RE: Head bloodied but not bowed | Femi Fani-Kayode’s outburst

by Anthony Ademiluyi

Femi Fani-Kayode, the scion of Chief Remi Fani-Kayode QC, SAN had been around as a politician since 1989 when the September Club he helped midwife metamorphosed into the Nigerian National Council which later became part of the National Republican Convention. He cut his teeth as the Chief Press Secretary to the then NRC National Chairman, Chief Tom Ikimi before becoming an aide to the then presidential aspirant, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi. He was active in the June 12 struggle which saw him go on a five year self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom where he penned numerous epistles opposing the military rule.

He gained national prominence as Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003. His caustic tongue made him hurl regular abuses at real and perceived enemies of his erstwhile boss. He was a disaster as a public relations official and operated more like a Rottweiler frequently baring his fangs. He clashed with Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Late Professor Chinua Achebe amongst many prominent citizens by openly insulting them for daring to criticise his boss no matter how constructive such criticism may have been.

It was hilarious when he begged every Nigerian he had offended to pardon him as he was only doing his job when the Senate screened him as a ministerial nominee in 2006. His penchant for going back to his vomit was ironically even understood by Obasanjo when he said that as long as the Cambridge educated lawyer was given food, he could even support a goat for President.

Unconfirmed sources said that he even openly fought former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar when the latter had a clash with Obasanjo. The source revealed that he walked out Atiku in a Federal Executive Council Meeting to demonstrate his eternal loyalty to the Obasanjo cause. He was so confident that he would be part of the then incoming Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s cabinet.

Fate had something different for him as he has been battling a myriad of court cases for alleged corrupt practices in the last eight years. After an acquittal, he was so elated that he changed his surname to Olukayode to show his appreciation to God. His troubles were however far from over.

In an article titled ‘Head bloodied but not bowed and the ascension of President-Elect, Donald Trump’, he revealed that he was transferred to Kuje prisons where he was kept in a cell with terrorist suspects. He went on to reveal that they were not killers or terrorists but were falsely accused of all the charges brought against them. One wonders how he was able to decipher their innocence! Was it on the basis of what they told him? How could a highly educated man like him just believe their stories at face value? His conclusions were rather strange. He then went on to proudly say that he was guarded by these suspects and praised their intellectual prowess to the high heavens. Was this effusive show really necessary? It is true that the suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty but given the sensitive nature of what they were charged for, was it prudent for him to have passed them off as heroes? The anguish that Nigerians especially in the Northern part of the country face from Boko Haram insurgents is heart wrenching. The number of internally displaced persons is well over a million with millions left in a state of utter hopelessness in their own country. It is the height of mischief to use the people to score some cheap points against Buhari’s administration by subtly trying to portray it as autocratic. There are some things that you don’t joke with. It is obvious he didn’t learn a thing from his kiss and tell tale about his ‘affair with Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu.’

He mentioned his three hour meeting with Nnamdi Kanu and described him as a brilliant man likening him to Nnamdi Azikiwe and Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu rolled into one. Note that ten of the Boko Haram suspects saw him off to the ‘august meeting’ in case the Biafran freedom fighter tried to spring up a surprise. Perhaps he wasn’t entirely trusting of him.

This comparison of Kanu with Zik and the Ikemba Nnewi is a classic case of sarcasm. Zik and Ojukwu at some point abandoned their belief in the Biafran cause. Zik defected at some point during the civil war to the Nigerian side and began to preach the one Nigeria message. Ojukwu who had earlier pledged to fight to the last drop of his blood hurriedly commandeered an aircraft meant for the starving children and ferried only himself and his immediate family to a seaside mansion in Cote D’ Ivoire where he spent twelve swanky years in blissful exile even convincing a damsel, Stella Onyeador to join him there as a wife. He collected his pension from the Nigerian army without a thought to the voiceless Biafran soldiers who left promising careers in the Nigerian army to join his ragtag army and even wanted to become the nation’s president in 2003 which was a pointer to his belief in a united Nigeria. What was the nexus between what the Biafra that Kanu believes in with what Zik and Ojukwu in their later lives believed in? With more than 95% of Igbo investments outside the South-East, is Biafra even in their best interest? FFK may have surreptitiously shown his contempt for the Igbos as he has once done in the past.

He should face his trial and not arouse any needless melodrama as that wouldn’t certainly help his case. The victim psychological warfare he has been waging for some time now would also not help advance his cause as Nigerians are much more discerning.

We have enough troubles largely brought about by maladministration and visionless leadership which he cannot exonerate himself from. It is futile to insult our collective intelligence by insinuating that his criticism of Buhari’s government is what is responsible for his ‘persecution.’

His antecedents as a turn coat would have made him jump ship a long time ago. He criticised Obasanjo and then served his government; did the same for Jonathan before being made the spokesman of his ill-fated campaign last year. He also left the PDP for the APC only to defect back to his vomit. Perhaps the hawks in the APC are now wiser and have blocked any opportunity to join the ‘family.’ We have not gotten what Buhari said in the wake of Ribadu’s defection that new comers would have to join a very long queue.

Let’s not even forget that the controversial Justice Rita Ofili Ajumogobia who has been barred from any further judicial promotion gave him a controversial acquittal. He may be in for a long hurl if the case is re-opened.

Maybe it’s FFK’s nun dimities. He should face his quietly carry his cross and let the courts decide.


Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

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