A viral photograph showing President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron wearing ‘asoebi’ has stirred reactions on social media platforms.
The wives of both presidents were also in the picture.
Brigitte, the French first lady, posed at the far left and was flanked by Tinubu, Macron, and Oluremi, the Nigerian first lady.
‘Asoebi’ is a uniform attire traditionally worn by the Yorubas and some other African cultures to show friendship during ceremonies.’
The photograph was widely shared on WhatsApp with an accompanying caption hailing the supposed reception by Macron.
“This reception by the France President to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is no longer warm but hot!” the caption reads.
“They even sew asoebi, This honor dey sweet ooo,The galant Asiwaju of Africa.”
A couple of X users also shared the picture.
“Owambe in France,” an X user tweeted, referring to a Yoruba ceremony.
Doyin Okupe, a former presidential aide, also posted the picture, appreciating the French president for his “show of warmth”.
VIRAL IMAGE IS CLONED
Analysing the photo on Invid, a media-verifying tool, showed that elements were copied and moved within the image to create a fake.
Using the copy-move forgery detector, the whole image turned blue but the heads of the dignitaries were lightly highlighted.
Based on the tool’s results, dark pixels are authentic, and light-coloured ones target a possible copy-move inside the image.
In addition, cloned images typically feature noticeable repetition or duplication of visual elements, with soft or smudged edges that lack sharpness.
These blurs may occur due to improper cloning techniques or attempts to conceal edits, often resulting in an unnatural or patchy appearance in the affected areas — factors consistent with the viral photo.
The photograph began circulating amid Tinubu’s state visit to France.
On Thursday night, the French government organised a state dinner for Tinubu at Palais des Elysée in Paris.
Oluremi accompanied the president to the dinner.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, shared a photo from the dinner via X on Friday.
The original photo is similar to the viral one showing the first families of both nations in asoebi.
