Ex-envoy faults Tinubu govt’s Kemi Badenoch bashing, says action shows Nigeria doesn’t recognise its problems

A former Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, has argued that for Nigerian leaders to criticise the newly elected United Kingdom Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, shows that Nigeria does not recognise its problems.

 

Farounbi also asserted that Nigeria contributed nothing to Badenoch’s image.

 

Vice President Kashim Shettima had criticised Badenoch for making disparaging remarks about Nigeria.

 

Speaking at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the State House in Abuja on Monday, Shettima emphasised that migrants were a vital source of life in all societies.

 

Reacting, however, Farounbi said criticising the UK political leader showed that Nigeria was not serious as a country. Farounbi spoke with The Guardian in Ibadan on Wednesday.

 

He said, “When we all accept that we are deficient, then we can begin to work upon it. When we get angry and go and rob Kemi’s name, because she’s the leader of the opposition and she says she’s not in Nigeria. We ought to be intelligent enough to know that she’s the leader of the opposition in the British Parliament. She’s not representing us. We’ve contributed nothing to her image. So, why do you want her to not tie herself and her future to us? It is that kind of speech that tells me that we don’t recognize that we have problems.”