Vanguard, October 2, 2010
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
On Chief Osoba’s comment that his (Femi Fani-Kayode’s) reaction to Chief Mbu’s that Balewa might have died of asthmatic attack, was based on emotion.
I was simply asked to make my contribution to this crucial debate and I did so gladly because this is a matter of tremendous national importance.
Modern Ghana, September 27, 2010
By Femi Fani- Kayode.
There has been so much confusion, misunderstanding and misinformation about who actually moved the motion for Nigeria's independence. Given the fact that Nigeria will be 50 years old on October 1st and it marks our jubilee year as an independent nation I believe that it is time to to set the record straight and bring this matter to closure. And in order to do so successfully we must be guided by facts and historical records and not by sentiment or political considerations.
The Vanguard, September 27, 2010
By Femi Fani- Kayode.
Your editorial of September 24th 2010 titled: “The Balewa Saga” raised some interesting issues and frankly amused me. This was especially so when the writer asserted that “at five” I “was too young to have known what happened” and that I am relying on what my father told me “to refute Mbu’s story”.
I really do wonder whether the writer of that editorial even bothered to read the full text of my two articles on this matter? Since the debate on the death of Sir Tafawa Balewa began I have never said or written anywhere that I relied on the testimony that I heard from my father as the basis for my assertions and to suggest that I did is simply not true.
Vanguard, September 26, 2010
by Wale Akinola.
A former external affairs minister,Chief M.T .Mbu, sparked off a controversy recently when he claimed that the Nigerian prime minister in the first republic, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa,died of asthma. The claim was disputed by those who held on to the view that Balewa had been shot dead by coup plotters who had abducted him ,among other political leaders of the country, on January 15, 1966. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of state in the ministry of transportation, did a two-part article on the controversy on the side of those who believed Balewa was killed by the coup plotters and his body dumped at a spot along Lagos-Abeokuta Road .
The Vanguard, September 24, 2010
By Vanguard's Editorial.
Why has the manner of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s death become a hot issue 44 years after his demise? Can something be achieved by having a correct version of the account of his death? Would it be important to know how Nigeria ’s first Prime Minister died?
AllAfrica.com, September 19, 2010
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
Let me begin by commending Mr. O’seun Ogunseitan and the convenors of this vital discussion on the death of Sir Tafawa Balewa who have given us the opportunity to iron out this vital issue of monumental historical importance once and for all and then hopefully, at the end of it all, we can perhaps bring the matter to closure.
Leadership Editors, September 6, 2010
by Ali Alkali And Lawal Sabo Ibrahim, Abuja
Nigerians must not let Mbu or anyone else attempt to revise history before their very eyes “just to cover cold blooded murderers and cowards” that killed the late Tafawa Balewa and other prominent Nigerians.
This was the position of the former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP yesterday night in Abuja.
STAR Radio, August 11, 2010
By Julius Kanubah.
A former spokesman of ex-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has broken silence over what led to the departure and arrest of ex-President Charles Taylor.
In a detailed article, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode blamed President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and former US President George Bush for betraying Charles Taylor.
National Daily, August 7, 2010
By Femi Fani-Kayode.
"AU leaders had an agreement that facilitated peace in Liberia. It's shameful how Obasanjo threw Charles Taylor under the bus after pressure from the Europeans and America (not a signatory to the so-called UN court). For four years Iraq went through a wave of brutal ethnic cleansing, I don't see the UN Court going after the Iraqi Cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr and Co. as well as those brutal Afghan tribal war lords; all of whom the US States Department and other foreign powers struck deals. I believe African leaders need to grow more "spine", there will be more ridiculous demands by western countries and the UN to change some part of our constitution in a few years."-- Yele Odofin-Belo.
Elendu Reports, July 27, 2010
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
This morning I wish to raise an issue which most people may not be too interested in and which they may not want to talk about or even comment on. Nevertheless, and despite this, I shall still raise it here simply because I believe that it is of vital importance for so many reasons, not least of all because the very liberty and life of a fellow Nigerian is clearly at stake. I also think that it is an issue that we should all find a little time to ponder on, do a little soul-searching about, pray about and perhaps do our own research on and look into. This is because as far as I am concerned there is a grave injustice that is going on right under our very noses in our land today which is being systematically perpetuated by the Nigerian state even as you read this essay.
"Got home I couldn't sleep and was on my phone debating as usual on Nigeria with Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who had long gone to bed insisting on his one man crusade of having hot leveraged discussions with the likes of Nasir El-Rufai of the progressive north possibly forgetting the entrenched emir factor who can be asked to mobilize their people to thwart such discussions. Furthermore Favour Afolabi has failed to realize that a lot of us Nigerians lack the required enlightenement, discipline,nationalism and loyalty of the citizens, sacrifice, time, for the cause of the "Nigeria" is lacking. Why? The citizens generally don't have a genuine hope for a better Nigeria because of the crop of political leaders in government at the moment. Like I said earlier I wish him, Favour well." - Soji Fajemirokun , Facebook, June 2010.
Vanguard, October 7, 2010
by Clifford Ndujihe.
One month after his reported comments that Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa died from an asthmatic attack and not gunshots, former High Commissioner to London, Chief Matthew Mbu, yesterday, tendered an unreserved apology to the Balewa family.