By Femi ODERE
Martins Vincent Otse, otherwise known as Very Dark Man (VDM), is undoubtedly a household name among the youthful segment of the Nigerian population. He has etched his name in their consciousness not because of academic brilliance, innovations or inventions in the high-tech world or the arts, but as a creator of social media content.
So, from relative obscurity, he has been able to carve a niche for himself in the country’s social media space as an influencer for creating attention-grabbing sociopolitical content. While some of these contents are quite informative and therefore newsworthy, a significant number of them are pure entertainment, insidiously wrapped in sociopolitical advocacy for change, as his overarching objective is to drive human traffic to his platform and improve his rating. Some of these contents are nothing but cleverly packaged social media packages to either hoodwink or blackmail. Or both.
Because VDM is now successful in what he does as a content creator and social media influencer- aided by youthful exuberance- he now sees and describes himself as an activist.
And because he sees himself—as his followers are also wont to see him—-as speaking truth to power. It is therefore not unexpected that some of his followers, including those with invidious motives to drag society and its governments pivot to him to champion their negative crusades and nefarious causes. And VDM is readily available for them because whatever they want him to magnify also increases his popularity.
So, it’s a case of: have content, will travel.
So, when VDM arrived in the Kingdom of Morocco and perhaps got wind that some students on federal government scholarships are disgruntled against their government, he corralled a few of them as a backdrop for another of his anti-government bashing. From his opening statement, it was clearly a predetermined move to cast aspersions on the present government, this time using the policy decisions of the Federal Ministry of Education under the auspices of Honourable Minister Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa as his punching bag. But because VDM obviously doesn’t have the intellectual wherewithal to distil government policies and their intentions towards engendering a fair, just and equitable society, he saw a perfect storm and went to town, not knowing he had dabbled in a subject matter that’s well above his ken.
No sooner had his video entered the public domain than a Press Statement was released from the education ministry, debunking his predetermined false narrative with facts that exposed the fallacy of his concocted narrative.
In the press statement through the ministry’s press directorate, Dr. Alausa clarified that “no Nigerian student on a valid Federal Government scholarship has been abandoned” and that “all beneficiaries duly enrolled under the Bilateral Education Scholarship (BES) Programme prior to 2024 have received payments up to the 2024 budget year, in line with the Federal Government’s obligations.” The minister went further to say that “any temporary delays in outstanding payments are attributable to fiscal constraints and are currently being addressed through ongoing engagements between the Federal Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance.”
Expatiating further, the Honourable Minister said that “no new bilateral scholarship awards were made in October 2025 or at any time thereafter”, thereby suggesting that any documents that may be in circulation in respect to federal scholarships are “fake, unauthenticated, and a calculated attempt to mislead the public and discredit government policy.”
”Dr Alausa explained that the decision to discontinue government-funded bilateral scholarships abroad followed a comprehensive policy review, which established that Nigeria now possesses sufficient capacity within its universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education to deliver the affected programmes locally.
The minister emphasized in the press statement that henceforth, “only scholarships that are fully funded by foreign governments are now being supported, with all financial obligations borne entirely by the host countries” and that “notwithstanding this policy shift, the Federal Government remains fully committed to students already enrolled under the previous arrangements and will continue to support them until the completion of their programmes.”
President Tinubu’s acute understanding that no societal development can be said to be worth its salt if its people are not the fulcrum of development, and his inordinate focus on education as the sine qua non of any development, with Dr. Tunji Alausa, who superintends the country’s education sector, as the incredible round peg in a round hole, is unarguably the most effective minister in the country’s fourth dispensation through people-focus, development-driven, and capacity-building policy decisions and reforms.
VDM is therefore not expected to understand the nuances of policy decisions that undergird societal development. It is only the deep who can understand the depth of education policies that are enunciated by the Minister and his cohorts in the ministry.
It should also be noted that VDM’s predetermined false narrative about Nigerian students on scholarships in Morocco had its unintended consequence as the press release issued to debunk the unfortunate video created more awareness for the policy decision that discontinued overseas scholarships for courses on offer in the country’s tertiary institutions which was well received by Nigerians across the country and overseas.
To buttress the aforesaid, Dr Pedus Eweama, a renowned medical practitioner in faraway Australia, knows a good policy when he sees one. This is his response on reading the press release on a social media platform: “This is a sound policy position and long overdue. As an undergraduate student in the USA, I experienced firsthand the exploitation of our scarce resources in the name of international scholarships, particularly for courses that were available in Nigeria at the time, and given the dubious processes through which beneficiaries emerged. Unfortunately, the processes through which some of the recipients became FG-sponsored were fraudulent. Some of the recipients I met were related to senior civil or military officers and high-ranking politicians, with many recipients willing to readily disclose that they had never attended any interview or participated in a selection process. This constitutes fraud against Nigeria through economic sabotage, benefiting a few. It is high time these scholarships are discontinued and these resources are invested in improving the quality of Nigerian university education. Kudos to the FG. We must applaud sound government policies.”
Ahmed Hashim Endu, 37, lives in Lafia in Nassarawa and has a PhD in Economics. Hear him on another platform: “This statement offers timely clarification and effectively addresses the concerns surrounding Nigerian scholarship students in Morocco. The Federal Government’s reassurance that no eligible student has been abandoned, alongside its commitment to supporting all ongoing beneficiaries until the completion of their programmes, is commendable. The transparency shown in explaining policy decisions, payment timelines, and the discontinuation of non-essential foreign scholarships reflects a thoughtful and responsible approach to education funding. Additionally, the options provided for students who wish to return home demonstrate empathy and concern for student welfare. Overall, the release reinforces confidence in the government’s efforts to strengthen national capacity, promote accountability, and protect the interests of Nigerian students.”
From the foregoing, it is obvious that Very Dark Man (VDM) has no business sticking his neck out to comment negatively on government policies he doesn’t have the presence of mind to understand. He should stick to creating mundane sociopolitical content of informative and entertaining value.
This is his forte!
Femi ODERE lives in Abuja. He can be reached at [email protected].