Former minister of culture and tourism, Femi Fani-Kayode, has suffered severe criticism from Nigerians over his comments on Datti Ahmed.
Fani-Kayode, in a statement on his X page on Saturday, berated Ahmed, the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, for kneeling to greet President Bola Tinubu.
His comments come after the governor of Niger State, Mohammed Umar Bago, was severely berated for kneeling to greet Tinubu.
Reacting to Ahmed’s kneeling to greet the president, Fani-Kayode wrote, “Datti the Daft quivers, shivers, and bows before our leader and crawls on his little Obidient knees whilst wearing a big sheepish “I am sorry, sir” smile on his fat Mauritanian face. Glory!”
His statement has since infuriated a cross-section of Nigerians.
Responding to Fani-Kayode’s statement, an X user, Mr. Grey, stated that nobody wants to take the former minister seriously because he is only after satisfying his avarice.
“There is still no food for you. You can see nobody wants to associate with you because they never take you seriously. They know your stomach is your ideology. Hamas spokesman,” Grey wrote.
In his reaction, Isidore Chima stated that Ahmed’s kneeling to greet Tinubu was not wrong because the president is older than him.
He therefore berated Fani-Kayode for allegedly being less successful than Ahmed, both politically and economically.
“Age-wise, BAT is old enough to be his father. Secondly, the election is over, and BAT is now his commander-in-chief, so I see nothing wrong with shaking your elder, president, and someone who’s old enough to be your father with both hands.
“You’re older than him, he has a university, and he has the guts to contest for an election. Have you ever contested for any political office in your life??
What do you do for a living? Political jibber,” Chima wrote.
In his reaction, Nollywood actor Joseph Benjamin likened Fani-Kayode to a dog who licks its vomit.
He added that Fani-Kayode has no shame because he is “irrelevant in the scheme of things in Nigeria.”
Benjamin wrote, “Why do you have to use derogatory terms to illustrate this picture?
Let me point out a few things. BAT is the president; you will have to greet him when you have an encounter, regardless of your political affiliation.
“BAT is older than Datti; it is in our culture to show respect to the elderly.
“What significant or note-worthy thing have you done that commands any type of respect? You just spew out a lot of ignorance and misinformation. You are not loyal to any side. It is simply a matter of which side of the aisle favors me best.
“I rarely take you politicians seriously because you make a public show of partisan allegiance. Then you all wine and dine together behind closed doors.
‘The ignorant masses go to war against each other for you. Not realizing that they are just pawns in your game of chess.
“Sir, my humble advice is to focus on creating a good image for yourself. Instead of constantly grasping for validation.”
David Linus, wrote, “How many of you have noticed that this man is no longer relevant politically? This is because he’s a betrayer. Once you give him food, he will follow you to the grave. It’s a shame.”
“Why do you consistently resort to name-calling as if you have a personal issue with almost everyone who does not buy your ideas? I believed you to be a knowledgeable person,” Ndidi Patricia wrote.
“It’s so bad to see that a significant portion of your tweets consist of either insulting others or belittling them without reason, as if you have it all, and you call yourself a learned SAN.
“You cannot expect respect from your community if this is how you act. Emulate Datti principles,” Ndidi added.
Alleging that Fani-Kayode lacks love, Dani Etiaka wrote, “I hope you understand that we can publicly criticize you for your tweet. I know you lack integrity and condescend to others.
“You lack love, and that drives you to hate others.
“I wonder why Tinubu did not give you any offices. Perhaps he did not find you credible. So it is safe to say that you are feeling lonely and in need of attention. So go ahead. We understand.”
Dr. Emeka Chris referred to Fani-Kayode as a rejected politician with little to no achievement when he said, “Rejected Femi has woken up; you are older than Datti, but he has achieved great things while you are an ordinary upcoming political influencer that politicians pay and then use and dump you. You are just like @FS_Yusuf, who collects some dollars to promote a candidate.”
