Nigerian social media can be a savage space that brooks no prisoners. When its trolls come for you in an onslaught esoterically called “dragging”, you would be made of sterner stuff not to succumb to the combined symptoms of malaria, nervous breakdown, trauma, and PTSD. If you watched the apology video posted on Instagram on Wednesday by the gospel music sensation, Yinka Alaseyori, you’d understand. She came across as someone who has been sobbing nonstop since being misrepresented online.
Key Highlights:
- Alaseyori was taken out of context through an edited viral clip.
- Social media judged her too quickly without hearing the full story.
- She promoted prayer, not government excuses.
- Prayer and government action can work together.
- People should verify facts before criticizing others online.
She deserves her flowers for the humility in taking the fall, even though she was the one who was wronged. She didn’t even make heavy weather of that aspect but went on to apologise profusely. Taken together, seekers of truth and justice will be remiss to miss the fact that her words were literally yanked out of context, with her intentions widely misconstrued. As a communications expert, I put it to you that a speech doesn’t offer much meaning or reveal as much as the literary environment within which it was made. This is why it is said that “the meaning of a word is in the context.”
Here’s a defining aspect of what the ‘Arojinle’ crooner said: “Two days ago, I made a video of about one hour and thirteen minutes in which I prayed for the kidnapped children, grieving families, government officials, the military, the land of Nigeria, and everybody in pain as a whole… I also discovered that the video had been cut from the original.”
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This line from her apology should already vindicate her as a victim of mischief makers, not an insensitive opportunist. Her citing an abridgement of her original video indicates that this may be the handiwork of those who resent bringing God into any conversation. Such misotheists exist and are unabashed by their misotheism online.
Those behind the incendiary viral clip may also be out to portray Alaseyori as a Tinubu administration apologist who is all for his re-election bid without caring about the prevailing despondency in the country. Internet sleuths soon dug up a video of the gospel singer fraternising with and genuflecting before APC bigwigs. This made her look despicable, with many Nigerians, including her colleagues, taking her to the cleaners.
Alas, a modest clarification in her video has made it clear that the “offensive” reference was only an innuendo to drive home her point that prayer can bring home the abducted Oyo pupil and teachers. This intention aligns with her initial point that a blinding force may be preventing troops from finding out the location of these terrorists and their hostages. The canal man definitely can’t understand that the bloodlust bandits could be employing dark arts to beat the best efforts of Nigeria’s security forces. The blood they mindlessly spill is a pointer to their diabolism.
Granted, citizens’ valid expectations from their government must not be outsourced to heaven. After all, the revised 1999 Constitution of Nigeria stipulates in Section 14(2)(b) that the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. Yet, there are instances where the weapons of our warfare shouldn’t be carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. A former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, just confirmed that security forces have what it takes to pinpoint terrorists’ bases, citing the fact that they’ve been able to apprehend slippery cybercriminals and monitor regular citizens. So, why can’t they do the same with bandits?
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently reported that over 30,000 armed Fulani militants are running amok in Nigeria. With a 230,000-strong Nigerian Army, 371,000-man Nigerian Police, 15,000-20,000 men of the Nigerian Navy and 18,000-staff Nigerian Air Force, why couldn’t the country be rid of these Janjaweed? Perhaps it’s because of instances like this that the Bible warns that “the arm of flesh will fail” those who depend on it.
A mystical power must be at play in the acts of terrorism plaguing the land; hence the need to equally go spiritual through prayers as a strategic non-kinetic complement to the kinetic. This was the point Alaseyori was trying to make, for which she was accused of partisanship and creating a soft landing for the government of the day. No one is considering her love for the country by leading a one-hour and 13-minute-long prayer session. BTW, what concrete action have her critics taken to facilitate the rescue of the abducted, even from their little corner?
As a gospel minister, Alaseyori can only intervene by leveraging her calling and belief. God declared in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
To the best of our knowledge, Alaseyori is not an official imagemaker on whom it is incumbent to shield the government from opprobrium. Neither is she First Lady Oluremi, who earlier this week told Nigerians that her husband, President Tinubu, doesn’t sleep until 3 a.m. because he’s attending to matters of state. That disclosure actually validates Alaseyori’s allusion that we can’t say the president isn’t working. Her major concern was apparently dealing with what was preventing the work of the president and security operatives from yielding the desired results. The singer should therefore be commended rather than crucified for this patriotism. Moreover, she is a Nigerian with the right to do what she believes is best for her country, provided such actions do not infringe on the law.
As I had explained in an article titled ‘Electoral Act Amendment Vindicates Nathaniel Bassey’s Call for National Prayers,’ Alaseyori’s intercession qualifies as an act of mourning that the Lord Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:4. “It is the mourning borne out of love and compassion, expressed as an intercessory response to the condition of people and nations,” I had argued. The verse says, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted,” not dragged. While anticipating the “comfort” promised by the Lord, let the singer take solace in the mileage that the unwarranted dragging has added to her fame. The down-to-earth and sincere nature of her apology video was a masterclass in crisis management. For sure, more people now know Yinka Alaseyori and must have searched out her songs than hitherto.
The irony of the situation is that the same people who manipulated her prayer post online and have been calling for her head are the ones quick to call out prominent religious figures for not speaking out against political office holders’ seeming dereliction of duty. Given how Alaseyori’s good intentions were twisted, it should now be clear why most influential Nigerians would rather stay in their lane.
When one of the religious leaders recently declared that the country was dead, he was quickly reminded of his “Saul must come before David” parable as regards the 2023 presidential election. Also, consider how the one-time involvement of Pastor E. A. Adeboye in an anti-government demonstration has been so weaponised that the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) had to come out with an Enough is Enough statement a few days back!
The malicious whipping up of public sentiments on social media against someone or viewpoints that virtual villains disdain calls to mind the jungle justice of old. That was the era of incessant mob actions on the streets, where at the shout of “Ole”, “Barawo”, or “Onye Oshi”, an aggressive crowd instantly forms with stones and sticks to pounce on the accused, who may be innocent for all they care. This is, unfortunately, what social media has become.
As mean and hypocritical as they were, the Jews who caught a woman committing adultery – an abhorrent crime in their culture – didn’t instantly implement jungle justice on her but were circumspect enough to seek the truth from the Master. Internet warriors can do better than these Pharisees by grasping the facts before posting what will inflict psychological or reputational injury on anyone in the name of dragging. There’s always another side to a story, and every suspect deserves a fair hearing!
VIS Ugochukwu is a Sage, Storyteller and Branding Strategist who can be reached via nmiringwu@gmail.com
