Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to caution Vice President Kashim Shettima against making verbal attacks on Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Conservative Party.
Igboho’s remarks came after reports of Shettima’s criticism of Badenoch, who recently addressed corruption in Nigeria and affirmed her Yoruba identity while distancing herself from Northern Nigeria.
In a statement shared on Sunday, Igboho urged the vice president to redirect his energy toward solving the nation’s pressing challenges instead of engaging in unnecessary disputes.
He said, “It is incumbent on President Bola Tinubu, who is also from the Yoruba ethnic nationality and lineage, to direct Shettima to face his duties as vice president rather than dissipate energy or engage in verbal war against Badenoch, who merely expressed her candid but true opinion on the pervasive corruption in Nigeria’s system.”
Igboho drew comparisons to the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, highlighting the consequences faced by critics of the Fulani ethnic group during Buhari’s tenure.
“When the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari was in power, nobody dared launch offensive or verbal attacks against his Fulani ethnic nationality without being dealt with or muzzled through the instrumentality of the state or paying the supreme price,” he said.
Reflecting on his own experiences, Igboho recounted the July 1, 2021 raid on his residence by security agents, which resulted in the deaths of two people and the arrest of 13 others.
He said, “Majority of Nigerians are currently being subjected to a harrowing experience, excruciating poverty due to harsh economic policies, and are bogged down by kidnapping and other forms of insecurity, but the Federal Government is still groping in the dark, finding solutions.”
“Instead of deploring measures to mitigate the suffering of the masses and frontally tackle the nation’s challenges, Vice President Kashim Shettima is busy taking on Badenoch,” he said.
“When has it become a sin for someone to express his or her opinion or say the obvious about how corruption has retarded the growth of Nigeria as a nation or proclaiming her true identity as a member of the Yoruba ethnic group?”
“It is high time President Bola Tinubu called Shettima to order now to desist from needless verbal attacks and face his duties as the vice president of the country,” Igboho stated.
