Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a celebrated author, has blasted the United States for sending a congratulations letter to President-elect Bola Tinubu, who was proclaimed the victor of the February 25 presidential election.
A US State Department official congratulated Nigeria on Tinubu’s victory on the same day the President-elect was proclaimed the winner, while urging for calm amid allegations of voting fraud and technological issues.
According to him, many Nigerians and political parties have voiced dissatisfaction with the way the process was carried out and the flaws of technical aspects deployed for the first time in a presidential election cycle.
Chimamanda warned of a developing fury, particularly among young people. She went on to say that the level of unhappiness, hopelessness, and tension in the air had not been this high in years.
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She expressed her hope to the US president that he did not personally share “this cordial condescension” and referenced Biden’s past advocacy for the need to uphold “justice and the rule of law” and the significance of a “global community for democracy.”
American intelligence “surely cannot be so inept, a little homework and they would know what is manifestly obvious to me and so many others: The process was imperiled not by technical shortcomings but by deliberate manipulation,” she said.
“It seemed truly perplexing that, in the context of a closely contested election in a low-trust society, the electoral commission would ignore so many glaring red flags in its rush to announce a winner.
“(It had the power to pause vote counting, to investigate irregularities—as it would do in the governorship elections two weeks later.)”
“How surprising then to see the U.S. State Department congratulate Tinubu on March 1,” she said.
