'Worthless. pathetic colonial mentality’ - Keyamo tackles Chimamanda over letter to Biden

Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, has taken a swipe at Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie over her letter to the United States President Joe Biden citing alleged irregularities of the 2023 elections.

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment stated that Adichie’s letter “reflects a pathetic colonial mentality.”

Following the just concluded general election, Adichie In an open letter titled ‘Nigeria’s Hollow Democracy’ published in The Atlantic, called out President Biden and the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak for congratulating President-elect Bola Tinubu after winning the presidential election held on February25.

Adichie stated in her letter that the 2023 presidential polls were marred with irregularities and faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC for its failure to adhere to the rules and regulations stated by its outfit.

The writer told Biden that congratulating Bola Tinubu who was declared as president-elect taints America’s self-proclaimed dedication to democratic processes.

Reacting to Adichie’s letter to the US President, Festur Keyamo called the letter worthless and that Such only paints the picture of a band of drowning supporters clutching at any straw to stay afloat.”

He said in a statement titled, Nigeria’s Burgeoning (Not Hollow) Democracy, the minister said, “Long epistles written in flowery or purple prose by bitter supporters of sore losers, posing as ‘concerned citizens’ (but in reality actuated by ethnic politics) do not fall within these official or diplomatic sources,” Keyamo said.

“It is befuddling that someone often celebrated for using a God-given talent to promote our African values, will so tragically degrade that same ethos by penning a letter that is so petty, so grovelling in its tone in urging a single foreign power to withhold a mere congratulatory message to our president-elect as if that is what actually validates our own democratic identity.

“It reflects a pathetic colonial mentality. It is even more ironic to realise that the same foreign power to which the obsequious appeal is directed is still grappling with the credibility of its own internal democratic process that produced its present leadership.

“More tragic is that some rabid supporters here are falling over themselves in deluded ecstasy for such a worthless letter that may not even be considered worthy enough, in a diplomatic sense, for the attention of even a stenographer to an Under Secretary in the US.

“Such only paints the picture of a band of drowning supporters clutching at any straw to stay afloat.

“As for the empirical fallacies contained in the letter, I will not bother myself here with a lengthy response as enough has been said in the last few weeks in respect of those specific issues and all the issues are before our justices awaiting adjudication.

“But I have bad news for them: the stenographer will probably toss the letter into a trash bin with the conclusion that it is no more than the tantrums of a Trump reincarnate in Nigeria – those who refuse to accept obvious defeat! Yes, the US has the likes of that writer in their midst too!”