“When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed, it’s tradition.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
Last week, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, wittingly or unwittingly, put his fellow female colleague representing Kogi State, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan, on the spot for violating one of the rules of engagement in the Senate during the plenary. In doing so, he made a terse but caustic remark that sparked anger among the women folk. It ignited a social media frenzy as well. He got more than what he bargained for. He provoked the icy distemper of concerned Nigerians who viewed his statement of contempt as a stereotyped culture of suppression and male dominance that has become old-fashioned.
In Nigeria, public speaking has become a very delicate act, especially with the emerging trend on social media. Due to a general lack of control guide, people now recklessly engage in mob reactions even on mundane issues. And it has grown so much so that everything is gradually tending toward self-censorship so as not to fall prey to the overbearing of mischief-makers or their deliberate misrepresentation. For public figures who desire to stay out of controversy, extra caution is now the thump rule. At a time like this, extra care must be taken to avoid a slip of the tongue that could lead to avoidable hoopla. Otherwise, wailers will haul all manners of insults at you and possibly roast you alive. This is a delicate time. There is a growing anger in the land. People are increasingly becoming vulnerable to the transfer of aggression. Until now, only a few among the leadership had a full appreciation of the danger of the growing trend. A sizeable number of them still carry on with the business as usual. These are unusual times, indeed. And signs are ominous. However, since the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, Akpabio seems to have developed a penchant for making utterances that are unbecoming of someone of his status. To be sure, the Nigerian Senate, like any of its counterparts elsewhere, is governed by a set of standing rules and precedents established in the course of the legislative process. These rules determine how bills and resolutions are moved toward passage and how debate proceeds on the chamber floor.
According to the account of what transpired on the Senate floor during the plenary last week, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had stood up to comment on a motion without obtaining the permission of the Senate President, an action which contravened the Senate’s standing order. Therefore, Senator Akpabio, in an attempt to correct the violation, told her to follow the rules, adding that “The Senate is not a nightclub where anybody can talk anyhow”.
Before then, Senator Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had had a similar taste of being shut down when she protested that she was being excluded from the affairs of the nation’s capital. She was reacting to a motion seeking to provide basic amenities for fire victims in Karu market, Abuja.
Consequently, with the nightclub remark, social media freaks sparked off wild reactions criticizing the Senate President for insulting female Senators. It didn’t stop at that. The wailers went as far as threatening his innocent wife with anonymous calls of up to 2000 to 3000 per day. Following the deluge of public opprobrium, Akpabio took the humble pie and apologized to the concerned Senator. He also took his time to explain what he meant, confessing to his colleagues that his family had been under tremendous pressure since he made the controversial comment.
Listen to him: “In the course of speaking with one of my distinguished sisters on not speaking when not recognized, I made reference to the fact that we are not in a nightclub where people have to shout above the noise of the music.
“The social media went agog. My wife called me that they published her number and she received around 2,000 to 3,000 calls per day.
“I’m happy with the interest generated by Nigerians with what goes on in this chamber because we are here for their interest. The communication was misunderstood, instead of making meaning with what we said, they went into private abuses; I don’t want to say what they did to me.
“I will not intentionally denigrate any woman. I have a wife and four daughters and I always pray that God will lift a girl to the highest zenith in Nigeria politically and in business. So, Senator Natasha, I want to apologize to you if you felt offended.”
This shows that Nigeria’s democracy is evolving. Leaders are increasingly becoming aware that they can no longer take people for granted. In a democracy, people are the sovereign. So, by being remorseful, Akpabio has shown that power truly belongs to the people. But it is not enough to mouth it alone, in action and words, those in the public space must imbibe a new culture of respect not only for women but all manners of people. It has now become imperative for all to purge themselves of this unfounded make-belief culture of deliberate relegation of women for whatever reason. Up to date, in some cultures in Nigeria, women are to be seen but not to be heard. The world has gone past the age of suppression and discrimination against the women folk. And Nigeria cannot be an exemption.
The problem again is that some people speak before they think, while others think before they speak. The latter category of people is more liable to repeat the same mistakes again and again. They are vulnerable to slipping on the tongue, which is why Akpabio has always been put in the spotlight for one reason or the other bordering on withdrawal of utterances.
Beyond that, the reckless and unrestraint deluge of scathing criticisms directed at the Senate President as well as verbal assaults on his wife underscore how dangerous Nigerians have become in the exercise of their freedom of expression. What is bad is bad. Either deliberately or otherwise, by referring to “nightclub” while correcting Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Senate President went off the track. And the remark is reprehensible. But is that enough to haul verbal assaults on another innocent fellow being? Absolutely no. Rather, it’s a warning alarm to the social restiveness, a general lack of decorum, and the low level to which the Nigerian state has degenerated. It, therefore, goes without saying that something urgent needs to be done to nip the trend in the bud. For whatever reason, the current trend of mob reactions on social media is dangerous, unjust, and antithetical to democratic norms.