A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, has scolded Bello el-Rufai, the son of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, for threatening to rape the mother of someone who disagreed with him on social media.
The former World Bank Vice-President also asked Bello to apologise for making acerbic comments laced with tribalism.
Ezekwesili, who also served in the same federal cabinet as Bello’s father during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said this on Twitter on Sunday.
She tweeted, “Did I just see horrific tweets from your handle threatening gang-rape? What was that? Why the ethnic vitriol toward Igbos? What’s that, Bello? Too tragic!
“You need to not just immediately apologise for those vile tweets but get into an anger management program quickly.
“I have maintained that we can disagree without being disagreeable. We can object without being objectionable. Healthy debates and divergences that arise are important for democratic development of societies.”
Trouble started after Bello took to Twitter to insult United States President, Donald Trump, over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bello said, “There is nothing as radioactive as an incompetent leader during a time of crisis. The United States of America is a case in point. A few states in Nigeria too.”
However, a Twitter user named Consigliere with the handle @oewonah, said Bello should rather focus on Nigeria’s President, Maj.Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
He insisted that the American President was miles ahead of Buhari and even Bello’s father, el-Rufai, in terms of quality leadership.
Consigliere wrote, “He (Bello) can’t call Buhari out for his ineptitude yet he’s calling Trump names? Did he vote Trump?”
El-Rufai’s son, however, decided to rain expletives on the man who disagreed with him and also insulted his ethnicity.
He tweeted, “Tell your mother I’m passing her to my friends tonight. No Igbo sounds please! Tueh.
Not done, the younger el-Rufai sent a private message to Consligiere, saying it was obvious that he was attacking Buhari because he is Igbo.
Bello further stated that Buhari was completing the Second Niger Bridge in the South-East, a feat which former President Goodluck Jonathan could not attain despite being supported by Igbo.
He also insulted the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
He tweeted, “Your mother is the main whore of the South-East. I can’t reply you publicly. F**k Kanu and take a picture of the Second Niger Bridge, thanks to Buhari. My mentions are mine. If a Sunday bastard makes up lies and drags my father, his mother will be games. If he doesn’t want it, he shouldn’t mention me. The crowd has never phased (sic) me…
The outburst sparked outrage on Twitter with Bello trending at number one.
The person whose tweets Bello was directed at, expressed shock at the insults, explaining that he wasn’t even Igbo.
However, the debate became more interesting when Bello’s mother, Hadiza, who is a women’s rights advocate, was tagged.
Mrs. el-Rufai, however, defended her son’s outburst saying, “Don’t @ me. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. All is fair in love and war.”
As of 3am on Twitter Nigerian time, Bello was still trending, attracting nearly 60,000 tweets
He said he would not apologise for the insults, insisting that he and his family had been victims of ethnic slurs in the past.