In Defence Of Fani-Kayode

  

Let’s be clear about this, no reasonable person would support the reaction of the former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode when the reporter of Daily Trust Newspaper in Calabar, Cross River State asked him about the source of funding for his project inspections in Cross River State and parts of the country. The minister in a fit of anger reacted disapprovingly in the eye of the public, but the acerbic attack on his person portrayed him as if he had committed an unpardonable sin. We all are prone to anger. It is only that some control their anger better than others, while others are merely lucky that in their burst of anger there were no cameras rolling to record it for the social media and posterity.

 

Having accepted his mistake, the former minister has since apologized for his actions yet the vitriolic attacks against his person is not abetting. The intensity of the attacks against him makes one to ask whether Fani-Kayode is the main problem facing Nigeria presently.

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that killed over 3000 persons in the North East and elsewhere and created 3million internally displaced persons who have been driven from their homes?

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that killed hundreds of people in eight local government areas in Katsina State and destroyed thousands of homes and livelihood, even as many Katsina farmers are scared to go to their farms and the business of animal husbandry taken over by cattle rustlers?

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that destroyed Southern Kaduna, killing hundreds in their sleep and burning down properties even as the federal and state governments that had the responsibility to provide security look the other way?

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that sent herdsmen to Edo and Delta states among others that are destroying farmlands, killing farmers if they complain, even as they rape and kidnap women including wives of people in the communities?

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that drove many communities in Benue and Nasarawa out of their ancestral homes and take over their lands and while the original owners of the land are languishing in the internally displaced persons camps with help coming from no where, the herdsmen bestrode their farmlands like the proverbial colossus?

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that changed the name of the person approved by the Council State to be appointed chairman of the National Population Commission with impunity, because the appointee approved by the Council State belongs to the ‘wrong religious group’?

 

Is it Fani-Kayode that killed hundreds of people in Zamfara, destroying their homes, farmlands and raping their wives and rustling their cattle?

Is it Fani-Kayode that killed many in parts of Niger State to the extent that social and economic activities have been paralyzed and many have been forced to flee from these communities because they are under siege by bandits?

 

Certainly, it was not Fani-Kayode that has done these terrible things that amounted to crimes against humanity! Rather Fani-Kayode is one of the few voices that have called out the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, tasking the government to do the needful.

 

It is common knowledge to anyone following current events in Nigeria that many of those attacking Fani-Kayode and calling him unprintable names have never written a line condemning the atrocities of Boko Haram and bandits. These same people attacking Fani-Kayode have seen nothing wrong with AK47 wielding bandits fraternizing with governors under the guise of seeking amnesty for the outlaws that have not stopped killing.

 

Even newspapers that have failed to call out Boko Haram sponsors despite the genocide committed by the group are running flurry of editorials and sponsored opinions and columns attacking Fani-Kayode in a shameless display of Afghanistanism. Afghanistanism in journalism is where a news medium left pressing issues troubling its immediate environment and is writing about issues in foreign lands!

 

This is to let Nigerian media outlets and their content providers know that Femi Fani-Kayode is not the problem of Nigeria! His illuminating insights in Nigeria’s problems might even be the solutions we are looking for!