By Victor Ogunyinka
With all three cases won in just
five days, Nigeria’s social media court has historically been more relevant
than ever in the past week and it is gradually changing status from jesters to
activism.
It all started with the rape allegations from Busola Dakolo, wife of musician, Timi Dakolo, against the
Senior Pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Biodun Fatoyinbo, on
Friday and the social media space was turned upside and in bits, an army of
protesters rose and without prior meetings and plans decided to organise a
match against rape and the Pastor Fatoyinbo at COZA headquarters, Abuja and
Lagos demanding that he should step down.
After what looked like a
successful outing, Pastor Fatoyinbo bowed to pressure and announced that he
would take a leave of absence from the pulpit till further notice just 24 hours
after the protest.
In the same vein, the proposed
long term solution to farmers/herders crises in major parts of Nigeria, RUGA,
was overwhelmed by the rape saga and just immediately after that box was
ticked, all energy was transferred to the social media protest with different
hashtags to show displeasure and disapproval of the Rural Grazing Areas, which
some have termed as a Fulani word for cow settlement.
On the Vanguard morning show,
Today in the News, the voice against the move was loud enough as almost 95 per
cent of the viewers said no to RUGA.
Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari, bowed to the social media court and announced the suspension
of RUGA, which is supposed to mean that every state donates a portion of land
for cattle rearing. Social media lawyers were on a winning streak of two
victories in a row.
But they are not done, as the
victories continue to trickle in, confidence, apparently grew and there was the
need for more battles and human right activities.
Then came the video of the
youngest Senator in the ninth assembly, Elijah Abbo, who was caught on camera assaulting a lady. The social media court would not let it slide; as if a
trigger button of attack was tapped, it was only a matter of seconds before the
news spread like wildfire and it would take more than fire service to
extinguish, they didn’t spare both the senators and his innocent colleagues
that were just celebrating a smooth appointment and announcement of its
principal officers.
Like Pastor Fatoyinbo, the first
instinct was to deny and it complicated the issue, but it wasn’t long before
the Senator realised that until there is sobriety he would incur the wrath of
more than the social media as the police have announced an investigation into
the matter.
But moments later, on bended
knees, straight to the cross with a tail behind the legs, the senator tendered unreserved apologies to the lady and indeed Nigerians, and the rest, as they
say, is history.
Who says Nigerians like to talk
without actions? Just make sure you are not the reason for their discussions
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Justice must prevail, and Nigerians are tired of taking the back seat. Kudos to us!
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