- Reuben Abati has strongly criticized US rapper Nicki Minaj’s plans to speak at the United Nations about the alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, claiming her participation was just a “chasing clout”.
- He dismissed her role, suggesting she should focus on her music. Abati suggested that Nigeria should counter this narrative by strategically placing its own influencers on national television, especially Tiwa Savage, to express “patriotic opinions” and defend the country’s image when Minaj spoke.
Former presidential aide Reuben Abati has dismissed US rapper Nicki Minaj’s speech at the United Nations on the alleged genocide of Christians in Nigeria, claiming she was just seeking attention.
Mina was in New York on Tuesday to work with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Walz to shine a spotlight on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Waltz praised Minaj for leveraging her massive platform.
In an interview with Arise News, Abati said the role was not suitable for the rapper:
“Nicki Minaj says she wants Americans to have religious freedom. My response is, look, Nicki Minaj is a rapper from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She should focus on her Anaconda music, her rap music, and the so-called…Barbs.”
Abati further accuses the rapper of seeking relevance:
“As far as I’m concerned, she’s chasing clout, even though she’s been invited to this forum by White House advisers and Michael Walz.”
Abati came up with a counter-strategy, suggesting Nigeria should launch its own celebrity defender at the same time:
“I think what we should be doing is, now that Americans are adding influencers and all of this, we have influencers here as well. If I were to give strategic advice, by then, when Nicki Minaj speaks, we should have Tiwa Savage on national television and have her express her patriotic opinions about her country.”
He concluded that Nigeria’s influential people should be prepared to defend the country’s image:
“She can say whatever she wants because it’s not a question of people who are clout-chasing, influence-seeking or whatever. We can also have Tiwa Savage or someone else defending their country, no matter what their beliefs are.”
