Nigerian ambassador Fani-Kayode accuses Pretoria of blocking his speech
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Aminiya
According to Aminiya, Nigerian ambassador Femi Fani-Kayode accuses the South African presidency of having cut the live broadcast of his speech during a meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria. The South African president asked officials to correct the incident, but according to the ambassador, the intervention came too late, and he now refuses the interview request from the public broadcaster SABC.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa asked the officials concerned to correct the incident after a complaint from Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, reports Aminiya. According to the ambassador, however, the intervention came too late.
During his meeting with Ramaphosa in Pretoria, Fani-Kayode, who was one of 15 ambassadors presenting their credentials, says the speeches and presentations of the other ambassadors were broadcast live, but not that of the Nigerian delegation, which was removed from the programmes. He refuses the request for an interview from the South African public broadcaster SABC, and believes it should instead listen to the speech whose broadcast was blocked.
Several Nigerian television channels broadcast his speech and are due to rebroadcast it to the public. Fani-Kayode says he respects South Africa and its people, but states that he will not tolerate any disrespect towards Nigeria or its nationals.
As early as 26 October, he had said he wanted to protect Nigerians in South Africa. He took up his post as ambassador on 13 November.
