If there is any innate craving which many Nigerian youths cherish in recent times, it is their strong affinity for noise and side attractions. And as such, we are easily distracted from the centerpiece of national or societal discourses. We like following the ephemeral. And it seems the government of the day knows this, and always takes advantage of it to divert our attention each time they want to formulate a particular ominous policy. This might explain why the Not-too-young-to-run bill distracted us from protesting against Mr. President’s refusal to sign the electoral reform bill into law, in the build up to 2019 general election. We were quick to forget that without this bill coming into effect, every other panacea to our electoral undoing is insincere, and mere window-dressing.
Moreso, while the Nigeria state as it is set currently has proved unworkable, with the clamour for restructuring from many quarters pitching fever heat, government had played the tune of Twitter ban, and most youths allowed it become the focal point of all attention.
Even as our economy is dancing on the gravestones of recession; and inflation is skyrocketing in geometric pace, the BBNaija re-union episode is taking the attention of many intellectually productive youths. It was the talking point for a fortnight, until last week, when the alleged murder of Super TV CEO, Mr. Ataga Michael Usifo, by one suspected side-chick, Ms. Chidimma Ojukwu, became public news. It became the most trending topic across vast discourses, as police prematurely paraded her before journalists, that no one cared to pay attention to the NGO regulation bill which has passed second reading and was referred to the House committee on NGO for ratification. This is a bill that contains several clauses which will take us many decades back, in terms of grants for intervention projects by NGOs. We all know that NGOs have substituted government in areas of providing employment, infrastructure, human capital development, etc, wherever government failed. But now the federal government is cooking up such bill to suffocate their freedom to operate.
Mr. Usifo’s death (or alleged murder) is not supposed to be given such attention if not for the kind of incoherent confessions oozing from the apparently deranged Ms. Chidimma. She has been making some naive statement on the ‘murder’ since pressmen assumed the position of her adjudicator, thanks to Nigeria police’s emotional approach to criminal cases like this.
Otherwise, considering the sensitivity of the case, it should not be a matter to be discussed in public domain until police investigations are concluded and competent court rules on it. But no, that is not Nigeria of the current dispensation. We prefer media trial to the legitimate court processes while police drag their feet. Recall: Evans (the alleged notorious kidnapper) was proved guilty and convicted in the court of public opinion. But it has been three years since the case landed in court, without any headway. Media trial is not only absurd, but prejudicial as well. In saner climes you hear suspects with the help of police, say: “I prefer to speak through my lawyer only.” But here, social media ‘lawyers’ and keypad urchins speak through the suspects.
So while this piece would not delve into the error of preemptive discussion on whether Chidimma is guilty or not, as it is tantamount to laying the cart before the horse, there are few lessons we could take from people’s inordinate reactions to the incident.
First is that nothing justifies extramarital affairs. Adultery, whether we term it “side-chick,” “sugar daddy,” “gigolo” or any other envelope nomenclature which modern dictionary fashioned for it remains ignoble and immoral. And it begs the question, why are some commentators judging Usifo for having a fine wife with lucrative job, yet he is keeping side-chicks. Does it mean that adultery is reserved for men with ugly unemployed wives?
Next they played the card of wide age gap between the victim and the suspect. We saw feminists chastise the victim that he was dating a Chidimma who is old enough to be his daughter or grand daughter. The last time I checked, the legal age of consent is 18 years and above. Chidimma is 21, which means she attained adulthood three years ago. So, why present a defensive argument as if she was a minor, or as if adultery is morally permitted for age mates?
The other line of appraisal of the tragedy that disturbs average mind is a video clip making the rounds and attracting weird reactions. It was a sensual visual of Chidimma’s amorous pulchritude. The video ran an exposè of her erogenous anatomical cleavages. And our young men were seen across the cyberspace lusting after it and grandiloquently saying that Usifo dying for such ‘hot’ hips is not too bad, after all, “something must kill a man.”
This phrase is evoked each time man wants to justify his lust for plebeian carnality. As a medical laboratory scientist, I had encountered such severally in the course of my practice. For instance, during post-testing counselling session for clients who came for HIV tests in the lab, when you try to admonish them to adopt the preventive measures against the dreaded disease, it is a common place to hear men say, “Bro, forget it… something must kill a man.” In that case, just know that he is determined to take the unwise risk of unprotected sex with someone who is not his wife.
In Nigerian context, this phrase is twisted to take the semblance of normalizing suicide mission. But when in future the same man who ‘courageously’ agreed previously that “something must kill a man,” tests positive to HIV, he would wear dejected outlook, appearing pale and pitiable during counselling. He will regret his life and curse the day he was born.
The ridiculous comments that trailed the ‘hot’ video by men fantasizing over her gluteal cleft shows that it is permissible to die by the hand of such beautiful girl. Thus, Usifo was right in extinguishing his life ‘eating’ from her many pulchritudinous curvatures. Proponents of this school of thought were mainly people who never suffered causality in their immoral sexual actions.
So in all, let us give a little honour to the dead and accord his family members the respectable space to mourn him while the law enforcement agencies do their job. Chidimma too, should be treated as a suspect not a convict until court decides otherwise. Nigeria police should ensure that justice is dispensed and media trial jettisoned to avert the proliferation of more conspiracy theories trailing the tragedy.
Ogechukwu writes from Abuja via[email protected]
