Yusuf Dingyadi, who serves as a spokesman for the northern Nigerian zone of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) yesterday declared that US Secretary of States, John Kerry, was an infidel.
Mr. Dingyadi, a former Hausa language reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), made the statement as a Facebook post in reaction to Mr. Kerry’s proposed visit to Sokoto, widely recognized as the center of Islam in Nigeria. The ANA official, who is also known as Hamadani Buba, hails from Sokoto.
In the Facebook post, Mr. Dingyadi, who once served as a media aide to former Governor Dalhatu Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State and as a spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, said there was nothing to celebrate in the forthcoming visit of an infidel to Sokoto.
A translation of the post, originally written in Hausa, read, “Imagine, APC members are jubilating and happy because an infidel, John Kerry of America, is coming to Sokoto.” He added, “This is a fraud…Those abusing infidels are now working for Jews of the West in the revered city of Dan Fodio?”
Following a barrage of criticism from outraged Nigerians, who mostly described his post as a shocking case of religious extremism and intolerance, Mr. Dingyadi deleted the post from his Facebook page.
