I’m Not A Public Official That Cows To Bullying – Dabiri-Erewa Replies Ezekwesili Over Twitter Comment

From Ogundele Olanrewaju

The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCom), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has replied to a former Minister of Information, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, after asking her to address a controversial comment on the microblogging platform, Twitter.

Naija News understands that Dabiri-Erewa came under attack on Tuesday after replying to a tweep who called her unprinted names on the bird app.

Earlier on Monday, the NidCom boss took to the social media platform to share updates on the government’s effort to ensure the safety of Nigerians at an Indian university.

Reports had emerged earlier that there was a chaotic event at the varsity which also had students from Nigeria. Scores of people were said to have sustained degrees of injuries from the fracas.

However, Dabiri-Erewa via her Twitter page yesterday said, “Calm has returned to the campus. A few injuries were recorded, and further investigations are ongoing. The Nigerian mission had made it clear that the Indian authorities would be held responsible if anything happened to any of the students.

“There is already a written commitment by the Indian Authorities to protect our students. Any student feeling threatened should please report to the Nigerian mission in Delhi immediately.”

A netizen identified as @sensegiver1, however, knocked the NidCom boss saying: “She should go to Indonesia and see how Nigerians are treated. Mumu (slang for foolish) woman supporting a failed government. She’s equally part of the failure. Eye service”.

The comment, however, did not go down well with Dabiri-Erewa who lampooned the tweep calling him ‘Ode’, a word that connotes a fool in the Yoruba language.

Dabiri-Erewa said, “Ode! You go to Indonesia, carry drugs, do cultism, and come begging to be rescued from a death sentence. Thank God for NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) now saving people like you from death row.”

Reacting, however to the NidCom boss’s outrage, Ezekwesili on Tuesday tweeted: “Dear Abike, What is this? Kai. This is messy. Please clean it up. Quickly. Please.”

Replying to Ezekwesili, the angered NidCom boss said, “I’m done on this. But out of respect for you, I will ask, ‘Clean what up?’

“It’s okay for some untrained, uncouth guy to refer to me as ‘mumu’, and I can’t call him ‘ode’. I’m not a public official that cows to bullying, please.”