Dino Malaye needs to understand that an attack on a woman is not a sign of moral growth but that of cynical retreat. Threatening to beat up a woman cannot make a man a celebrity. It will never give him the added aura of grace. I want to make a punch line of the fact that those that hate and abuse women should not be in the public square. The definition of a successful man is the one who deals with women with understanding. If he keeps up threatening to beat up women he will end up as a footnote in our political history.
To make complex matters more complicated, the Senator from Kogi state is not in any way remorseful. He still insists he is in the right in such a display of immaturity. Malaye said in his press conference that “it is absurd for a woman to look at her colleague and call him a thug and a dog when he has not personally addressed her. Unfortunately, I do not have the anointing to be quiet when I am being insulted. I replied accordingly. I repeat, there is no reaction without an action. If she did not call me a dog or a thug, there is no way I would have responded. I have no regret for responding and defending my person. If tomorrow or in the next one hour, Senator Tinubu again calls me any name, I shall equally respond accordingly.”
The senator does not have to steer his life into a dangerous groove. We learn with experience and we gain perspective over time. Is Malaye in politics for the long haul or just an early forgettable flash? According to him, he aspires to be the president of Nigeria someday. “Every human being can have ambition; it is not a crime to be ambitious. Saraki had the ambition of becoming a Senate President and God endorsed it. President Buhari is an ambitious person that is why he contested for the presidency four times before God answered him. I am an ambitious person. I even want to be the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria very soon.”
But my dear Senator, for you to be an extraordinary president of Nigeria, you have to show that you are least willing to change and listen. As a Christian, there is no special anointing for temperance. It is contradicting for a Christian to say he does not have anointing to be quiet when insulted. A Senator is supposed to exhibit gentleness, temperance and magnanimity of heart. Moreover, Senator Tinubu has a different tale to tell on the issue. She has consistently disclosed that Malaye is the aggressor.
Malaye is facing a double standard, born of a barely hidden bias. This is a man that we had compassion on when he was physically attacked by his colleague during his day in the House of Representatives. This a man that spoke against the physical abuse of a female colleague in that show of shame by members of the Lower Chamber. It is a tragedy that he now sees nothing wrong in verbally assaulting a woman. At that point, he was burning brightly with the fire of missionary zeal. Today, he seems to be a different person. This attitude should be a burden to him.
It no surprise that he is getting knocks from all angles. According to the Coalition of Civil Societies and Media Executives for Good Governance(COCMEGG),Malaye is a huge disappointment to his constituency, the Senate and the Nigeria democracy. “It is unfortunate and reprehensible that Senator Dino had resorted to maligning the constituted authority on whose platform he rose to become a Senator. We therefore condemn this despicable un-parliamentary behavior in its entirety and demand an unreserved apology on the floor of the Senate, failure of which, we will be forced to mobilize and commence recall proceedings against him”
In a similar vein, the Lagos state chapter of BringBackOurGirls has equally tongue lashed Senator Malaye. According to a statement jointly signed by Yemisi Ransome Kuti, Aisha Oyebode, Ayo Obe and Habiba Balogun, the group disclosed that “With the likes of Senator Dino Malaye in the Nigeria Senate, the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill which we are campaigning for might never see the light of the day. Our future and that of our children depend on the actions we take now and we must put an end to this recurring act of violence, abuse and threats. The Nigeria Senate should not aid and abet him this time”
There are many more scurrilous articles and blog assault on Senator Malaye. I am amazed that he has stuck to his convictions that attacking a woman is right in some context. This psychodrama is completely unnecessary and uncalled for. At the moment, Senator Tinubu has won the moral battle by declaring that she has forgiven Malaye. I sincerely urge him to redeem his image by apologizing to her at the floor of the Senate.
Written by Ikechukwu Orji, a Journalist and Media Consultant
Ikechukwuorji@yahoo.com
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