FFK and that Kamala Harris tweet

The American elections are over. A winner has been called and the neighbors across from me who had Trump yard signs have bundled them up.  Yet there are many still questioning the truth of what is before their very own eyes. Leading the pack, of course, is President Donald J. Trump, a man as notorious for manufacturing his own truth (remember his ‘massive crowds’ at his inauguration?) as he is for his braggadociousness (remember when he said he had a ‘very high IQ’?). Blinded by self-delusion and hubris, as if he were not bound by the same laws as everyone else, he’s been tweet-shouting accusations of vote rigging by the victor, Joe Biden, and the Democratic Party camp. His huge ego would neither budge to allow him space to concede gracefully nor to see that more people preferred him out than in.  Echoing his accusations of rigging without proof (he’s never pretended to bother with proof) are many Nigerians on social media, a vast majority of whom do not even live in the United States and are therefore not eligible to vote. Last week, I wrote about the ridiculous prayer walk in Onitsha and I hoped that the end of the elections, regardless of how it ended, would put an end to such displays of embarrassment from my fellow Nigerians. Sadly, it was not to be. Trump-malaise is real, not just among misguided IPOB members who somehow believe that Trump is able to dig up Biafra like a tuber of yam and hand it to them, but also among those whose age and upbringing might suggest a greater ability to deploy logical reasoning.

Enter the chief culprit – Femi Fani-Kayode;  “Sadaukin Shinkafi, Otunba of Jogaland, Lover of God, Servant of Truth, Voice of the Voiceless, Ayanfe Oluwa, Akanda Eniyan, Odum Agu, Odogwu Eze,” all per his Twitter bio. He’s been posting almost non-stop about Trump winning and invoking God to intervene and “cut short the celebrations” of Joe Biden.  I would have ignored FFK’s fawning over Trump if he had not dragged Kamala into it. Not satisfied with tweet-praying against Biden, he posted some infantile drivel about Kamalla (sic) Harris being Jezebel. Apparently, he is able to tell because of “her eyes.” And because Kaballah (a Jewish school of thought) + Kundalini (a form of divine feminine energy in Hinduism) = Kamallah. Therefore, he concludes with a flourish, a Biden presidency is a Harris presidency and is consequently “satan’s presidency.”

It is illustrative that he adopts Trump as his hero. It is also especially significant that he attacks Kamala rather than Joe Biden.  Both points are related and neither is surprising. Since Servant of Truth Fani-Kayode enjoys spurious mathematical equations so much, I’m going to use equations to illustrate his similarities with Trump and explore his opinion of women.

Equation 1. Trump=FFK=thin skinned bullies. Both men appear to take issue with journalists asking them questions they do not approve of. Trump treats such journalists disparagingly. Ergo FFK.  Recall the way he spoke to a journalist last August because he disapproved of the line of questioning. Did he not call the man stupid? Did he not also threaten to use his “connections” to make sure the man lost his job? Does this show a tendency to bully? Check! Like hero, like acolyte.

Second equation. Trump = FFK = problem with women. Trump= 1 ex-wife + 1 ex-wife + 1 (debatably former model) current wife. Ergo FFK. His estranged former beauty queen wife, Precious Chikwendu, was his fourth.  Like Trump who is deluded about his expertise on things he knows very little about (COVID-19, financial success, diversity), FFK has no qualms pontificating on matters on which he has been proven to be a colossal failure. In a June 2020 Facebook post, he unironically shares his wisdom on how to treat and keep a woman (never mind that they slip like wet soap through his hands) and starts by saying that “Ladies are like race horses: they must be mastered, tamed, trained, exercised and regularly serviced. They are like race cars: their engine must be revved at least twice a day.” The school-boy sexual innuendos aside – note the similarity with Trump again- his view of women aligns with his hero’s. What type of a man thinks that a woman he is in a relationship with is an animal to be mastered, tamed and trained? A man with no respect for women. It must really hurt FFK that a woman is about to become the next Vice President of the United States. It must keep him awake at night and propel him out of bed to his computer to tweet out unfounded conspiracy theories and grandiose schemes where Trump somehow stays in power for another four years.

FFK’s disparaging of Kamala Harris and his Facebook post on “How to Treat and Keep a Woman” are emblematic of some Nigerian ‘big men’s’ attitude towards women. Reno Omokri stands firmly on this table as well. Not surprisingly, he is also a Trump fan (although he’s not as far gone as FFK as to deny that the election already has a winner). Both men use their massive Twitter following to influence young people who look up to them as models of all that is right and desirable. Young men who might grow up as misogynistic as they are and young women internalizing that misogyny. Men like them with so much power should use it for good. It is a shame that they don’t.