‘Colonial mentality’ — Keyamo chides Chimamanda over letter to Biden

Festus Keyamo, spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, says the letter written to US President Joe Biden by Chimamanda Adichie is not worthy of attention.

Addressing allegations of manipulation in the 2023 presidential election, Adichie, a Nigerian novelist, wrote a long read to Biden on Thursday. 

In the letter, she alleged that the presidential election was marred with discrepancies and irregularities which she claims were shunned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Adichie asked Biden to uphold his stance on the need for a true democracy, adding that congratulating Bola Tinubu who was “hastily” announced as president-elect tarnishes America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democratic processes.

Responding in a statement on Friday, Keyamo described the letter as “worthless”, adding that it “reflects a pathetic colonial mentality”.

He said in global diplomacy and international relations, presidents make decisions and take actions about other countries’ affairs “based on reports from official and diplomatic sources likely to have been conveyed through well-established channels of communications”. 

“Long epistles written in flowery or purple prose by bitter supporters of sore losers, posing as ‘concerned citizens’ (but in reality actuated by ethnic politics) do not fall within these official or diplomatic sources,” Keyamo said.

“It is befuddling that someone often celebrated for using a God-given talent to promote our African values, will so tragically degrade that same ethos by penning a letter that is so petty, so grovelling in its tone in urging a single foreign power to withhold a mere congratulatory message to our president-elect as if that is what actually validates our own democratic identity. 

“It reflects a pathetic colonial mentality. It is even more ironic to realise that the same foreign power to which the obsequious appeal is directed is still grappling with the credibility of its own internal democratic process that produced its present leadership. 

“More tragic is that some rabid supporters here are falling over themselves in deluded ecstasy for such a worthless letter that may not even be considered worthy enough, in a diplomatic sense, for the attention of even a stenographer to an Under Secretary in the US. 

“Such only paints the picture of a band of drowning supporters clutching at any straw to stay afloat. 

“As for the empirical fallacies contained in the letter, I will not bother myself here with a lengthy response as enough has been said in the last few weeks in respect of those specific issues and all the issues are before our justices awaiting adjudication. 

“But I have bad news for them: the stenographer will probably toss the letter into a trash bin with the conclusion that it is no more than the tantrums of a Trump reincarnate in Nigeria – those who refuse to accept obvious defeat! Yes, the US has the likes of that writer in their midst too!”