Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior
special assistant to the president on foreign affairs and diaspora, said the
award was not given on behalf of The King Center.
On Tuesday, pictures of the
president being presented the award surfaced on social media. The award was
given to him by Naomi Barbara King, a matriarch of the King family.
But commenting on the pictures,
Nigerians claimed that the president was scammed into receiving a fake award.
The King Center further fuelled
the speculations by denying any involvement in the award given to Buhari.
“The award given to President
Buhari of Nigeria was not given by The King Center, at the request of The King
Center or by the children of #MLK and #CorettaScottKing,” the centre wrote on
Twitter.
AWARD GIVEN IN PERSONAL CAPACITYThe award given to President Buhari of Nigeria was not given by The King Center, at the request of The King Center or by the children of #MLK and #CorettaScottKing. @MrFixNigeria— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) March 28, 2018
Reacting, Dabiri-Erewa on
Thursday said the award was given by Naomi in a personal capacity and not on
behalf of The King Centre.
According to a statement by
Abdulrahman Balogun, her spokesman, Dabiri-Erewa said Naomi gave the plaque to
Buhari in recognition of his fight against corruption.
“The members, led by the
matriarch of MLK, Naomi Barbara King, were in Nigeria as part of the activities
initiated to celebrate a low- key Black History Month in Nigeria as part of
deepening partnership between Africa and its Diaspora,” the statement read.
“As part of the activities, they
visited President Muhammadu Buhari and gave him a commemorative plaque for his
fight against corruption and what they termed from the “Africania Diaspora” a
term for Africans in Diaspora for which the oldest of them all Naomi.
“Barbara King was selected to
present on behalf of the family (NOT MLK CENTER) as a sign of appreciation to
the Nigerian President.”
LINK OF AWARD TO THE KING CENTRE
Dabiri-Erewa said the controversy
started when Newton Farris, a member of The King Centre board, made a
“political statement”.
Farris, who is a nephew to Luther
King, was quoted to have asked Nigerians to be patient with Buhari, whom he
said would make Nigeria a better place.
“My advice to Nigeria is this, I
know that a lot of Nigerians feel a little displeasure with President Buhari
moving too slow on some of his reforms. I will counsel Nigerians to say give
this man the time he needs to do the job that he is doing,” Farris had said.
“He is one of the most legitimate
leaders that the continent has produced. And he would if you all just stick to
him I assure you he is going to make Nigeria a better place.”
According to Dabiri-Erewa, Farris
was subsequently asked to refute the statement but he declined, arguing that he
made it in a personal capacity.
“As a non political group, he was
asked to refute the statement , which he refused to, insisting that was how he
felt, and it was his personal opinion, not that of the family nor the centre,
of which he is a board member and was the Chief Operating Officer for over five
years,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
“This may have led to some
arguments among them, which they have said they will resolve when they get back
to the US, which apparently led to the tweet being circulated.”
In 2016, former President
Goodluck Jonathan was awarded the Martin Luther King human rights award. He is
the first African leader to be so honoured.
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