Really, throughout the literature it's not that controversial. Doing any amount of research on aid in SSA you see nearly 100% of efforts go poorly in the long term. Most arguments in the other direction have very 'interesting' definitions of success or argue a moral imperative.

It could certainly spell doom for future UBI proposals if the first prominent implementation goes badly, and it could be that it went badly due to factors that are simply not as prevalent in the West.