My friend just wants to protect her integrity and has brought in the police in a rift between her and the young man Wizkid.
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.
Now to the
issue at hand. When I reported that he was served quit notice at his
Lekki home, I stated fact and I didn't write it out of malice. It's not
everyday you get exclusive stories...and I'm sure any other blogger who
got the story first would also have published it. So, there was no beef,
I was just doing my job. A day or so after I wrote this story, Wizkid
went on my instagram page to call me names and lied that I slept with
some director of his...which I have said before is 1000% lies! But the
insult and lies is not why the police is now involved.
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 shit 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 pussy' 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 pussy, 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 bitch, 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
And to Wizkid fans, please be rest assured that I wish him all the best
in life. He will continue to grow from strength to strength (as long as
he doesn't endorse violence against women) and his light will never
diminish. God brought him to this level and will continue to keep him. I
have nothing but love for his craft and hope that one day, we will put
this behind us.
God bless him, me, you and everyone else in the world
Cheers.
