Adaobi Okwy: About Linda Ikeji… Is there no sane Nigerian?

Let me be honest, I hate blogs- specifically, celebrity and gossip blogs. I hate, hate, hate them but then, I am aware of Nigeria’s leading blogger- Linda Ikeji and I respect her both as a woman and as an entrepreneur.

In fact, I respect her beyond these two points. I respect the fact that her blog is her brain child and that her dedication has made her a huge influence on what millions of people respond to. I may hate her kind of blogs but I love, love, love this woman which is why this article is about her.

Over the weekend, my sister while scrolling through her phone screamed for me, “Äda please, you need to see this! Linda Ikeji bought a billion naira mansion in Banana Island”. Then she showed me some pictures that only “amazing” could describe. I was happy for Linda, for women and for entrepreneurs everywhere. Indeed, “ït is possible”.

Within a day however, my sister came again to me boiling in anger. “People are so mean. They’re insulting Linda all over the internet- trolling her, calling her a prostitute sleeping around with politicians. That she should go and get married as without a man, all her accomplishments are nothing. Do you know that whether 2am or 5am, if you go to her site, you’d see fresh content? That girl never sleeps. What do they mean? Is there no sane person in Nigeria?”

That last question my sister asked, “Is there no sane person in Nigeria?”prompted this response. So yesterday, I finally went online to sample the opinions of those trolling Linda Ikeji. My sister wasn’t exaggerating. People were mean.

There were 3 sets of trolls:

• The “A woman is nothing without a man” set
• The “You’re sleeping around”
• The “Give all these earthly/material things to the poor” set.

Truthfully, none is deserving of a second of Linda’s attention because Linda deserves none of their foolishness so I will respond (and hope she approves).

• The “A woman is nothing without a man” set: Is this a Scriptural? A cultural teaching? A philosophical musing or a bash-the-super successful-single-woman-over-the-head-because-she-makes-my-best-efforts-a-joke envy speech?

If you say scriptural, I am a Christian so let’s check, 1 Corinthians 7:38, “The man (woman) who marries does well, the one who doesn’t ,does an even better thing”. If you said cultural, you lie. What culture and what do you people do with your unmarried men and women- slaughter them?

If your answer is a philosophical musing- whose? And if it’s your envy speaking against the hardwork, the sleepless nights, the pains and labours of your fellow human being, simply because she’s a woman, you better fight God who put women on this earth. It’s even more shameful when women are in this group- setting back the courageous gender equality battles of men and women past and present, backwards to the cave. You who takes your being from your man or from being a man, why haven’t you purchased your mansion?

• The “You’re sleeping around” Set: The fact that you have no photographic or video proof to backup your background noise, makes your point mute. If Linda were a man, would it not be, “Yes boss”, “Carry on boss”, “God bless you boss”? It’s the same for other single female celebrities that are trolled. The voice of mediocrity isn’t sane but same. If you’re a married woman, they ask you to get off the internet and go take care of your husband and marriage. If a marriage breaks down, they blame the woman for working, travelling the world…they blame her for everything because bottomline, she’s a woman. The men trolls are obviously smallminded men who need validation in their own lives and feel threatened by a woman’s greatness. The female trolls obviously have the men as their vine. They have bought into the patriarchal dominance and are okay living a man centered life.

For the male celebrities and politicians, no one would make a noise about wife, girlfriend, mistress, sugar mums, baby mamas, ex-wives, history of drug abuse, history of sexual abuse, history of domestic abuse. Here we have a woman whose handwork is clear, a woman who keeps you entertained, a woman who has no scandal to her name and you lift up your hands to hurl stones? You don’t need condemnation, you need Jesus.

• The “Give all these earthly/material things to the poor” Set: Maybe you have even benefitted from one of Linda IKeji’s numerous giveaways. Maybe you have heard her give a speech or read her life story and it motivated you. Maybe you live under a rock and you do not understand that Linda Ikeji is both a philanthropist and a social activist (those bad roads and light poles she talks of and they get fixed- yes) and that she has contributed immensely towards the general good of the society. But let’s not focus entirely on Linda. Let’s focus on you. That poor woman, man, child, student, relative, pastor, neighbor, etc, have you given as much as you should to them? Have you ever spoken up for someone who needed to be heard? Have you given away money, clothes and not just because it’s Valentine’s day or your birthday? Are you contributing towards the growth of the Nigeria economy by working your butt off to provide value? What was your score to the above questions? If you scored 100 percent, you are a saint. If you weren’t a 100, you have no business judging another human being.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s learn to give honour to whom honour is due. Let us appreciate good that good will come to us. Let us not be a nation of haters. This is why our best and brightest skip town and never want to come back. Linda Ikeji is a trailblazer. She is an icon and one super woman.

Married or not, sleeping around or not, giving to the poor or not, I salute her. She inspires, influences and entertains millions daily (my sister included). And I hope she doesn’t stop with just one mansion, I hope she purchases an island next and guess what? She totally deserves her blessings.

So maybe throw away that your cold, rocky and sanctimonious couch of self-righteousness because Linda Ikeji is most likely frolicking in that gigantic pool in her billion naira mansion, right now.