By Winifred Asogwa (Enugu)

Social media have been aflame the past few days with rants about the flavour live concert at Okpara square Enugu, where not less than twenty (20) female fans were ‘allegedly’ raped.

Rape is a serious crime against humanity. It touches the very sensibility of the raped while the rapist reflects the decadence in the minds of some people. It beats one’s imagination how a man would jump on a lady without her consent. No gesture supports such devilish tendencies.

The bedrock of the conversation lies in the fact that; this is not the first time female fans are been sexually harassed at a concert, it’s gradually turning into a norm. Tufiakwa! (God forbid)

Reports of rape at both PhynoFest 2016 and 2017 were recorded; we have now witnessed a similar repetition at flavour’s live concert. The almost sad side of this story is that these concerts were ‘free’; the fans were required to pay zero naira to attend. The artists see these free concerts as a ‘give back initiative’ to their fans and the city of their birth.

But when ‘giving back’ opens the door for women to be sexually harassed, it begs the question ‘is it giving or taking’?

It’s easy to blame the organizer of the concert, after all people showed up to watch him perform but throwing sticks and stones won’t help, who really is to blame?
I’ll take this from a three pronged approach. The media, security/crowd management and the artist.

When it comes to the media industry in Nigeria, Lagos state can be termed the ‘big brother’, where everything happens. It’s usually said that if you want to blow in entertainment, find yourself in Lagos.

As much as Lagos is the ‘big brother’ there are also smaller/younger brothers who are aspiring to do what Lagos does. Cities like Abuja, Port-harcourt, Calabar, Enugu etc are aspiring to nurture the fragile entertainment industry in their respective cities. When these smaller brothers hold concerts and shows and it’s not 100% perfect, are they not supposed to be encouraged rather than getting bashed?

The trace TV guy that made that very sensitive tweet about the concert turning into a rescue mission for women was slightly ‘off-tune’. He even went ahead to say he’s never visiting Enugu again, like your visit added to our GDP.

With no intent to defend the evil rape perpetrators, is he trying to say there have NEVER been a rape incident at all the concerts held in Lagos state?

After all, the official rape statistics 2015 as reported by Punch Newspapers show that Lagos was on top of the rape record in 2015 with 513 cases, followed by Delta, 205; Kano 189; Katsina 120; Ogun 76; Ondo 68 and Edo, 55.

Others are FCT 44; Ebonyi 41; Cross River 40; Bauchi 38; Oyo 35; Kaduna 33; Anambra 33; Bayelsa 31; Niger 29; Enugu 28; Plateau 25; Yobe and Zamfara, 21; Borno 20; Jigawa 18; Imo 17, Kogi 15 and Gombe 12.”

This brings us to the role of our media. One ‘Lagos person’ came and said something about the South East and we’re not able to overturn that. Can a south east influencer go to Lagos, make a tweet and it sparks conversation? Where are the south east bloggers, influencers, media majesties, on air personalities?

The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.

I heard some very funny arguments that the reason showbiz doesn’t grow in Enugu is because we feed on the cycle that the show must be free, a mentality that roadblock birthed.

Also that artists want big crowds for the sake of numbers. There is nothing wrong with wanting big crowds but a lot goes into crowd management/control/security. Enugu is not the only state to hold concerts, why don’t we hear rape cases in other places? It’s obvious more attention is paid to stage and artiste management than crowd management/security.

The artist in question is yet to release a statement. I’m sure he’s heard people are making allegations that his female fans were raped at his concert but he’s decided to keep mute. Has he no media team? To control what’s going on, to protect his brand? Or he just doesn’t care; he’s waiting for it to blow over like everything in Nigeria does.

Rape is a very serious issue, the victims have to deal with psychological trauma for the rest of their lives, at least show that you care.

If we must harness the entertainment, tourism and hospitality potentials of the Enugu State necessary steps must be taken to ensure such case as rape isn’t repeated in the future.

For now, let the he security agencies do the needful by apprehending and prosecuting the rapists; hence we become laughing stock among other States in Nigeria.