By Zika Bobby
Journalist and former television news anchor, Sulaiman Aledeh, has joined other Nigerians in condemning comments by a Nigerian writer calling for machete attack on a prominent author, Chimamanda Adichie, for an opinion she expressed in a 2017 interview, describing the reaction as barbaric and uncalled for.
“A Nigerian writer, Akwaeke Emezi, has said that people should attack Chimamanda Adichie with machetes…. These statements are abominations. Nothing justifies them,” Aledeh wrote in an article he published on his news site.
“To say that the death of her parents was deserved is immoral and completely deplorable,” he reprimanded.
Also, a Newspaper columnist, writer and thespian, Joseph Edgar, aka Duke of Shomolu, in an opinion piece on The CableNg, queried: “Why should Chimamanda’s parents be dragged into this madness in such a terrible and disrespectful manner? What you see here is a complete loss of sense. A breaking down of the levers of social control as put in place by society.”
Funmi Olutoye, in a piece in the UK paper, The Independent said: “We as individuals need to do better. It is true, social media platforms that have a responsibility to catch those inciting hatred, however, the greater responsibility is on us: the people.
We all must be able to use these platforms responsibly – to hear and discuss viewpoints of those who may oppose us in a respectful manner and without fear. People no longer feel free to ask questions, respectfully challenge beliefs or just generally speak their mind – this is a dangerous conundrum to be in.”
Aledeh had also pointed out that inciting people to attack Adichie “or anyone at all for that matter” with machetes is “barbaric“ even if they later claim it was not meant to be taken literally.