Can we ever have a quiet week on social media, where everyone does nothing but like posts and retweets? Yeah, you got it, it is not going to be called social media for that week. We will just call it the medieval system of communication.
Nah, we no want. Make social media dey hot every day, make we dey laugh, as per no be every time we go dey serious.
So, we collated the biggest stories that drove conversations this week from the painful story of Bamise Ayanwole, to Chidinma Ojukwu’s blues and then the tale of Korra Obidi, wanna see? Please read on.
March 8 was a celebration for women, but not in Nigeria
March 8 was set aside to celebrate women all over the world. And, Nigerian women, the ones known to have broken the bias, and written their names in books for future reference were called out by many media organisations and celebrated.
But, there were stories that broke our hearts. The first one was the murder of Bamise Ayanwole that got into the news on March 7. It made #JusticeforBamise to trend, where Nigerians called for the culprits of the BRT bus murder to be brought to justice.
Before then, the National Assembly had rejected gender-related bills that gave women more representation, and #OccupyNASS became a conversation.
Women went to the National Assembly to protest the outright overwhelming rejections of the bills, saying they were rejected because gender discrimination has yet been reduced.
Although, the House of Representatives has accepted to revisit the bills.
Chidinma is Miss Cell 2022
This one made Nigerians say things like, “Na only Nigeria this kain thing dey happen”, “Only in Nigeria will a murder suspect be part of a beauty pageant”. The anger was mostly based on the fact that Chidinma Ojukwu, the murder suspect, was in prison and living her best life.
The reality, however, is that Chidinma is in prison awaiting trial for the murder of Michael Usifo Ataga, Chief Executive Officer of Super TV.
The authorities at Kirikiri female correctional centre explained why Chidinma Ojukwu was allowed to contest and be crowned Miss Cell 2022. The beauty pageant was held at the Kirikiri female correctional centre to commemorate International Women’s Day, with this year’s theme: “BreakTheBias”.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rotimi Oladokun in a statement said that the pageant was open to all female inmates, irrespective of whether they are convicted or awaiting trial. Speaking on the pictures of Chidinma Ojukwu winning the pageant that has flooded the Internet, Oladokun said:
“I haven’t seen the pictures you are talking about. But in line with International Women’s Day, the female custodial facilities commemorated International Women’s Day with inmates, various inmates without distinction or discrimination against anybody – an inmate is an inmate.
“All the inmates in different cell blocks presented various programmes. Some did theatre presentations, others drama, some poetry, some beauty pageant, some drawings, paintings, comedy. So, various blocks won. It was just like an inter-cell block event.”
Korra Obidi and the divorce saga
Korra Obidi’s husband, Justin Dean just surprised us with news of his intending divorce from the dancer. This shook Instagram, and the story spilt to other social platforms. Even Google trends picked it up, as people wanted to understand what was really going on.
While the dust was getting stronger, Korra Obidi posted that her new book, Korra and the last seed of Odinani, made it to number 1 on Amazon’s new releases.
Korra Obidi has just given birth, so Nigerians have been talking about how she will handle a divorce alongside taking care of the child. But, she has responded saying she will be taking care of herself, so her new baby does not have to suffer the trauma.
The ugly LUTH stories
Many times when the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) gets into the news, it is one sad story or the other. It is a big hospital with so many stories. This week, Nigerians called out the hospital, narrating their experiences:
This just highlights the country’s poor healthcare system, and we can only wish it gets better from now. A start? Go out to vote in 2023. Vote in responsible leaders. Come thank us later.
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