"We Should Pull Down The Statue Of Madame Tinubu, The Slave Owner" - FFK

A Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has said the statue of Late Madam Efunporoye Tinubu should be removed from Lagos State.
The statue of the late Madam is standing at the popular Tinubu Square in Lagos.

Fani-Kayode's comments came after
#BlackLivesMatter protesters in the United States of America and other parts of the world pulled down statues of known slave masters.
The protesters were on the street to protest the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis policemen knelt on his neck as he screamed, “I can't breathe."

As a way of putting an end to racism and the agelong discrimination between the whites and blacks, the protesters pulled down statues of Edward Colston and others.

In his reaction on Wednesday, Fani-Kayode said it was time for Nigerians to pull down statues of slave owners like Madam Tinubu.

According to him, a nation that continues to honour people who involved in slave trade is unjust and insensitive.

He said:

Now that statues of slave owners like Edward Colston are being pulled down in the UK it is time for us to pull down the statues of slave owners like Madame Tinubu in Nigeria. A nation that continues to honor historical figures that traded in human flesh is insensitive & unjust.

Iyalode Efunporoye Tinubu was a known slave trader who used proceeds from slave trade to acquire wealth and landed properties in Lagos.

Very charming, charismatic and influential, Tinubu was the link between the white men and the hinterlands. History says she was very powerful, especially with fact she was married to Prince Adele, who saw her when she came to Abeokuta in 1833. An indigene of Gbagura Abeokuta, Efunporoye Tinubu was the wealthiest woman in Yorubaland in the 19th century.

According to history, she was the only one controlling 360 slaves and trade routes with European merchants. As a queen, she was instrumental to the installation of Obas in Lagos. She was said to have helped in fighting against European domination of her people.

Since 1852, when she died, Madam Efunporoye Tinubu remains indelible.
But Fani-Kayode said she should not be immortalise for being the one selling Africans as slaves to the white men during her time.

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