Desmond Elliot has apologised to the Nigerian youth, saying the “hate I receive is so much.”
In 2020, the lawmaker was criticised after he declared that he “is a product of political godfatherism.”
Also, following the shooting of protesters at the Lekki toll gate in the same year, a video of Elliot referring to #EndSARS activists as “children” at the Lagos state assembly surfaced.
He was thereafter labeled “Nigeria Twitter’s number one scapegoat”, with memes and banter from users straying his way for days.
In a chat with TVC, the lawmaker said he has been apologising but “the hatred is too much”.
“I’m still apologising to those who must have misconstrued what I said, I said I was taken by emotions,” he said.
“But, in the end, it still didn’t take away from the facts, the hatred is too much, the polity, the hatred is too much.”
The actor-turned-politician also said people still cast aspersions on him in the streets.
“I’m in politics now for eight years and I still stand on the fact that love conquers all. I mean I’ve gone out in the streets and people still curse me,” he said.
“But I’m not afraid, I’m not ashamed because they don’t understand the stress that you go through.”
The politician further clarified that he didn’t refer to the collective youth as “children”.
He said he was talking to teenagers who insulted the speaker in the house of Assembly.
“I wasn’t referring to everybody as children, it was the people that were on Mr. Speaker’s handle, that were talking to Mr. Speaker that I was referring to,” he said.
“And truly, they were teenagers when I clicked on those cursing Mr. Speaker and that is exactly what I said but I’m sorry again.”
