Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode put on an almost dictatorial display in Calabar, Cross River State on Friday, 21 August 2020 when he verbally assaulted a journalist who asked him a question.
Fani-Kayode also went on tell the journalist from Daily Trust, one of Nigeria’s renowned newspaper that he has a short fuse and does not take questions like that lightly.
The former special adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo was in Calabar to visit the governor, Ben Ayade and to tour the state and assess the level of progress made by the governor as well as his achievements.
After touring the state with the governor, he held a press conference to provide an update on what he had seen in the state. Shortly, after recounted what he claimed where the achievements of the governor, journalists began to ask questions.
Fani-Kayode told the journalists that Cross River was the sixth State he was visiting in about 10 days.
An unnamed journalist from Daily Trust, then asked the former Minister who was bankrolling his tour of the States.
But instead of him to take the harmless question in good stride, the former minister went on a rant. In the most dictatorial manner, he dressed the journalist down.
“What type of stupid question is that, what type of stupid question is that? Bankrolling who? Do you know who you are talking to? Bankrolling who? I will not take any questions from this man. What type of an insulting question is that? Which bankroll, to do what? Who can give me money for anything. Who do you think you are talking to? Bankroll what? Go and report yourself to your publisher. Bankroll what?
As a journalist, I take an exception to this. The least @daily_trust can do is ask @realFFK to apologise to the journalist.
This is completely unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/MtF6sOFapV
— bisuclef (@bisuclef) August 25, 2020
Gesticulating with a red face, he added, “Please don’t insult me here. I don’t want to take any questions from this man. I could see from your face before you got here how stupid you are. Don’t ever talk to me like that. Who do you think you are talking to? Bankroll who? You have a small mind, very small mind.
“Don’t judge me by your own standards, I have been in politics since 1990, I am not one of those politicians who you think just came, I have been locked up how many times by this government, suffered.
“I have been prosecuted unlike most of the politicians you follow for brown envelope. Don’t ever judge me by that standard. I spend, I don’t take. I am not a poor man, I have never been and I will never be. Bankroll how? Don’t ever suggest that to me. I am sorry that was deeply insulting, I don’t often get annoyed in press conferences, I have been doing this type of thing for many, many years.
“Bankroll who? A former minister, a lawyer, don’t ever try that with me again. See me well, don’t ever. I have a short fuse. Don’t ever try that with me again, if you try me I will hit you hard and if anybody sent you and gave you brown envelope to ask that question, go and tell them that they got more than they bargained for.
“Very rude, it is not the standard of Daily Trust at all and I will report you to your publisher,” he said as he walked away from the news conference.
Nigerians on social media have however reacted to Fani-Kayode’s outburst against the journalist who did not only have the backing of his colleagues but was blamed by them for doing his job and asking a question.
Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of SaharaReporters described Fani-Kayode’s action denigrating the journalist. “Femi Fani-Kayode here rampaging and denigrating a journalist for asking him a simple question, “who is bankrolling your PR junkets these days?”. You have to blame the other journalists who sat there and even blamed their colleague for doing his job. #Shame #RevolutionNow,” he wrote on Twitter.
Civil society organization, SERAP also condemned the actions of the former minister. “We condemn reported intimidation, harassment and attack on Daily Trust journalist by a former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode. Mr Fani-Kayode should publicly apologise to the journalist,” SERAP said.
