By Frank Meke
My Encounter With Fani-Kayode As Tourism Minister Was Instructive. It Told Me Everything About The Man.
Let me tell you a story. A true story. A story that shaped my career as a budding travel journalist and columnist.
My encounter with Femi Fani-Kayode as then Nigerian Tourism Minister was one I regarded as very instructive and telling on my career.
I was hard-hitting. I had no tolerance for political tourism shenanigans. And I told Fani so, in an unmistakable manner – blunt, raw, no diplomacy. I wrote what I saw. I wrote what I felt. I wrote that tourism was dying while politicians were playing politics with it.
My position on his leadership of the ministry at that time must have hurt him so much that he took a half page in the Champion Newspaper to square out with me.
Half page! A Minister of the Federal Republic, taking half page to answer a young travel journalist. That alone told me: this man reads. This man feels. This man does not ignore criticism. He confronts it.
But that is not the end of the story. That is the beginning.
Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, who was the Director-General of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), intervened and told Fani-Kayode, who later became Minister of Aviation, that engaging a very stubborn journalist like me would bring no good end to his administration and advised a meeting.
Runsewe knew me. Runsewe knew Fani. Runsewe knew that two stubborn men fighting in public would destroy tourism, not build it.
Incidentally, Fani-Kayode’s media aide then is a friend of mine from the stable of Nigerian Tribune who also intervened, in fact, reminding me that Fani has tremendous respect for me and journalists and needs our support.
I was made to understand that Fani-Kayode at that time attended my church, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries.
I backed down because brothers do not engage brothers in the open.
That is a principle I have carried till today. You can disagree in the room. You can fight in the room. But you do not wash dirty linen in the market square for enemies to laugh at.
Later, I was invited to a meeting with the Minister at the National Theatre with other tourism journalists to resolve the issues.
Initially, I had made up my mind not to attend, to avoid arrest, knowing that our leaders abhor rendering public accountability of their stewardship.
I thought: If I go, they will arrest me. If I go, they will harass me. If I go, I will disappear.
At the meeting which I later attended, and was assured that I will not be arrested or harassed by the security aides of the Minister, Fani-Kayode himself, after several calls for me to come forward to be recognised, admitted his love for my sacrifice and commitment to Nigerian tourism development and growth, shook and embraced me, promising to turn around the industry with the help of Nigerian tourism journalists.
He did not arrest me. He embraced me.
He did not silence me. He saluted me.
He did not see me as an enemy. He saw me as a partner.
That day, I learnt a lesson: Fani-Kayode is a fighter, but he is not a hater. He fights for Nigeria, not against Nigerians. He confronts, but he also reconciles.
That is the Fani-Kayode I know. That is the Fani-Kayode South Africa is now meeting.
Let us get the facts right, so history does not lie.
David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode, born 16th October 1960 in Lagos, to Chief Remilekun Adetokunbo Fani-Kayode and Chief (Mrs) Adia Adunni Fani-Kayode, of Ile-Ife, Osun State, is a lawyer, politician, essayist, poet, evangelical Christian, and diplomat.
He was Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 to June 2006. He was appointed Minister of Culture and Tourism from 22nd June 2006 to 7th November 2006, succeeding Frank Ogbuewu. He was then redeployed to Minister of Aviation from 7th November 2006 to 29th May 2007, succeeding Babalola Borishade.
He was one of the best ministers during President Obasanjo era. Not because he was perfect. But because he was fearless. He was articulate. He was passionate. He did not hide. He did not run.
He was later redeployed to the Ministry of Aviation where he frontally confronted foreign airlines in Nigeria who stock in trade is the embarrassment of Nigerian travellers.
The facts confirm it. In January 2007, Fani-Kayode warned Virgin Atlantic and British Airways for treating Nigerians on board their flights with contempt. His office said the two airlines had been treating Nigerians with the “utmost contempt” when they are checking in and airborne. He warned that major sanctions would be meted out should another complaint be reported.
He said: Nigerians are not second class citizens and the Minister would not sit by and allow our people to be treated like animals by anybody or for any reason.
He ordered foreign airlines to ensure all flights into Lagos arrive latest 6pm, not 8pm or 9pm. He threatened to ground any airline that continued maltreatment. He threatened to ban some British airlines for refusal to respect Bilateral Air Services Agreement.
He brought sanity to the system. He instilled fear in the minds of foreign airlines like British Airways that was strangulating Nigerians. During his tenure as Aviation Minister, there was no single aircraft accident in Nigeria. He saved the NAMA Thales ATM project from becoming a white elephant by directing negotiation to commence. He presented a memorandum to FEC seeking payment of outstanding pensions to former Nigeria Airways workers.
That is Fani-Kayode. When he sees Nigerians being humiliated, he does not write a memo. He fights.
Fani-Kayode was one of the best ministers during President Obasanjo era and his recent posting to South Africa, which has shown disdain to Nigerians and which he vehemently confronted, is a typical Fani-Kayode fire and power to protect Nigeria and Nigerians.
Let us get the South Africa facts right:
President Bola Tinubu initially approved Fani-Kayode’s ambassadorial posting on 6th March 2026, assigning him to Germany. On 7th May 2026, Tinubu approved his redeployment to South Africa following Fani-Kayode’s request for change of posting – a swap with Senator Ita Enang.
He was among 65 ambassadorial nominees confirmed by the Senate. In July 2026, he received his Letter of Credence.
On 25th October 2026, he arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, received by officials of the Nigerian High Commission and members of the Nigerian community. He pledged to rebuild relations and strengthen protection of Nigerians.
On 30th October 2026, he presented copies of his Letters of Credence to Clayson Monyela, Deputy Director-General, Public Diplomacy and Acting Chief of State Protocol at DIRCO, formally assuming duties as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.
On 13th November 2026 – yesterday – he presented his Letter of Credence to President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria, alongside ambassadors from 14 other countries. It was the first posting of a substantive Nigerian ambassador to South Africa in four years.
And what happened? The same old story. The South African Presidency livestreamed all 15 ambassadors – except Nigeria. Fani-Kayode said: Of all the 15 introductions and speeches, only Nigeria’s was cut out.
What did he do? Did he keep quiet? Did he smile and go home? No. He confronted Ramaphosa directly during the photo session. He told him: You cut Nigeria out. Ramaphosa, to his credit, took him to the relevant officials and acted with dispatch. The South African Presidency later released the full video.
That is Fani-Kayode. He does not allow Nigeria to be cut out. Not in a newspaper. Not in an airline. Not in a livestream. Not anywhere.
Based on my encounter, based on his history, based on what he has already done in the last 20 days, here is how Fani-Kayode will execute his diplomatic action in South Africa:
Fani-Kayode is not a whispering diplomat. He is a speaking diplomat. He will not hide behind diplomatic niceties while Nigerians are being killed.
He has already done it. At the inaugural Nigerian Fair at the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg on 8th November 2026, he warned that rising xenophobic hostility threatens African solidarity.
He said: Nigeria contributed no less than $61 billion to South Africa’s liberation struggle between 1960 and 1994. He recalled the Southern Africa Relief Fund of 1976, popularly known as the Mandela Tax, through which Nigerian civil servants voluntarily surrendered portions of their salaries to support the ANC. He said schoolchildren donated lunch money. He said Nigeria deployed troops to frontline states. He said Nigeria campaigned at the UN.
He described xenophobia as “very retrograde and almost primitive sentiment.” He said perpetrators are a small minority “possessed by the spirit of Afrophobia and xenophobia.”
He said: “Patience is wearing thin within the corridors of power in our country. They are not happy. They are angry. They feel you have not treated them well.”
That is not diplomatic language. That is Fani-Kayode language. Fire and power.
Fani-Kayode will not sever ties. He has said it clearly: Nigeria will not sever economic ties with South Africa. He dismissed calls to close MTN, Shoprite, DSTV in Nigeria. He said MTN generates about $12 million daily in Nigeria, and both economies need each other.
But he will not allow protection to be an excuse for humiliation. He will demand:
- Immediate investigation of every killing of Nigerians. He has already noted that at least 30 Nigerians have been killed by South African police in the last four years, 12 since start of this year. He will demand accountability.
- Protection of Nigerian businesses. The Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA) has already urged him to address passport delays, xenophobic attacks, harassment of Nigerian-owned businesses. He will take it up.
- Speedy passport services. Nigerians in South Africa have cried about slow, costly, difficult passport renewal. Fani-Kayode will fix it or expose it.
He will do what he did in Aviation: Warn, then sanction. Warn, then act.
Fani-Kayode will not beg South Africa. He will remind South Africa.
He will remind them: You did not free yourselves alone. Nigeria paid. Nigeria bled. Nigeria sacrificed. The Mandela Tax was Nigerian tax. The ANC office in Lagos was Nigerian office. The scholarships for South African students were Nigerian scholarships.
He will say: “We, from Nigeria, and truly the rest of Africa, have a stake in this, because we made contribution to what you are today.”
That is powerful diplomacy. It is not insult. It is memory. And memory is power.
Fani-Kayode’s first official engagement in South Africa was not a cocktail with ministers. It was a town hall meeting with Nigerians. He listened to their concerns. He assured them of Federal Government’s commitment.
He will hold town halls in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town. He will visit Nigerian churches, mosques, markets, schools. He will be a High Commissioner of the people, not of the palace.
He will also build bridges with South African civil society, with ANC veterans who remember Nigeria’s sacrifice, with South African businessmen who need Nigerian market, with South African youths who do not know history.
He will teach history to those who have forgotten it.
Remember: Fani-Kayode took half page in Champion to answer me. He knows the power of media. He will use X, he will use TV, he will use press conferences, he will use Nigerian stations in South Africa to ensure Nigeria’s voice is never cut out again.
When they cut his speech from livestream, he did not go home crying. He went on X, he told the world, he forced them to release the full video. That is media diplomacy. That is Fani-Kayode.
He will make sure every Nigerian in South Africa has a voice, and every South African knows Nigeria’s position.
Fani-Kayode will not start a war. He is not a warmonger. He is a peace-maker with fire.
He said: “We must pray for them, we pray deliverance for them.” He said: “The majority of South Africans are loving, caring, kind, respectable, decent people.” He said: “We must understand that as leaders, we must look forward, look up to God, look forward to the future, and not be provoked.”
That is the MFM brother in him. That is the Christian in him. That is the man who embraced a journalist who attacked him, instead of arresting him.
He will confront disdain, but he will do it with dignity. He will be firm, but he will be fair. He will be hard, but he will be humane.
let us give Fani-Kayode his flowers.
He is not a perfect man. No man is. He has been controversial. He has been criticised. He has been arrested. He has been tried. He has been vilified. But in all of it, one thing has never changed: His love for Nigeria. His fire for Nigerians. His refusal to allow Nigeria to be humiliated.
When foreign airlines humiliated Nigerians, he fought them. When South Africa humiliates Nigerians, he is fighting them. When a journalist attacked him, he embraced him. When a President cut him out, he confronted him face to face.
That is a man. That is a patriot. That is a diplomat.
Fani-Kayode was one of the best ministers during Obasanjo era. He will be one of the best High Commissioners in South Africa era. Because the same fire that made him fight for tourism, that made him fight for aviation, will now make him fight for Nigerians in South Africa.
South Africa thought they were getting a quiet diplomat. They got Fani-Kayode. They got fire. They got power. They got a man who will not allow Nigeria to be cut out of livestream, cut out of history, cut out of dignity.
Nigeria, we should be proud. We should pray for him. We should support him. Because brothers do not engage brothers in the open, but brothers must support brothers when brothers are fighting for all of us in a foreign land.
Fani-Kayode, we see you. We salute you. We stand with you. Go and represent Nigeria. Go and protect Nigerians. Go and speak truth to South Africans. And do not let them cut you out.
