A prominent supporter of Peter Obi on Twitter with the username ‘Ajebo Danny’ sparked controversy with his denigration of northern kids as ‘cows’ deserving of life-threatening disease in an incendiary post published earlier today on the microblogging site.
He was reacting to a news report highlighting the risks of child malnutrition in Kano affecting over 1.5m children. In the controversial post, he said “The cows are already battling malnutrition? Thank you Jesus.”
Ajebo Danny, like other Obi supporters, is notorious for such bigoted attacks against northerners and other non-Igbos in Nigeria. Throughout the election and immediately after the declaration of the results, he targeted non-Igbos with ethnic-tinged insults, including the slur that northerners are sub-humans and Yoruba people are synonymous with treachery.
His latest attack on children has drawn widespread criticism and anger. Many have urged Obi to reflect on the kinds of character his presidential ambition attracted, with some insisting that his presentation as an Igbo-Christian candidate stoked divisiveness and was a cynical exploitation of Nigeria’s faultlines.