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I’m sure many of you have read that the police is now involved in my
issue with Wizkid. Yes, I reported his public threat to me two Sundays
ago to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and I want to explain why I
did it! Please pay attention and keep an open mind.
I’ve read a lot online from people saying I don’t like Wizkid. Even
Wizkid himself thinks I don’t like him. Why he or anyone would think so
is puzzling to me to be honest. Apart from his achievements after he
started insulting me online a few weeks ago…everything else, every
success Wizkid has recorded in the last 3/4 years is on LIB. All the
awards, all the record breaking feats, his sold out concerts, his
foreign magazine features, and collaborations, everything that has built
him up to the young man he is today is on LIB. Please verify! Search my
blog. Please continue…
I was a huge Wizkid fan. The only song I danced harder to than his
‘Dance For Me’ track was Fuse ODG’s ‘Antenna and Kiss Daniel & DJ
Shabzy’s Raba. So, no, I had no dislike for Wizkid. But about a year
ago, I noticed his indirect snide remarks at me…and when some other
music star beefed with me, Wizkid showed his support and made
disrespectful comments. That was when I noticed he had issues with me…
but that didn’t stop me from writing about him and celebrating him.
Here’s the thing; You can insult me, insult my family, call me any names
you like, even lie that I slept with your forefathers…but don’t
threaten me. If you threaten me, I will act!
I read people online saying that I reported to the police because I am
scared of Wizkid. No, my darlings, I am not afraid of Wizkid. Though I
do not take his threats lightly. I went to the authorities for two
reasons…and please young boys of our generation, pay attention to what I
am about to write below.
You see, violence against women and threat of violence against women is
not okay. Threatening harm to someone in a public space is a criminal
act in every country of the world, including Nigeria. I bet some of you
didn’t know that, yeah? You can not publicly threaten someone with harm.
You will only get away with it if your victim doesn’t report to the
authorities. If they do, you will have a case with the police and I
promise you, the police take these things seriously.
I reported this case to the authorities because I want our young men to
know this is not okay. You should not raise your hands on a woman. You
shouldn’t even threaten to raise your hands on a woman. Wizkid wrote
that he would send his 16 year old cousin to beat the poo out of me.
Letting Wizkid get away with it is basically telling our young men that
this is okay…and it’s not!
After Wizkid made the threat to me, I saw a lot of teen boys hailing and
applauding him. To them, this was okay. If their idol can threaten a
woman with harm, and use derogatory words, they also can do it…and
that’s how the circle of abuse of women continues. Women being called
‘smelly Kitty-Cat’ trended online for a day or two! Little boys were
happy to use the words. Sad!
It is appalling to me that anyone, especially women, would cheer Wizkid
on. When he wrote RIP Linda, I saw a few young girls write same,
laughing. This is not a laughing matter. It doesn’t matter whether you
like me or not! This is not about Linda Ikeji. This is about abuse of
women which has eaten deep into our society, so deep that it has now
been accepted as normal. Men do it all the time and get away with it. So
many women are battered by their husbands and they refuse to speak up
because of the stigma. They refuse to seek help because they are afraid
of what people will say. I am sorry, I am not one of those women. I
refuse to be victimized. And as long as I have my voice and my platform,
I will speak up.
We women have to come together to lend a strong voice to the plight of
women in our continent. When we see a woman being physically and
mentally abused, let’s act. Let’s speak up. Let’s not laugh and say she
deserves it. If we continue to keep quiet, the circle of abuse will
continue. And one day, You, yes You, will find yourself in the receiving
end of a thundering slap, followed by heavy blows. If not you, then
maybe your daughter? Let’s condemn violence and threat of violence
against women! This is not acceptable!
Young men like Wizkid, a father of two young boys himself, should
never advocate violence against women. One day, he will have a daughter,
how would he feel if another male threatens to put hands on her or even
calls her a hoe?
I can’t count how many times Wizkid called me a hoe in his rant against
me. That’s what boys do. When they get into a fight with a woman, they
try to slut-shame her. Smelly Kitty-Cat, hoe, ashawo etc. You call a
woman, who gave another young woman, whose real name she doesn’t even
know N500,000 just because she said she would rather work by carrying
cement than prostitute herself, that’s the person you call a hoe? When
your mind is so warped you can’t differentiate between a woman and a
hoe, then this is what happens. Except you drive to Sanusi Fanfuwa at
2am to pick up a prostitute, who proudly describes herself as one, then
you shouldn’t call any woman a hoe.
Even Tupac who was a well known thug could differentiate between the
types of women he dealt with. When asked in an interview why he called
women bitches, he said people shouldn’t confuse things, that he wouldn’t
address a mother or a sister the way he would address a Dam, that the
bitches were the ones he dealt with in the clubs who behaved like one.
He reiterated that he respected women!
In more civilized countries, Wizkid would have lost his endorsements and
spent the next year or so apologizing and being in the fore-front of
promoting anti-violence crusades against women. It took Chris Brown
years to get back on his feet after his assault on a woman. Up till
today, he doesn’t have any major endorsements and some countries still
deny him entrance into their country i.e Australia for something he did 7
years ago. Yes, violence against women is serious!
And there’s the case of incitement. When you have power and influence,
you have to be careful what you say in public. Because you have such
power, something you say can influence your followers. A fan can commit
acts that even you may not support or might not even condone. But
because it came out of your mouth, they think you mean it. So it is
irresponsible to say things that might be inciteful. In Law, you can be
held responsible when people act based on what you said in public. Tupac
was charged to court and indicted after some thugs killed a police
officer. The thugs went to court and mentioned that their idol
encouraged violence against LA police officers in a song where he said
‘Drop a cop’. So, we folks with some measure of influence should be more
careful with our utterances. People are watching and listening!
The second reason I filed a police report is to encourage other women in
similar situations to do same. My dear ladies, if a man threatens to
puts hands on you, and you feel the threat is real, report to the
authorities. Don’t wait until he does it. What if you don’t survive it?
If he’s picked up and may be charged to court (yes, you can be charged
to court for making threats…it’s a misdemeanor with a prison sentence),
then he will think twice before making threats against you in the future
or any other woman for that matter.
I went as far as I did for me and for other women. This is to pass a
strong message to our young men that these kinds of behaviour towards
women will not be tolerated. Should not be tolerated. If you assault or
even threaten to assault a woman, the law will come after you if she
chooses not to be silent. Women, don’t be silent. Let’s break the
circle. For your sake, for my sake, for the sake of our daughters, grand
daughters, great grand daughters and all other women that will follow
them.
And that’s really all I have to say in the matter. Thank you guys for reading
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