Afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti, became the prey of Internet trolls when he stated that being obedient in Nigeria was tantamount to being a zombie. Many supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, who are called ‘Obidients’ took his opinion as an attack against them.
In an interview with Saturday Beats, Kuti stated that though he would not like to discuss the elements of his meeting with Obi because it was a private one, he admitted that they talked about politics and the state of the nation.
He said, “I don’t want to talk about what I discussed with Peter Obi. The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, also visited me and I did not reveal what we discussed. Some people even said Osinbajo gave me money. And, I told him to tell the world if he indeed gave me money, and he said he did not. Even at that, some people chose not to believe us. That shows that some people already have their minds made up regardless of the facts on the ground.
“If I tell you about my conversation with Obi, I feel that will not be right. But, if he comes out to say something different from what transpired, I would then have to talk, at least to set the records straight. However, I can give you the perimeter of our discussion. We talked about how bad Nigeria is, and I gave him some ideas on what I felt necessary to be done to put the country on the right development path.
“He also mentioned that campaigns should not involve threats, and he said that was why he came to apologize to me for the actions of some of his followers who threatened and abused me on social media.”
Kuti, however, conserved that he was not moved by the backlash he got over his statement. He said, “I cannot be forced to support anyone. A candidate can even caution their fans against doing certain things, but not all of them will listen. If I want to campaign for a certain person, I will give my reasons for doing that.
“I have spoken against many politicians in the past, including Bola Tinubu (presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress) and Atiku Abubakar (the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party).”
Source: Punch
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