There is power in the tongue, and the power of words cannot be underestimated, which is why as Nigerians, we often use phrases like “God forbid or Olorun maje,” and “it is not my portion.” We reject bad vibes and karma, believing that the words we speak carry energies and manifestations.
I have no issue with this belief. For all I care, you can knock on wood, throw salt in the air, and send only positive vibes into the universe when you hear stories of people in a crisis. However, my issue is with people who use public platforms to criticise and dump on others who have made bad decisions while trying to live their lives as best they can.
I should clarify though, that as a celebrity, or a troll farming for impressions, you put yourself out there knowing the risks. Being in the public eye, you have willingly opened yourself up to the negativity and judgment of the masses—strangers who don’t know your story and only see a perceived truth. As a troll trying to cash out with Elon’s revenue scheme by tweeting provocative things to rile people up for impressions, you deserve to be dragged by your cheap wigs and disconnected beard.
I am not without guilt. If my group chat with my friends ever leaked, I would need to fake my death and create a new identity. We are judgmental and convinced we can never end up in certain situations. We believe we can’t be with men who cheat on us, that our sex tapes won’t be leaked, or be so vulnerably in love that one man will end up “staining our whites.”
We think we can’t find ourselves with a boyfriend who turns out to be married, that we can’t be scammed by Instagram vendors, or be caught dead fighting on the streets. We feel confident that our names won’t be dragged through the streets of Twitter.
But the truth is, nobody is above a scandal. Anything can happen to anyone. You are not special. You can pray, conduct yourself impeccably, guard your heart, and be as careful as possible, but it is not entirely up to you.
If I ever find myself involved in a scandal—*God forbid*—I will deactivate every possible social media platform, starting with Twitter, because the environment is vile and heartless. Conversations around scandals are rarely constructive; instead, people leverage your pain and predicament for content or seek a viral tweet with mean or rude responses.
All I’m advocating for is that we extend kindness and grace to people when they find themselves in certain situations. You can be like me and my friends—keep the harsh judgments in your group chats, completely annihilate people if you may, but in private. Writing lengthy think pieces that the victims or parties involved can see in public spaces is just unnecessary. They don’t need your advice or need to know how you feel, so leave it in your drafts.
Once again, it can indeed be you. You are not special. But may it NEVER be you. Amen.
