Nigerians have mocked the Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, over his congratulatory message to a Nigerian, Esther Agbaje, who was elected into the Minnesota House of Representatives in the United States.
Fayemi tweeted on Thursday by describing Agbaje as ‘our Ekiti daughter’.
“Congratulations to our Ekiti daughter and Harvard graduate for winning a landmark legislative seat into the Minnesota state assembly. I just spoke to her proud parents from Aramoko Ekiti and extended the best wishes of all our people. JKF,” he wrote.
In replying by Nigerians on twitter attacked Fayemi, some users said the Ekiti daughters are at home in Nigeria because of the ASUU strike. If Ekiti State or Nigeria could have given her that, she probably wouldn’t be in America. For you, there is nothing to float about here,”
See the Nigerians reactions:
@Norbs_A tweeted that the governor’s daughters are at home in Nigeria because of the ASUU strike.
“She’s not your Ekiti daughter. Your Ekiti daughters are at home because ASUU is on strike.”
@Femi “Would this ‘our Ekiti daughter’ have gotten the chance to achieve her dream here in Ekiti?”.
@lackren “Her success is the result of a productive society, a system that allows everyone to thrive. If Ekiti State or Nigeria could have given her that, she probably wouldn’t be in America. For you, there is nothing to float about here,”.
“Your Ekiti daughter? Success has so many families, failure none. Did you create a platform where Nigerian youth aspiring to achieve this can? You rather impoverished and deny your citizens education, yet you want to take the glory of a system which produced her. Nigeria saddens me,” @Lasgidi_acctant wrote.
Agbaje won her election to the lower chamber of the state legislature on Tuesday.
She won by a landslide, scoring a total of 17,396 votes, which represents 74.7% of the total ballots cast.
Her closest rival, Alan Shilepsky, a candidate of the Republican Party, scored 4,126 votes, which represents 17.7% of the total votes cast.
She will represent District 59B in the 134-member House on the platform of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of the Democratic Party.
Agbaje was born in St. Paul, the state capital of Minnesota, to Nigerian immigrant parents. Her father, Rev. John, an Episcopal Church priest, met her mother, Bunmi, a librarian, at the University of Minnesota where they were studying.
She graduated from George Washington University, Washington, D.C with a degree in political science. She also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from Harvard University.
