On March 30, a former Nigerian minister announced
on Twitter that he had taken the COVID-19 vaccine.
Strange news! For over a year since the virus was
first detected in Nigeria, his name, Femi Fani-
Kayode, rang a deterrent bell of anti-vaccination.

Apart from his many political jabs against the ruling
party, fraud allegations and their resultant court
cases, Mr Fani-Kayode had before that date, played a
leading role in the league of COVID-19 vaccination
opposers and confronters.

At one time, he described the vaccine as a ploy to
create a new world order, at another he tagged
vaccination an exercise that would result in the
deaths of millions. To further dissuade his followers,
he would tweet unconfirmed information and
conspiracy theories being peddled against the virus.

A regular reference for journalists, Mr Fani-Kayode
was once described by a fact-checker as one who
makes “bogus statements, capitalising on his large
social media followership to spur the spread of
disinformation and misinformation.”

All reports on his conversion (those encountered in
the course of research for this report) made
references to his earlier comments on the virus but
none made pragmatic efforts in measuring the
former minister’s previous disparaging comments on
his followers.


Fani-Kayode’s Twitter profile

On Twitter, the announcement was greeted with
mixed reactions. To some, it was only a matter of
time, they knew all along he would be vaccinated for
travel access. To others, mostly those who refused to
be converted alongside him, another soldier in the
fight against vaccination had deserted. A few
questioned his advertent mislead of many followers.

The numbers before conversion

One of the first notable, misleading COVID-19-related
tweets by Mr Fani-Kayode was on March 29, 2020,
when he claimed that the virus was a ploy to create
a new world order and get the United States
President, Donald Trump, out of power. Elections in
the U.S. were about seven months away then.

“One of the many objectives of the Illuminati & those
that are behind the coronavirus pandemic & the
emergence of a New World Order is to get
@realDonaldTrump out of power in this year’s pres.
election by sparking off a massive recession &
crashing the American &world economy,” he
tweeted.

The tweet as of Monday, June 14, had garnered
6,904 retweets, likes and comments and thousands
of duplication across many platforms. Some fact-
checking efforts were deployed to counter these
claims but not long enough, Mr Fani-Kayode released
two more fearsome tweets about COVID-19 vaccines.

On April 30, he warned Nigerians not to take
vaccines which by then were in the trial stages. In
doing so, he made three unfounded, totally false
claims. Firstly, that vaccination would result in
millions of deaths; secondly, that Nigeria was about
to enact a law to make vaccination compulsory for
all, and thirdly, that the vaccines are meant to
depopulate the world.


Fani-Kayode’s tweet on April 30, 2020

The first of these three claims conform with the
popular misconstrued comment of Robert Young, an
alternative medicine practitioner, who at a meeting
of a conspiracy theory group said that vaccination is
a chemical warfare to depopulate the world. The
video was widely shared by many but a fact-check
revealed that the comment was made earlier in
2019, before the detection of COVID-19, in respect of
the different vaccines given to children in the first six
years. Despite the fact-checking efforts, Mr Fani-
kayode still shared the video in January 2021.

Two days later, on May 2, Mr Fani-Kayode tweeted
again , “@WHO are set to begin Covid 19 vaccine
trials in our country. EVIL! Not only have our people
been turned into Guinea pigs to test Gates’ killer
vaccine but our leaders are also passing a law which
will make the use of that evil vaccine compulsory.
What a mess! I weep for Nigeria.”

Some of his tweets may, at this period (with multiple
vaccine roll out in many countries) come as laughing
items, but they were sacred voices of caution when
they were made. They were tweeted when a large
part of Nigeria was on lockdown enforced to curtail
the effect of the virus.


Infograph Fani-Kayode’s tweets and their numbers

The lockdown notwithstanding, over 200 people,
including Abba Kyari, the then Chief of Staff to the
President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, had died
of the virus ; confirmed cases were in total of
thousands; patients were treated in isolation centres
with close monitoring; worse still, researches on the
virus had not reached advanced stages, hence,
conspiracy theories held sway. In short, it was a
time of panic and tweets by Mr Fani-Kayode readily
reinforced people’s fears and biases.

How then did a panic monger convert?

The conversion and the dangers inherent in peddling
falsehood
Against the nature of his comments, Mr Fani-Kayode
announced on March 30, 2021, that he had taken a
jab. “Despite my initially strong reservations I bowed
to sound logic and superior reasoning and took my
Covid 19 vaccine today,” he wrote in a thread of
tweets.

He went further to explain the ‘sound logic’ and
‘superior reasoning’ to include persuasions from his
political associates and the fact that his hero, Donald
Trump, had taken it, despite his initial opposing
stance.

As of the morning of Monday, June 14, his
announcement tweets had a total of 1,173 likes,
comments and retweets; a less than 10 per cent
faction of interaction when compared to four of his
falsehood spreading tweets examined in this piece.


Infographics Fani-Kayode’s false claims fact-checked

This confirms the concerns of some researchers who
have discovered that a good percentage of people
who come in contact with false information don’t
care about the follow-up fact-checks. A recent
survey by Zignal labs showed that 86 per cent of
Americans who read news articles on social media
do not always fact-check.

Not done, the ex-minister still used the opportunity
of his vaccination to peddle falsehood about
vaccines.

He wrote in the thread, “The Covid vaccines we are
taking in Nigeria are not Bill Gates’ vaccines and
neither are we being used as Guinea pigs. These
ones are tried & tested, have already been approved
& have been administered successfully throughout
the world. This is the Oxford Azrazeneca brand.

“There is a world of difference between what we are
being given in Nigeria & the exploratory vaccines
that @WHO had wanted to test Africans with which
we spoke against & resisted last year. Most
importantly Bill Gates& his foundation have no
connection with Oxford Azrazeneca.

“I would not touch anything Bill Gates with a barge
pole for obvious reasons. Mark it.”

One notices that he recounted some of his earlier
misinformation about the vaccines but not all that
came in contact with the falsehood are impressed.

One of his followers replied sarcastically; “I praise
your patriotism for agreeing to be one of our guinea
pigs. Well done.” Another wrote; “nonsense” with
rolling eyes emoji.

Perhaps this reply captures the question you might
readily want to ask; “You got convinced by your
sister and friend. What about the thousands you
convinced and made to see the vaccine as devil
products?”

Fani-Kayode taking the COVID-19 jab.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/468418-spotlighting-femi-fani-kayode-nigerias-anti-vaccination-champion-who-later-took-the-jab.html

Of

Typical Yoruba man, what else

Wise man..I believe he Neva took it.. Na show

No reasonable person takes FFK serious

Odingo1:
Typical Yoruba man, what else

Typical Ipob.

When he is lauding Kanu in his drug-addled haze you extol his virtues.

As soon as he says anything contrary to your brainwashed opinion, he is instantly labelled Yoruba.

Was he Rhodesian when he was in your good books?

fukNaija:
Wise man..I believe he Neva took it.. Na show

Lol.

That means you know nothing.

FFK took the vaccine because he knows there is a virus and he is scared of succumbing to it.

Just like Donald Trump.

Take FFK, his tirades, and pseudo-nationalist cum opposition rants serious at your peril.

Commentor:


Typical Ipob.

When he is lauding Kanu in his drug-addled haze you extol his virtues.

As soon as he says anything contrary to your brainwashed opinion, he is instantly labelled Yoruba. [color=#006600][/color]

Was he Rhodesian when he was in your good books?

Savage.

How some folks still take FFK seriously is a mystery to me.

"Femi is my boy, give him food he will sing and dance for you" Baba Iyabo 2019


That is exactly what is playing out now.

Femi is vigorously dancing and singing for Yahaya Bello.
He is a shameless double mouthed character.

seunmsg:
How some folks still take FFK seriously is a mystery to me.

Orditoor! That people are taking you seriously on this forum is also a mystery.

Afonja people . Very unstable set of people. Two faced folks. Hypocrites. Every one of them. Even the men of God