A photograph is going trendy on the social media now. It’s the one of a so-called destitute woman in Ibadan. That should not have rung a bell because it is not strange in this country.
However, the shocking thing is that most of the posters do not fail to remark that the photograph is that of someone who was a household name in the seventies. The person was so popular that a popular musician sang her praises
Although the photograph has been disowned by some people, I’m not even concerned about the originality or otherwise of the photograph.
I’m more concerned about the humaneness of we Nigerians. I’m sure some of us would use the unfortunate incident as prayer point in our churches.
Have we been so dehumanised that we have lost our African nature? I would have thought the best thing would have been to take care of the personality involved.
But no, we are all out to poke fun at the poor soul. We might even be thinking she was one of those who put us in the fix in which our nation has found itself.
To my mind, even if she was – that is if a private citizen could be – has our unfounded behaviour solved any of our problems?
I think rather than reducing ourselves to the helpless base of sadistic lesser animals, we should be empathetic with those who are going through misfortunes.
Enikeni ti iwo ba nipa
Lati se iranlowo fun o
Ohun na lenikeji re
Ranti re!
Whoever you are able
To give a helping hand
They’re your partner
Remember them!
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