A UK-based Nigerian actress Kelechi Okafor has disagreed with Phil Hazlewood, the Nigeria Bureau Chief of international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) over his choice of words in describing the deplorable state of a Nigerian road.

Kelechi is famous on social media for her advocacy on racism and sexism affecting black women.

While Phil is based in Lagos, Nigeria and sees happenings in the country better, Okafor is based in Peckham, United Kingdom.

Hazlewood had posted a tweet on his Twitter page condemning the Nigerian government for the deplorable state of the Lagos-Badagry road.

Nigeria’s pretensions to be anything end on the Lagos-Badagry road. What an utter disgrace. Those responsible for letting it get in such a state should be ashamed. pic.twitter.com/Yuq4ejD4Mp

— Phil Hazlewood (@philhazlewood) April 16, 2019

The Lagos-Badagry Expressway, which linked Nigeria with the popular Seme border in Benin Republic, has been in a deplorable state for over five years and had been neglected by the government at state and federal levels despite several outcries by commuters and residents of the area.

Reacting to the Lagos-based journalist’s tweet, Kelechi who has been living in the UK ever since she moved there from childhood to join her mother, quoted Phil’s tweet and said a part of the tweet where the journalist wrote “Nigeria’s pretensions to be anything” sounded colonialist to her.

She noted that Hazlewood could have offered valid criticism without denigrating the country.

Kelechi followed this with a long thread of tweets to argue her point. She wrote,

“Nigeria’s pretensions to be anything” sounds really colonialist to me tbh. You can offer valid critique without denigrating a country but then again…white.

“Phil responds to a comment with the tax he pays being a legitimate reason for him to make these observations about Nigeria. I pay taxes in Britain and I’m still told I don’t belong here and I should be grateful. Phil needs to be shown that same energy.

“Nigeria’s issues are still symptomatic of being colonised by Britain so I really don’t want to hear any ancestors of colonisers opening their thin lips to critique the system that their forefathers intentionally destabilised.

“Nigeria has sooooo much work to do. That’s not something anyone can dispute but I would really like for the colonial sons and daughters to shut the fuck up and face their front.

“Nigeria’s pretensions to be anything…” is so racialised. As if Nigeria is this infant that white people must come to the aid of while simultaneously selecting the amnesia they suffer from when it comes to remembering how this all happened.

“A country reeling from the violence of colonialism may play dress up for a bit (decades in fact) to boost its own ego but ultimately realises that everything will crumble unless real work is done. That tweet has really annoyed me.

“Some of you really need to watch your tone when you’re talking about countries that your homeland had a hand in ruining. Mind out before you find out.

“Omg as a white I really want to support Nigeria and live here but it is an absolute mess!”

“For context, I’d like to show you what brits were doing to Nigerians during the festive season and I also need you to deep the year. This is why comments like Phil’s will always set me off.

“So no burn in the sun waste man should come and talk about Nigeria pretending to be anything when your grandfather was using my people as human Christmas cards. That’s a suckyourmum-able offence.”

 

See her tweet:

“Nigeria’s pretensions to be anything” sounds really colonialist to me tbh. You can offer valid critique without denigrating a country but then again…white. https://t.co/2M8cUiDEol

— Kelechi Okafor (@kelechnekoff) April 18, 2019