By Onah Ejiofor
There are some wrong assumptions made by people who are too quick to express their support for Tiwa Savage in her sex “tape” fiasco. The first one of these is that most of the people who long for the video dislike or hate her. For the most part, it is simply nothing but the fact that porn sells and is naturally more palatable when a celebrity is involved.
Then there is the angle of the voyeur (“luku-luku”). Practically everybody, including those who resist the tempting video, loves the forbidden pleasure of seeing what is going on behind others’ locked bedroom windows and doors. In fact, that some people fight such temptations is an indication that our “sinful” natures find such fruits of lust appealing. The latter “holy holies” may subsequently go to moralize against those who accept their human desires for what they were— no worse or better , just human qualities. It is, therefore, important that we stop criminalizing those who refuse to be cowed by our Popes in the ramshackle African “Romes” they have set up here to the rest of us sinful lot. They might for all I care go on pretending that are already in heaven.
Of far more importance, however, is the question, which most of Tiwa’s newly recruited legion of honour are unwilling to recognise, of “why is there a sex tape to watch in the first place?” A few clear-minded observers have observed that Ms Savage has not taken as much time to explain how the “tape” emerged as she has spent on playing the victim card. And neither has she been visibly aggrieved towards the person that leaked the tape, who might be quite close to her, nor has she expressed any recognition of the negative effects of recording her sex acts on the society.
In fact, from all appearances , she is only too eager to dismiss insinuations that the source of the leakage is someone close to her. Rather, her preferred explanation is that the video was first mistakingly released on Snapchat by her boyfriend, who quickly deleted it on realizing the mistake. Unfortunately, according to her, the blackmailer apparently got his hands on the video before it was deleted ( or— she didn’t exactly put it in these clear terms— managed to scour it up somewhere on the internet). Yet, for some curious reason, she had all the while carefully kept the said partner in the shadows. Till date she has not disclosed the identity of the partner whose face was interestingly hidden from the camera. Her Trump card in the cover-up is the admission that she and her boyfriend were not doing anything illegal — a qualification motivated more by her need to emotionally appeal for public sympathy rather than an interest to come clean before the public. The later would have demonstrated her transparency — sadly, she has shown no intention to toe that part.
That she has the right as an adult to live her life as she likes is not in question, but that every other adult who was assaulted or tempted by her indiscrete sexual habits has his or her own right not to be so tempted or disrespected should also feature in attempts by liberal moralizers who are too eager to brandish to those who take exception to her exploitation of public morality the biblical admonition of “cast the first stone” if you are sinless .
Certainly, you do not blame me for getting an unsolicited dirty recording in my WhatsApp inbox.
The faulty foundation of the viewpoints of Tiwa Savage’s fervent defenders becomes even shakier after going through the opinions of some analysts who recounted how “difficult” it is for private videos recorded by someone to end up in Snapchat or any other social media site. As a result, it is bafflling to try and understand what is going on.
After thinking it through , an obvious conclusion is that Ms Savage knew about the existence of the video even before she came online to advertise that she is being blackmailed with it. That being the case, if she had decided on recording her own blue films for her private enjoyment , that is her business. She should, therefore, not subject the rest of us to emotional blackmail.
However, having recognized how the singer put herself in a position where she is in the eye of the public, we must also examine the intention behind the leakage and what seems to be her crocodile tears. In fact, two Twitter users ,@hardmikeO1 and @Ayokasz, among others, have been in the news recently with claims that the release is deliberate. Some people believe that she leaked the video in order to promote her upcoming song video or simply so that she can “trend”.
This argument is tempting for a number of reasons. Thus, one only have to see the level of support that the video has attracted her before one begins to think differently. Everywhere you look, liberalists and feminists have gone to town defending her. “Throw-the-first- stone” moralists are not left far behind , either. And whereas some have praised her for being “a strong woman”, others have in no uncertain terms condemned those who watched her sex romp without her permission. To them, seeing the porn recording amounts to one being a pervert or intruding on Tiwa’s privacy. This is most unfair.
This is not all, though. I have heard Toke Makinwa, Anita Idibia, etc. either talking tough about how they cannot be intimidated by blackmailers who threaten to release their steamy videos or drumming up support for the beleaguered singer. But this should not be a problem; it is well within their rights. However, whereas she and other celebrity females have the right to leave their marital homes if they are no longer comfortable with married life, they should not defile public morals under the excuse of exercising their freedoms. Thus, when a middle aged mother like her decides to throw caution to the winds and indulge in reckless compromising behaviour, she should not think it her right to gag every other person and restrict the exercise of the natural right of such a person. If you walk into the street naked, you should not expect that people will not look or talk. These are their rights and you should live with them.
Similarly , demanding that others demonstrate some understanding towards her is out of place here since Ms Tiwa Savage has neither demonstrated enough responsibility for her actions, nor has she made sufficient efforts to show that the leakage was not orchestrated by her. In fact, it might have been a marketing campaign — a public relations gimmick. Thus, if that were the case, those who hurriedly sympathise with her for losing a few promotion contracts (Cardburys, Pampers, etc.) might be too quickly hanging their guns before the powder has dried. This is because, as a cynic would say, “everything she has lost, and more, will come back to her once the album sells” .
