It’s not a crime to be Igbo in Nigeria – Fani Kayode replies Malami

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani Kayode has slammed Nigeria’s Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami for comparing ban on open grazing to ban on sales of vehicle spare part in the North.

Recall that Malami on Wednesday, during a programme on Channels Television, said the decision of the Southern Governors to ban open grazing of cattle in the region was same as the ban on vehicle dealers in the North.

The Minister of Justice has been under fire since Thursday morning for condemning the resolve of the Southern Governors who met on May 11 in Asaba the Delta State capital.

Reacting, Fani-Kayode, a human rights lawyer, said Malami’s comment was unacceptable, stressing that the Southeastern people have been marginalised enough.

He stated this in a tweet on his verified Tweeter handle on Friday Morning.

The tweet reads, “It is totally unacceptable and deeply and inherently racist to compare spare part dealers to killer herdsmen.

“Permit me to ask: is it a CRIME to be Igbo in Nigeria?

“We killed millions of them (including their children) over the last 61 years. We terrorised them.

“We traumatised them. We insulted them. We denied them. We deprived them. We dehumanised them.

“We mocked them. We criminalised them. We marginalised them. We humiliated them. We forced them to stay when they wanted to leave.

“We caged them. We broke them. We cheated them.

“It is ungodly. It is evil! It is totally and completely unacceptable.

“It erroneously depicts us as a nation of unrepentant barbarians, savages and sadists that have no sense of justice or decency and that is NOT who or what we are as a people! We are far better than that!

“As long as we have this utterly racist, bigoted, shameless and self-deprecating mindset about our Igbo compatriots and fellow human beings things cannot go well for us as a people and as a nation. This is the bitter truth”.