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Visa Ban: “You cannot Intimidate me, Fani-Kayode Scolds British Embassy.
Visa ban: “You cannot intimidate me, Fani-Kayode scolds British embassy.
Former Nigerian Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode criticised Ben Llewellyn-Jones, the British Deputy High Commissioner, for his implied threat to impose a visa block.
This is because he also stated that he would not accept instructions from a “British civil servant” regarding how he should speak or handle matters relating to Nigeria in Nigeria.
The UK envoy revealed, while speaking in an interview with Nigeria’s Info FM on Sunday, that 10 people were on its visa ban watchlist.
Those on the list, he claimed, were people who allegedly undermined democracy in Nigeria. He also faulted Fani-Kayode, who is the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council’s director of new media, for some comments he made recently.
But reacting to Llewellyn-Jones’ remarks, Fani-Kayode said he would not accept lessons on decency from a foreigner.
In a series of tweets on his Twitter handle on Sunday, the former minister said, “Nigeria stopped being a British colony 63 years ago, and we need no lessons from him on how to run our affairs or conduct our politics.”
“I wonder who the hell he thinks he is. I am not one of those Nigerians that bows, shakes, shivers, and trembles before the British or indeed any other foreigner. And unlike most, I do not need any validation or endorsement from him or his ilk, nor can I be intimidated by his veiled threat of a visa ban. Frankly, I could not care less.
“Neither will we accept lessons in decency, etiquette, what to say, or how to speak from a British civil servant. I advise this Englishman to respect himself and remain a silent observer when it comes to the politics of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As a nation, we are not a poodle of the British, and we came of age 63 years ago.”
