A recent tweet by activist Aisha Yesufu criticizing President Bola Tinubu has ignited a heated online exchange with the presidency. Yesufu claimed that Tinubu was disgraced and snubbed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at his inauguration event.
Sharing a video on X.com, Yesufu wrote, “My people say pikin wey no hear word for house, na for outside dem go disgrace am! Tinubu disgraced once again in South Africa.”
Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, O’tega Ogra, and presidential aide Bayo Onanuga issued rebuttals. Ogra condemned Yesufu’s comments, calling them a “consistent display of crass ignorance and shameful behaviour” aimed at gaining likes and retweets. He explained that the first row at the event was reserved for South African royalty and that Ramaphosa greeted visiting presidents in the second row after the national anthem.
Onanuga also criticized Yesufu and her supporters, describing them as “an uncouth horde of pessimists” embittered by their candidate’s third-place finish in the 2023 elections. He wrote, “Aisha and her uncouth horde of pessimists are always quick to rush to judgment with any whiff of what appears to them to be negative to the leader of Africa’s biggest democracy.”