For referring to delegates of the National Conference organised by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 as ‘boys’, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has been described by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi as ‘crude and rude’.
Akinyemi, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, was the Deputy Chairman of the 2014 National Conference in Abuja.
He told Babachir in a statement: “At the conference, there were various judges of High Courts, a former Chief of Defence Staff, a former Chief of Air Staff, three former foreign ministers, a former Inspector General of Police, two former senate presidents, a former SGF, several former ministers, several SANs, several former governors, professors and presiding were a former Chief Justice of Nigeria and a former Minister of External Affairs.
“My own upbringing, diplomatic and scholar’s disposition will not allow me to yield to the temptation to call Engr Babachir Lawal by the name his own choice of words has reduced him to.
“Most of the delegates there were people who had paid their dues, served this country in high and exalted positions, risked their lives in the civil war and other domestic insurrections and showed exceptional excellence in the performance of their duties. To have referred to them as boys is rather unfortunate”
Babachir had referred to the delegates as ‘boys’ in a recent interview published in several newspapers.
To Akinyemi, Babachir’s choice of words was an act of injustice against eminent Nigerians who attended the conference as delegates.
He described the “intemperate language” of the SGF as “crude, rude, offensive and unbecoming of the high office of state he occupies.”
Akinyemi also declared that the delegates did not get N7 million each, contrary to Babachir’s position.
