidential aide explained; “I can see some people are angry with my reply to Zlatan’s tweet, which he made a joke out of NCDC’s last night update on #COVID19Nigeria. I didn’t reply him as Zlatan, I replied him as a celebrity, who has hundreds of followers. Again, ‘this whole #COVID19 issue is not a joke.’”
Zlatan had expressed during a live chat with Music Executive, Bankuli Osha that he doesn’t believe in the existence of the novel coronavirus, which has since been plaguing the world.
“Me I don’t believe in coronavirus…I don’t believe in corona, me (sic) I can go there,” he stated.
Meanwhile, since Nigeria recorded her index case of the virus in late February 2020, the West African country has now recorded no less than 665 reported cases.
Is it possible for one to not believe the virus is real despite the rising death toll and confirmed cases?