A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili , has scolded Bello el -Rufai , the son of Governor Nasir el -Rufai of Kaduna State , for threatening to rape the mother of someone who disagreed with him on social media .
The former World Bank Vice- President also asked Bello to apologise for making acerbic comments laced with tribalism.
Ezekwesili , who also served in the same federal cabinet as Bello’ s father during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo , said this on Twitter on Sunday .
She tweeted, “Did I just see horrific tweets from your handle threatening gang – rape ? What was that ? Why the ethnic vitriol toward Igbos ? What ’ s that , Bello? Too tragic !
“ You need to not just immediately apologise for those vile tweets but get into an anger management program quickly .
“ I have maintained that we can disagree without being disagreeable. We can object without being objectionable . Healthy debates and divergences that arise are important for democratic development of societies . ”
Trouble started after Bello took to Twitter to insult United States President , Donald Trump, over the handling of the COVID- 19 pandemic .
Bello said , “ There is nothing as radioactive as an incompetent leader during a time of crisis . The United States of America is a case in point . A few states in Nigeria too . ”
However , a Twitter user named Consigliere with the handle @ oewonah , said Bello should rather focus on Nigeria ’ s President , Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . )
He insisted that the American President was miles ahead of Buhari and even Bello’ s father , el – Rufai , in terms of quality leadership .
Consigliere wrote , “ He ( Bello) can ’ t call Buhari out for his ineptitude yet he ’ s calling Trump names? Did he vote Trump?”
El – Rufai ’ s son , however , decided to rain expletives on the man who disagreed with him and also insulted his ethnicity.
He tweeted , “ Tell your mother I ’ m passing her to my friends tonight . No Igbo sounds please ! Tueh. ”
Not done , the younger el – Rufai sent a private message to Consligiere , saying it was obvious that he was attacking Buhari because he is Igbo .
Bello further stated that Buhari was completing the Second Niger Bridge in the South- East , a feat which former President Goodluck Jonathan could not attain despite being supported by Igbo .
He also insulted the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra , Nnamdi Kanu.
He tweeted, “ Your mother is the main whore of the South – East . I can ’ t reply you publicly. F** k Kanu and take a picture of the Second Niger Bridge, thanks to Buhari . My mentions are mine. If a Sunday bastard makes up lies and drags my father , his mother will be games. If he doesn ’ t want it, he shouldn ’ t mention me. The crowd has never phased (sic) me…
The outburst sparked outrage on Twitter with Bello trending at number one .
The person whose tweets Bello was directed at , expressed shock at the insults, explaining that he wasn ’ t even Igbo .
However , the debate became took another turn when Bello’ s mother , Hadiza , who is a women ’ s rights advocate, was tagged .
Mrs. el – Rufai defended her son ’ s outburst saying , “ Don ’ t @ me . Sow the wind , reap the whirlwind . All is fair in love and war . ”
As of 3 am on Twitter Nigerian time , Bello was still trending , attracting nearly 60 , 000 tweets
He said he would not apologise for the insults, insisting that he and his family had been victims of ethnic slurs in the past.
