EXCLUSIVE: Open letter to Basket Mouth by Citizen Evelyn

Dear Bright Okpocha (aka Basket Mouth),

I am a very good fan of your comedy show including my husband and kids, I would rather have spoken to you over the phone or make time to see you face to face, but as it is the season of open letter in Nigeria, I would like to use this medium to express how disappointed I am over your comment or joke as you may call it on “Rape”.

First let me try to educate you about the meaning of Rape, maybe you did not check your

dictionary for the meaning or you don’t have one at home.

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another without any consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.

Rape and sexual slavery are recognized as crimes against humanity and war crimes. Rape is also recognized as an element of the crime of genocide when committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a targeted ethnic group.

People who have been raped can be severely traumatized and may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder; in addition to psychological harm resulting from the act, rape may cause physical injury, or have additional effects on the victim, such as acquiring of a sexually transmitted infection or becoming pregnant. Furthermore, following a rape, a victim may face violence or threats thereof from the rapist, and, in some cultures, from the victim’s own family and relatives. More about rape and its effect of victims can be obtained for free from the Encyclopaedia.

Bright, let me ask you, have any of your relation been raped before? Have your blood sister or daughter been raped before? If the answer is yes, then how can you possibly make a joke about it. but if the answer is no, then you must be ashamed of yourself ….

Your lack of respect for women has manifested. When you first began to make jokes about Nigerian women we thought that it was to make people laugh, now you can be easily accused of making these jokes because you want to disrespect, humiliate and insult Nigerian women. Why should Nigerian women be painted black by a fellow Nigerian who they pay money to watch his show? These women who come to your shows are the people putting food on your table, the clothes you wear, pay your bills, fuel your car and you have the innuendo to rubbish them?

As a brand ambassador of some companies in Nigeria, you are supposed to be a role model for our children, but what are you teaching them, are you teaching them that rape is fun? you are telling them that any girl they want to have sex with and who says no should be raped? To the girls you are simply calling them sex toys that can be bought with money. By your joke you have reduced Nigerian women to zero. How will men from other countries see our women?

Finally, I will advise you to always think about the consequence of what you open your mouth to joke about because that mouth that brought you fame and good things of life may still play a part in bringing you down.

Evelyn Ejiogu