The minister of foreign affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has said Nigerian sportsmen and women in the diaspora must be treated with dignity.
The minister stated this in reaction to a viral TitTok video said to be mocking Super Eagles star and forward, Victor Osimhen, for missing a penalty kick in a football match between his club Napoli and Bologna in Serie A.
The controversial video, which was posted on Napoli’s TikTok page, was later deleted, and the club said it had no reason to mock Osimhen, which it treasured as a player.
Tuggar, however, said the matter falls under the 4Ds Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also known as the Tinubu Doctrine, mainstreaming Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography as part of its outward-looking objectives.
Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy to the minister, Alkasim Abdulkadir, said the diaspora component of the strategy considers the life and dignity of every Nigerian abroad sacrosanct and deserving of respect and dignity in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“When we go about our duties, we should always remember Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
“They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
“By the foregoing, Napoli did not act in the spirit of brotherhood by the mocking of her star player Victor Osimhen who was instrumental to the team winning the Serie A Championship last season,” the statement read in parts.
The minister said the Nigerian government shall continue to monitor happenings not only in Napoli but around the world on how her sportsmen and women are treated and all other citizens abroad and it will not hesitate to redress such mistreatments.
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