Ore mi ti ki se ore awon ota mi: Advocate or adversary.
In 2017, I submitted a paper that got accepted into the 2018 International Sociological Association (ISA) Conference titled "Advocacy or Adversary?: Interrogating Its Changing Meaning and Implications for Global Society." What I had in mind was to interrogate ethical questions, identity issues, and the politics of naming with regard to how people label themselves as an activist or otherwise and how they are named by others. In addition, my goal was to explore what I consider the corruption of words that occurs when we choose to feign ignorance of the intent and meaning of terms. I learned long ago that words might be corrupted, but their purpose cannot be destroyed. Other times words will go through transformations in meaning, which is fine as long as you understand their etymology; you can understand the change and continuity that has occurred in the words and the cultural nuances of words. I told someone how my work seeks to integrate linguistics, among others, into the study of gender and popular music because, as one theory of language suggests, we might need a cultural-historical approach to understand words. For instance, I said that for anyone to interpret "Tiwa Savage "ofi oko selemilese" (translated in English as pleasurable injury from copulation) or Teni "Injure me with that thing" as an invitation to sexual violence would not be totally accurate.
I say all of this against the background of how I have seen every Tom, Dick, and Harry appropriate the term activist. My entire doctoral dissertation was on activism, yet I do not think we have scratched the surface of what activism means. In my work, I acknowledge the various reiterations of activism in literary, cinematic production, protest, visual art, and more. In this country, people are activists, but they sleep with the enemy of the people. They are activists yet dine with the powers they claim to speak against. How do you rebuke the devil that you sleep with? To be sure, I have never thought of advocacy in adversarial terms; it could be collaborative. But my understanding and observations seem to suggest that dining with adversaries is always an induction into being one of the oppressors. Think about all the people we hail as activists or voices of the people; soon as they claim they partner with the system, they turn into monsters. My stand is that to critic power, sometimes, you must be outside of it. If you collaborate, you need vigilance before becoming what you critic.
More so, where is accountability when people call themselves activists, but at every election circle, you see different shades of their corruption and depravity? There is this CNN commentator who is skin (race) to me that I admire from a distance for his eloquence and intellect. More so, as I thought he was a spokesperson for my kin and skin folk elsewhere. Until a few years ago, I started interacting with people who live in the West, especially my skin folks, and I realized we do not have the same view of him. Most of them said he is a sell-out for XYZ reasons. I thought to myself that the people we call activists in my country have done worse and are still revered. My late mother understood the structure of power so much that I worry if that woman pretended to us all her life that she could not read/write. Intelligence, for me, is not necessarily in degrees. If your knowledge, skills, competencies, or whatever measure/shade of intelligence you claim weaponizes your dark nature and affirms evil, then you are not intelligent. When I see these so-called "activists" parade themselves, I think it insults our collective intelligence and reflects poorly on what we call education and conscience in Nigeria. Nigerian Gospel artist Tope Alabi has a line from one of her songs that suggest that God is her friend who is not the friend of her enemies(Ore mi ti ki se Ore awon ota mi). People think differently about whether individuals who call themselves their friends can be the friends of their real, imagined, or perceived enemies and vice versa. I believe that is an individual choice; I can't advise or legislate that you inherit or not inherit friends or enemies.
However, when you declare yourself as advocates but are in bed with enemies of the people, it is duplicitous. I may excuse God if she(God was once a woman) was/is friends with my enemies; I wonder if I can say the same for activists who are friends of the people's enemies yet wear the garb of spokesperson for the people. I can excuse God because I sometimes reflect on people who consider me their "enemies" or rebellious child and want God to alienate me like they did/do, but the man still likes me like kilode?. By the way, as an advocate for Asun, peppered snail, Killish, it would be a betrayal to see me near Vegan food. I will want to be vegan for health reasons and other supposed benefits. However, I have a long commitment to cow leg, shaki, abodi, roundabout, dry fish, and all the food identities that constitute Nigerianness, and not to forget pepper, real scotch bonnet, not habanero to be vegan. I try to eat healthily, but sometimes my loyalty is essential. Peter, how can you call yourself Jesus disciple but warm yourself by the enemy's fire? That is an invitation to betray, o wrong now.
Posted on Facebook on September 17, 2022.
