By Chukwudi Ani
Oh, poor Fredrick! Did you write this in your personal capacity or in your capacity as, what did you describe yourself as? Senior Special Assistant on Public Engagement to the President? What a genuine surprise! Congratulations!
It is interesting that there is an Igbo man among the retinue of Mr. President’s media aides. How many Igbos are there? Maybe only you.
It is intriguing that this is the first time one has seen a press statement issued on behalf of the presidency by you or indeed any other Igbo person. Again, I repeat, I’m unable to characterize the capacity in which you wrote due to your repeated use of the first person pronoun, effectively referring to yourself.
However, I have a mixture of pity and disgust towards you. Pity, because I don’t need your confession (you may pretend all you can), to understand that you work in an environment that doesn’t welcome or value you just because of your name and where you come from. It’s not your fault. However, I guess your threshold for endurance is high. More strength to you.
Disgust because you had the presence of mind to defend Abike in the face of the vile and abhorrent post she made against the Igbo race. You are not more discerning than other Nigerians. We follow Abike’s tweets and the insults, vileness, and bigotry that she often transmits. Who is after her in the first place? How many Nigerians consider her as holding an important position in the government? Why should we bend down to lick her boots for doing a job that she is being paid to do with taxpayers’ money? Is she serving Nigeria pro bono?
In any event, you wrote your long epistle within a particular context. While Abike is being called out by well-meaning Nigerians for retweeting/endorsing a tweet that described the entire Igbo race ( the one to which you purportedly belong) as monkeys, children of gorillas and bastards, you permitted or indeed freely offered yourself as a vehicle through which a defence and image laundry would be launched for her. Your defence is a fatal failure, and it is a huge shame.
However, in your long epistle, you made not even a veiled reference to that controversial tweet. Why? Should we take it that you chose a rigmarole because you couldn’t in good conscience (if you possess one) muster any form of defence for that action that has received a worldwide condemnation? That’s understandable, but if that’s the case, you are being dishonest. How do you defend such an obnoxious and reprehensible act, especially coming from a federal public office holder? I don’t have the answer, but you must.
Fredrick, people hate history for a reason. Because it never forgets. History will remember you for being a staunch defender of ethnic bigotry, hate, and racism. Enjoy your tenure and the perks that accompany being within the precincts of power while they last.
Chukwudi Ani, Esq
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
Fredrick’s defence misses the point — Abike should answer for her actions, not be shielded.