Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said that he will offer no apology for shaking hands with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Pantami, a man he described as ‘sociopathic Jihadist’ and unfit to be a minister three months ago.
Fani-Kayode has made a surprise appearance at the wedding of President Muhammadu Buhari’s son and the Emir of Bichi’s daughter. In a post he shared, the former minister said, “Flew into Kano with my friends and brothers Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state, Governor Babagana Umar Zulum of Borno State, Senator Sani Ahmed Yarima, Senator Ali Ndume, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, Hon. Minister Isa Pantami, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu & others for the wedding.”
The post was criticised by many.
But justifying his actions, Fani Kayode said, “Are you still foaming at the mouth because I shook hands with Isa Pantami? Keep foaming and let your blood pressure go higher.
“If you like drop dead. I offer no apology or explanation and I need no validation from you. You either trust my judgment or you do not and either way I do not care.
“You see my faith teaches me to forgive those that express regrets about their past actions and utterances and to be at peace with as many people as possible.
“It also teaches me to shake a hand when it is extended to me in friendship.
“The bottom line is as follows: you can do and say your worse. You can vent until you wee in your pants. You can wail until you defecate in your trousers. You can scream and shout from morning till night.
“You can run up and down like a weather beaten and rain soaked chicken whose head has been cut off until you collapse.
“You can do all these things simply because I took a picture with a fellow Nigerian and called him my friend and brother.
“It does not move me and it changes nothing: though we may not agree on everything, Isa and I are now friends and we will remain friends. Live with it or die with it.
“If most of you had 10% of my courage and foresight Nigeria would be a far better place. History will vindicate me and posterity will judge us all.
“You do not know what I know and you do not see what I see. You assume the worse because you are the worse.
“Whatever you choose to say or do I don’t care. All I know is that I will never prostitute my principles or compromise my stance on fundamental issues and I will disagree with those that I choose to disagree with but I will never be driven by hate or be deaf, dumb and blind to reason.
“And unlike most of you I can never be a coward. I have the courage to be civil and to be civilised to those that offer me respect and friendship even if we do not agree on all things. The question is do you?
“You didn’t see Buba Galadima hugging Ahmad Lawan. You did not see GEJ shaking hands with PMB. You did not see Atiku shaking hands with PMB.
“You did not see GEJ shaking hands with Osinbajo. The only thing you saw was FFK shaking hands with Isa Pantami!
“Who do you like this???”
