Martin Luther King's nephew is insulted and feels Nigerians should be ashamed of slandering his family

Farris Isaac Newton, a nephew to American Baptist minister and civil rights activist, Martin Luther King has expressed dissatisfaction over the allegation that the family got $3.5million to honour President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria.

Farris, a former CEO of the The King Centre for five years and a Senior Fellow CEO of the centre, noted that he feels insulted by the allegation.

He went further to say he feels every Nigerian should be ashamed of embarrassing and slandering the good name of th Martin Luther King family.

"I'm insulted and anyone in Nigeria should be ashamed of embarrassing and slandering our good name. We came here to honour your country, your people, to establish a new bond between America and Africa," Farris said.

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In a short video, Farris said:"I am the nephew of Martin Luther King Jr and you can not buy me or any member of my family for that fact. So this fake news, this slander, this lie on the family's character is a lie. Anything that I have done here or said about your president came from my heart in my brain.

"This is not based on any compensation, no money or in exchange for anything. We don't deal like that, the Martin Luther King family which includes three branches that is Martin Luther King Jr., who is the second son, the oldest and matriarch of the family and who is my mother, Dr Christine Farris and my second uncle, AD Williams King but none of us throughout the three branches are buyable or bribeable, we don't do things for money, we do things on principle."

The Award

On March 28, 2018 in Abuja, Nigeria, the Martin Luther King's family through his nephew, Farris Isaac Newton presented an award to Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari.

Farris was quoted to have said Nigerians should give Buhari time, because he is one of the most legitimate leaders that the African continent has produced.

The Nigerian Presidency had earlier said that Buhari “was conferred with the 1st Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional African Leadership Award 2018” by the visiting Martin Luther King Jnr’s family.

The King centre's reaction

The King Centre, founded by Corretta Scott King has denied its association with an award purportedly given to Nigeria's president Muhammadu Buhari.

The Centre in a tweet, distanced itself from the award given to Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari allegedly on its behalf on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.

Abike Dabiri reacts

Meanwhile, Abike Dabiri, a three term Nigerian lawmaker and Senior Special Adviser to the President Buhari on Foreign Relations & Diaspora has reacted to the allegation that the Martin Luther King family were paid.

In a tweet, Dabiri said no where did the members of the Martin Luther King family even say the centre was behind the award. She maintained that they said it was on behalf of the family.

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