Osun Facebook is currently being polluted by poorly raised and behaved children, morally weak individuals, and validation-seeking jesters who want to turn it into a clown camp.
The new gathering of poorly lettered and grossly uneducated persons, who sometimes cannot write a simple sentence correctly, have ganged up to use the one-time sane platform to settle personal grievances. Sometimes they embark on a vendetta to malign, abuse, molest, intimidate, and even curse those who do not share their views or have wronged them.
These so-called poorly lettered individuals I would like to address as “social media miscreants or irritants” henceforth are not the types to dominate any space because they pose great danger to innocent younger ones who may likely adopt them as role models.
These irritants, elderly and young, disregard prudence. They either create ridiculous accusations without evidence to antagonize others, or they swarm under posts that contradict their interests or sentiments to attack and condemn the authors.
One called the other a thief, another through his staff called the other a gigolo, while others attacked a royal father for having an opinion. In all of these, I showed interest in a particular scenario that had gone viral.
A young man has been accused of calling a royal father ‘MAD.’ He denied, apologized, and claimed his accusers are manipulators. In Osun, you must not consume any digital item cheaply. When hypocrisy took off from heaven, it landed in Osun State. He uploaded screenshots to defend himself.
When I checked his evidence, I discovered that he did not say so directly, but he’s not free from guilt of intention. How? Someone accused you of calling his father a MAD man, and you did not deny it but rather asked him to go and write a petition that you said his father is MAD.
Personally, I am concerned about the decline of respect, intellectual engagement, and reasonable disputes in the Osun Facebook community. Wild allegations flying without evidence. The space has become so toxic that each party had on standby a group of wild dogs to drive narratives to suit their goals, interests, and sentiments. It is not only concerning but also embarrassing.
These miscreants insult fathers and relatives of those who disagree with them. They claim these individuals are being sponsored, but I do not blame their sponsors. Why? These sponsors do not swim in a culture of shame and disrespect. They exhibit clear respect for age, intellectuality, and morals. They do not curse, insult, or abuse to pass their messages.
I have not seen their wives or children doing the same too. Their sons and daughters are well-read, properly raised, and consciously grown to understand choices and differences and even use satire to mock or throw jabs at people they disagree with.
Why should I now blame sponsors who raise perfect families for the mockery of their boys who exhibit uncultured behaviors on a daily basis?
We need to rescue Osun media space from unlettered and grossly uneducated persons who use it to seek relevance and validation. These individuals who have nothing to drive content have bastardized the space.
I have not seen their wives or children engaging in similar behavior. Their sons and daughters are well-read, properly raised, and consciously grown to understand choices and differences and even use satire to mock or throw jabs at people they disagree with.
Why should I now blame sponsors who raise perfect families for mocking their sons’ uncultured behavior on a daily basis?
We must rescue the Osun media arena from unlettered, terribly illiterate individuals and people without careers or business but ‘crass’ young politicians who use it to seek importance and recognition. These people, who have nothing to contribute sensibly, have ruined the place.
We need to rescue Osun Facebook space from her self-inflicted new low. We need to do this for the sake of innocent younger ones who come to social media to learn, read, and adapt. We must rescue it for the sake of young and diligent Osun-based entrepreneurs who use social media as a platform to sell their brands and goods. We should tame these irritants to allow useful and positive engagements that would make genuine users comfortable.
Sodiq Lawal Chocomilo is an editor and teacher of criminology. He lives in Ilesa.
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