July 1, 2009
Nigerian ambas-sador to Ireland, Prof. Kema Chikwe, has said that she would not hesitate to carry guns and hijack ballot boxes if her opponents did the same.
Chikwe made the statement at the National Association of Seadogs, Ireland chapter’s Barracuda feast, in response to a question posed to her by the publisher of Bold and Beautiful International magazine, Mr. Olayinka Odeajo.
In her speech, she said that the citizens were the government and that citizens ought to fight for what was theirs just like what happened in Iran.
The feast, with the theme, “Rebranding Nigeria, the role of Nigerians in diaspora was marked by this unguarded statement of the ambassador. Odeajo, who has been in a running battle with the ambassador had, after her speech, taken her on on the need to rebrand the leaders and asked her if she could justify the existence of a government in Nigeria. He added that if the leaders behaved responsibly then the economic and social aspects of the country would be good.
Odeaja noted that Nigeria was regarded as a rich nation where its citizens lived in abject poverty stressing that Nigeria should not be compared with Iran by anybody as there was no basis for comparison.
Commenting further on the issue, Odeajo said, “What is there to say? It shows the kind of leaders we have and that is what is happening. This rebranding is just an avenue designed to make money, otherwise what is wrong with Nigerians? Nothing is wrong. We have problems with our leaders. She has accepted that they carry guns to scuttle true democracy, so what is there for you and I?"
Clement Esebamen, a senior policy adviser in the Irish Department of Integration, described as unfortunate the ambassador's statement, especially at a time the country was rebranding.
After she made the statement, it was obvious the ambassador realised the import of her goof as she excused herself from the symposium.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });