Why I Rejected My Family’s Call to Quit During EndSARS, Says Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday recounted how his family urged him to resign at the height of the 2020 EndSARS protests over police brutality.

Mohammed, who spoke as a guest on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, said the period was one of the most challenging moments of his public career.

The former minister, who appeared on the show to discuss his new book, “Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration,” explained that the pressure on his family during the protests became overwhelming.

According to him, his relatives were subjected to intense harassment both online and offline, with some of their businesses also affected.

“They met and asked me to resign,” he said. “They told me: ‘We are being bullied online and offline. Our businesses are suffering. And we’re not gaining anything from this. Why continue to expose us?’”

Mohammed said he had to persuade them that walking away was not as simple as they assumed.

He noted that the book was written to provide an insider’s account of significant moments in contemporary Nigerian governance, stressing that history would be incomplete without perspectives from those who served.

“This book is for posterity,” he said. “It is meant to educate the public and inspire future leaders. It contains successes, failures and tough moments, including what happened during EndSARS.”