‘Adamu Garba got N136m to build Crowwe App to rival Twitter.’ Nigerians react

Pascal Oparada

Pro-government supporter Adamu Garba’s IPI Solutions was paid N136 million naira by the Nigerian government to take on social media giant, Twitter, Peoples Gazette reports.

Bank documents obtained by Peoples Gazette show that IPI Solutions was paid by Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to execute the project.

Garba told the newspaper the payment was for a different job his firm did for Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Garba had barely launched the app when it was deleted by Google Play Store for bad reviews and copyright infringement. 

He had touted Crowwe as an alternative to Twitter when the Nigerian government banned the microblogging app after it deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet which threatened Igbos with civil war. 

Nigerians, however, have condemned both Garba and the government for what they called wasteful spending for a project that never succeeded.

“Something that everyone missed from the CBN – Adamu Garba storey is that random, zero-achievement tech companies like Adamu’s IPI Solutions are selected by Buhari’s FG for tech projects ahead of organisations like Andela.

Just be Fulani and connected. That’s all it takes,” journalist, David Hudeyin said. 

@PabloHoggs said: “Imagine the huge amount of money FG gave to Adamu Garba all because of that smelly app crowwe, just because they don’t want Twitter anymore. Among everything facing Nigeria as a country, Twitter is the least.”

@TheLazyCheff said while Adamu Garba and his cronies are cashing out, Nigerians in the South-West are celebrating train stations with Chinese flags hoisted on them.

“Adamu Garba and his brothers are cashing out for supporting their own whilst the olodos from the SW are celebrating train stations with Chinese flags hoisted at every corner. Must be nice.”