A Nigerian don, Professor Uju Anya, has come under fire on Twitter over her comments following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Hours before the Queen’s death was announced, Professor Anya wrote on her Twitter page, “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.”
The tweet has since been deleted for violating “Twitter rules”.
In another tweet, she referenced the rumoured role of the British empire in supplying the Nigerian government with arms and ammunition during the nation’s civil war which spanned 1967 – 1970.
“If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star,” she wrote, following the announcement of the Queen’s death.
The tweets drew the attention of many including Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, who quoted the post and wrote, “This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow.”
Another tweep, @novieverest wrote, “You can condemn slavery and colonization without being an Uju Anya. Her statement was terrible and you can’t defend it. It is that simple.”
However, many others defended the Professor for speaking out against the colonial legacy of the British Empire under the late Queen.
Stating that Anya’s tweets are a reflection of the unspoken sentiments of many, @vickkingsley wrote, “the thing with Uju Anya’s tweet is, a lot of people feel exactly the way she feels but she was bold enough to state even those who feel the same way as she are all dragging her. Uju Anya is the villain now but you have had massive disdain for the British government, colonialism.”
“I stand with Uju Anya. The level of sympathy Queen Elizabeth who died peacefully is over, levelling the sympathy given to Africans who died as a result of colonialism because there was no social media,” @Philosophiero1 tweeted.
Carnegie Mellon University, the American institution in which Anya lectures also released a statement distancing itself from the professor’s comments.
“We do not condone the offensive and objectionable message posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account.
“Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views views shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standard of discourse we seek to foster,” the statement read.