Apparently fed up with the incessant killings in Nigeria, popular actor, Yomi Fash Lanso took to his Instagram page to express his displeasure, even though he campaigned and voted for Buhari.
Ever since his letter went viral during the week, some Nigerians have opined that he chose to criticise Buhari for leaving him out when the president invited some artistes to break fast with him at the Villa despite his effort campaigning for Buhari in 2015.
In an exclusive chat with Saturday Beats, the thespian dismissed the insinuations that his exclusion from the presidential banquet was the reason behind the open letter. He also described such comments as funny simply because he was part of the committee that recommended the names of his colleagues to be at the dinner.
The actor said, “I did not write the open letter because I am no longer in the good book of the government. Those that are making such claims, have they seen me go to the government to beg for money? I also campaigned for Goodluck Jonathan. I campaigned for Buhari based on his integrity and my point of view and now that he is derailing, I have to correct him. When Jonathan also failed to arrest corrupt politicians, I spoke against it. Those who think I wrote the letter because I was not part of the celebrities that broke the fast with the president don’t know that I was consulted to submit the names of some of my colleagues I deemed fit to be there and that is what I did. I did not include my name because it was not necessary.”
Fash-Lanso said that it was obvious but sad that the president is taking sides with the herdsmen who are allegedly behind the killings. “It is obvious that the president is taking sides with these killer herdsmen because for over three years, the same thing has been happening. The government should be held responsible for the killings in the country. They arrested some people over a reprisal and ordered that they are hanged. How about those who perpetrated the act that called for the reprisals? Where justice fails, personal vendetta would set in. That is what we are guarding against. You cannot encroach on my land with your cows, destroy my crops and kill my family, then expect me to sit back and watch. These farmers toil day and night only for these herdsmen to destroy the fruit of their labour with their cows. Enough is enough,” the thespian said.
He regretted that the few times he had campaigned for certain individuals, things have not worked out as he had envisaged. He then vowed that he would keep on encouraging people to vote based on their conscience. “Now I am afraid to campaign for anybody because you cannot trust anybody. All I can do is advice people to vote. We have never enjoyed any administration in this country. Every government that came into power always had one issue or the other. We have allowed corruption to thrive so much that it has eaten into our bone marrows and this makes everyone believe they can do anything they like. It is for this simple reason that we are witnessing all these killings. If things work the way they ought to and people who err are investigated, arrested and prosecuted, it would serve as a deterrent to others. In other countries that similar things happened, it took one person to change their narrative. I voted for him because I believed he would change things but now, he is paying lip service. Every human life is important and if anyone claims that their cow was attacked or stolen, where did they report the case? Which police station? If someone could come out to say that they would kill anyone that steals their cows, then the person should be arrested because he has indicted himself. Nothing is happening so far,” the actor said.
PUNCH