Tuesday, June 8, 2021
KAMALA HARRIS TELLS IMMIGRANTS DO NOT COME: AN EPIPHANY AT LAST.
NIGERIA SHOWS HOW TO HANDLE BIG TECH TYRANNY - NEBOJSA MALIC
Nigeria is a far more serious and “based” country than the US, at least if President Muhammadu Buhari’s response to Twitter censorship, compared to that of Donald Trump’s, is anything to go by.
The government in Abuja announced on Friday it had “indefinitely suspended” the US-based platform, following Twitter’s censorship of Buhari. The move was made because of “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence,” said Information Minister Lai Mohammed.
Nigeria’s TV and press regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), will also start the process of “licensing” all social media platforms in the country, the government said. In a twist of irony, the decision was announced on Twitter. Also, the ban doesn’t appear to have gone into effect just yet, and Nigerians are reportedly flocking to virtual private networks to circumvent it.
The Nigerian government also missed an easy opportunity to clobber Twitter with its own wokeness cudgel and accuse CEO Jack Dorsey of being racist and Islamophobic – considering Buhari is both African and Muslim.
All that aside, however, Abuja’s response stands in stark contrast to that of official Washington from a year ago, when Twitter censored then-US President Donald Trump – and then the White House account, citing the same pretext of “glorifying violence” or “threatening harm” to individuals or groups. Trump responded by signing an executive order intended to crack down on social media censorship and nothing happened.
The career bureaucrats in DC simply ignored the president’s orders and stood by while Twitter, Facebook and YouTube helped ‘fortify’ the 2020 elections in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who revoked Trump’s order last month, without bothering to offer an explanation.
Trump’s toothless response to censorship eventually led to Twitter banning his account after the January 6 Capitol riot – while he was still the sitting president – and the other Big Tech platforms following suit. Not only is he banned from having an account, but others interviewing him will get censored for daring to broadcast his “voice.”
Yet most of the US media and civil libertarian groups see nothing wrong with this, and are even arguing that such censorship, using corporations as proxies for the government, isn’t violating the First Amendment.
By contrast, it took Nigeria two days to respond to Twitter’s censorship of its president with a ban on the platform. It may only amount to a symbolic gesture, but it sends a clear message to San Francisco that this kind of behavior by Big Tech will not be tolerated.
Buhari’s critics have argued that the ban is “not in keeping with democracy, the rule of law, and the independence of the media.” But Twitter’s censorship is? Who’s in charge here, an elected government of a sovereign country, or a corporation on the other side of the world? That’s really the question here.
Because the American civil war ended in 1865, and long passed out of living memory, Biden may be able to get away with pseudo-historical narratives comparing the Capitol riot to it. Nigeria’s civil war against the Biafran separatists ended in 1970, and claimed more lives. So when Buhari warns those currently “misbehaving” that its veterans will treat them “in the language they understand,” that is indeed a threat – to separatists
When it censored Trump on the same grounds a year ago, Twitter had posted messages in support of Black Lives Matter, making its politics abundantly clear. The Nigerian government looked at the company banning Buhari but not the current Biafran leader, and concluded that Twitter supported separatists. No government can tolerate that and survive for long, any more than having corporations dictate the terms of their politics – as Trump’s own experience clearly showed.
Monday, June 7, 2021
FLOYD MAYWEATHER AND LOGAN PAUL FIGHT: NOT BUYING THE DRAW GIMMICKRY.
Anyway, it was a money tree shaking event for them and we will wait to see how much it grossed. But as far as Floyd Mayweather was concerned, he had fun boxing Logan Paul and was surprised that Logan Paul was as good as he was, a tough and rough competitor. ICHEOKU wishes both of them well and hope that public outcry of them possibly fixing the fight, will force a rematch where a decisive winner will emerge. It is a hard sell and very difficult to believe that Floyd Mayweather who demolished the Irish bad boy Conor McGregor during their encounter did not and could not put away Logan Paul very much early in the fight. But hey,..
IF ONLY CHINA COULD BAN KNIVES: MANY CHINESE LIVES WILL BE SAVED?
Sunday, June 6, 2021
TRUMP'S FACEBOOK TWO YEAR BAN: NOT SURPRISING AS IT WAS PREDICTABLE.
President Donald John Trump was a skillful master of social media and he aptly deployed it to his maximum political advantage and benefit; and to the detriment of his detractors. They were humiliated by the feat which he pulled off beating them to their game using their self acclaimed social media. Incensed that he out maneuvered them on their own social media space, they sought a pound of flesh to even the score. They figured that the best way to drive a maximum vengeance is to neuter him by killing off his presence on social media and they struck.
First they accused him of instigating the January 6th 2021 Capitol melee through the speech which he delivered at the Save America Rally. But following mountains of evidence to the contrary which showed that the speech did not contain any inciting words and that the riot was planned ahead of the January 6th speech, they decided to expand their liability dragnet to include any action or speech which the president ever took or made which has any connotation whatsoever of incitement or which could be interpreted as such, regardless of the subjectiveness of the interpreter. Of course one can always find something to hang on someone once the searching is generally over-broad and with bad intentions.
But their initial suspension of the president, as they claimed, was because the president "incited" the crowd with his January 6th speech. The premise fell flat as it was non existent but rather than lift the suspension, apologize to the president and reinstate his privileges on their social media platform, they decided to appoint their handpicked speech police committee to review the matter. The committee came back a few months later, deadlocked, unable to reach a decision on the president's continued suspension because the suspension had no basis both in law and in fact. They punted the matter back to Mark Zuckerberg to make the final decision on whether or not to reinstate the president's privileges on his Facebook. It was just like the biblical Pontus Pilate washing off his hand on the Jesus matter and turning it back to the Jews.
That was on May 5th and now one month later, instead of Mark Zuckerberg being honorable enough by doing the right thing, which is to restore the president's access to Facebook, he decided to punish the president further by extending his suspension from the platform until the end of 2022. A case of punishing somebody for no other reason but personal animosity, sheer vindictiveness and crass vendetta. Mark Zuckerberg definitely had the 2022 mid term election in his mind as he made the decision to keep the president off Facebook until after the election. He does not want President Donald John Trump's mega MAGA presence back on social media because it will be too consequential in the mid term election. But Mark Zuckerberg is wasting his time because with or without his Facebook, the 2022 mid term election will swing in a way that will be very pleasing to real patriotic conservative Americans.
ICHEOKU says it is not because of what the president did that he is facing the general black outs on social media. No, it is because of what he will do in the future, a futuristic "crime" which he will commit against liberals by preventing their attempted makeover of America in their utopian image which make America unrecognizable. They are punishing him now ahead of time in order to prevent him from committing the anticipated crime against acute liberal wokeism. They are afraid that he will completely annihilate leftist nut jobs woke liberals' thinking in America, to which most of social media platforms' operators, owners and employees belong. They are afraid of him because they are incapable of mounting an effective challenge to him and they cannot withstand the heat of his opposition, so they have to go the cowardly way by proactively silencing him. This is the truth of the matter, the reason for the decision; the gist of what happened and any other attempt at explaining otherwise is mere balderdash.
ICHEOKU says the president must now do the right thing by walking away from all social media and never look back and never come back even when his suspension expires. This is imperative so that the president will laugh last and not be twice humiliated because in the unfortunate event the president, foolishly and stupidly, take Facebook up on its two year suspension and later rejoins the platform on January 2023, they will still find something else to ban him for, soon following his first post. So, a smart President Donald John Trump should use this opportunity to courageously walk away for good and put social media permanently behind him and never return. He should henceforth treat social media as a dead, non existent and non important serious life issue. He should understand that so many people have been living their lives without dabbling into social media and being absence has not killed them all off.
In the interim, the president should continue to explore other ways to continue putting out his messages across to his millions of supporters, fans and followers. He should also explore the possibility of establishing a Trump Television Station, a Trump Radio and a Trump Social Media platform. He has already cultivated a large audience worldwide, 73 million of them in America, and with a good management team and staff, any outfit which he decides to float will have a resounding success. Enough of the beggarly disposition towards social media as if his life is dependent on it because it doesn't. Enough also of arrogating too much powers to Mack Zuckerberg and his fellow co-travelers of social media power train, linguine spin mongrels who now see themselves as Demi gods who must be genuflected for and whose toes and rings must first be kissed before they can admit someone into their social media temple.
It is not worth such stooping so low to these inferiority complexed individuals who are wielding powers which they ordinarily never dreamt was possible, in a rather very obnoxious manner. So many people on this planet earth, more than 75% of the world population, don't even care enough about these platforms to be participants and.or allow themselves to be held hostage and in bondage of first seeking the approval, goodwill, mercy and forgiveness of Mack Zuckerberg and co in order to be approved to come on board. Even a well managed and run Trump Website will do the magic better than these platforms who nobody goes to because of their founders, people who should otherwise be grateful that people like President Donald John Trump was an invaluable asset to them and made their meteoric growth possible. Trump is a world wide established name and a phenom which does not require much introduction nor publicity for his platform to succeed.
But whatever happens, President Donald John Trump should abandon his hope of ever being welcomed back on these liberals owned and controlled social media platforms because their owners and operators are beholden to so many anti Trump powerful forces and very influential blocs such as Barack Obama, Black Lives Matter as well as the homosexuals community of America. These people's hatred for President Donald John Trump is acidic and they will do whatever it takes as is within their powers, including the threat of boycotting Facebook to ensure that Mark Zuckerberg never reconsiders his decision to allow Trump back on the platform and will eventually force him to permanently ban the president from Facebook. It was exactly the route Mr Rasputin Jack Dorsey traveled before eventually permanently banning the president from his Twitter.
President Donald John Trump was somebody before the advent of social media. He is still somebody now that they have frozen him out of their platforms and he will always remain somebody whether or not he is ever allowed back on social media. Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari has just banned Twitter from operating in his country, which shows that social media is not all that indispensable and it shows that people can still live their life without being on social media. President Donald John Trump should understand this incontrovertible fact, that there is life outside social media and then use the knowledge to deal with his latest Facebook ordeal. The president should accept his fate with the equanimity of a warrior, suck it up and move on; never look back nor ever return at the expiration of their ban. He should let go of Facebook and treat it as if it never existed.
MAGA nation will understand and any forum which he eventually establishes or chooses to stay in contact with them, they will gladly oblige him by surging over there to stay connected with him. So, enough of the whining about and hyperventilating that social media treatment was unfair to him because he should have expected nothing less. The surprise would have been if they had allowed him back on to continue to carry on freely on their platforms. But they hate him with such a venomous angst that nothing will make them to ever love him enough to forgive him and allow him back on their platforms. It will not happen, not in this life and not as long as Barack Obama is alive, pulling all the counter strings to keep President Donald John Trump out and in the cold doldrum of social media dog house. So, it time definite for the president to move on and let go. #TimeToWalkAwayMrPresident.
DID COVID-19 KILL T B JOSHUA OF THE SYNAGOGUE, CHURCH OF ALL NATIONS?
Recall that sometime last March 2020 at the onset of the Chinese gory gift to the world that Prophet Temitope Balogun had said that the scourge will be washed way with the first rain. But his "vision" apparently was clouded by fog as several "first" rains later, the pandemic is still with mankind more than one year following his "prediction'. So, understandably, it is obvious why he hesitated to seek medical intervention believing that "prayers" and "miracle" will take care of business. It is also noteworthy that he did not see his demise coming and did not predict it.
Our condolences to his family and church, The Synagogue, Church of all Nations Nigeria. Hopefully he put his house in order and that there is a succession plan in place for his church, otherwise what happened to Jesus of Oyingbo's "church" might also befall his establishment as it might fall victim to ferocious power tussle among his senior pastors. ICHEOKU does not know if he was married and had a wife who is actively involved in the running of affairs at the synagogue who would step in and continue steering its rudder. Anyway, may the Almighty God reward him according to his stewardship and hopefully the good Lord approved of all the "abracadabra" which he performed here on earth while it lasted. Rest on Joshua.
Saturday, June 5, 2021
WHY JOE BIDEN CANNOT FIRE DR FAUCI.
ICHEOKU says Joe Biden will not and cannot fire Dr Anthony Fauci because he owes the diminutive elf like doctor bigly. Without the active participation of the Dr Chipmunk in the Deep State plot to effect a change in the White House last November 3rd, 2020, there was no way in hell they could have pulled it off. But now that things are beginning to leak out in the form of stinky complicit emails, lets see for how long Joe Biden can sustain his present stand that Dr Fauci's job is safe with him. #FireTheDoctor.
I AM NOT A VIRGINIAN, I AM AN AMERICAN - PATRICK HENRY.
ICHEOKU says a beautiful speech indeed in the league of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech. Speaking of Patrick Henry's 1975 "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in Richmond during the Second Virginia Convention to discuss the Old Dominion's strategy in continuing negotiations with the British Crown. A very motivational speech indeed which eventually paved the way for America's independence in 1776 as he successfully rallied men to rise and defend their honor by freeing themselves from the shackles and manacles of their colonial British masters.
ICHEOKU says may be Biafrans should take a page from Patrick Henry's solution for their Fulani Nigerian problem since their remonstrations and supplications have not yielded them any result all these many decades. May be their long quest for freedom calls for a bloody violent revolution just like the Patrick Henry's era Americans, since their Fulani Nigerians oppressors have proven themselves impervious to reason. As is well known, those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable. If Americans did it, why not Biafrans?
Patrick Henry was a great man, well lettered and supremely gifted with a great oratorial skill. He was a great lawyer too and later became governor of Virginia. ICHEOKU says loves the speech, now happy trails.
Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other.
Our petitions have been slighted, our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne…we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!
The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" - Patrick Henry.
Friday, June 4, 2021
TULSA MASSACRE: A ONCE THRIVING BLACK WALL STREET LAID TO WASTE.
Joe Biden has been in Washington DC for over 50 years but he never cared about the Tulsa massacre nor considered it worthy of mention until now. Why? During his several decades as a United States of America Senator from the Great State of Delaware, when he could have brought attention to the Tulsa massacre, sponsored legislations to acknowledge the massacre, pay compensations to survivors and their descendants as well as immortalize the victims, he did nothing. Why? Joe Biden did not do anything about the massacre when it could have mattered most by showing him as a "blackist" and not a racist; but now that he is nearing his exit from this earth, he is suddenly rushing to make amends for his many years of being a racist or at least a racist apologist by going to Tulsa now to spew nonsensical platitudes about a massacre which he apparently condoned for so many decades.
Was it because he never heard about the Tulsa massacre until now or that in his continuing pandering to the black community, he has repented and is now making amends and purging his soul of his many past sins of racism. Anyway, ICHEOKU is not here to upbraid Joe Biden for finally doing what should have been done several decades ago, but only to emphasize that he does not deserve too much accolade or credit for now finally recognizing a hundred years old massacre which he kept silent about for so many decades that he is somewhat complicit in it by his silence. The massacre was both monstrous and atrocious; and only people who were somewhat incohoot with it and who were on the side of the perpetrators could have kept quiet about it and for this long.
But as we commemorate the Tulsa massacre and condemn both the act and the attendant conspirators silence which lasted for this long, let us also remember other massacres throughout the world. There was the Biafran massacre of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra which was carried out by Nigerian government in concert with the British government as well as American support between 1967 to 1970. Over 7 million Biafrans perished as a result of the well orchestrated and methodically executed massacre and neither the British government nor America government or even Nigerian government have ever acknowledge the genocide nor apologized for that bloody atrocity till date.
It is good that America finally acknowledged the Armenia genocide and it will also be good if America can also acknowledge the Biafran genocide and compel both the Nigerian government and the British government to also similarly do the same. May the souls of the people lost in Tulsa massacre continue to rest and so also the souls of 7 million Biafrans as well as other souls lost in similar manner throughout the world. Joe Biden has no clear conscience going to Tulsa now to shed a pretentious crocodile tears because he has been aware of the Tulsa massacre for so m any years but maintained a conspirator's silence about it for over fifty years. So what is the message he is trying to now give or the image he is trying to suddenly project when he did not speak all these years in condemnation of a very atrocious bloody maltreatment and mass murders of fellow Americans.
FoxNews Tucker Carlson once said that if you cannot speak the truth when it matters, nothing else you say thereafter matters. Joe Biden had since 1973 to speak up in condemnation of the Tulsa Massacre and it would have mattered then that he spoke up, but he did not. Now, he is just an ebbing flow and nobody should really care about what he said in Tulsa because it does not matter, not any more. He was only reacting to current circumstances and not from a violated conscience which could not stand such a man's cruelty and injustice to fellow man. If what Joe Biden said at the centenary commemoration was an apology, it should not be accepted; but if it must, may be belatedly in the interest of moving on. But his long silence was not a case of where silence was golden, rather it was an atrocious and shameful complicity by default.
On a final note, how about the government commencing payment on the much talked about issue of reparation by paying an adjusted market rate compensation for the Tulsa Massacre and destruction of what once was a thriving very affluent black neighborhood in America. But no, it was the usual mere platitudes that he took to Tulsa, believing that the same black people who forgave all his racist past last November 3rd, 2020 will also not be firm and resolute with him to demand justice for their folks that were massacred in 1921 in Tulsa Oklahoma with their prominent neighborhood completely destroyed and wiped out. It is a shame of America and it will forever live in infamy, regardless of his visit. ICHEOKU says it is about time some of these past horrible deeds are monetized to make black folks somewhat whole as all the talks cannot restitute what was taken from them.
BIBI IS GOOD FOR ISRAEL'S SECURITY: KEEP HIM IN OFFICE.
But should Israel go forth with it and allow such an aberration to berth, they will regret as Palestinians will be handed a new tool for their propaganda war. They will start calling for a complete devolution of both people into one State, which will be neither Jewish nor Palestinian since a Palestinian is part of those governing the territory anyway. If these enemies of a strong and well defended Israel have their way, the hope of keeping Israel Jewish will forever be lost and with it too, the dreamed homeland for the Jewish people which will be lost as well.
The history of Israel is replete with such shooting of themselves on the foot as is broadly recorded in the Bible, the stories of the Golden Calf and their rejection of The Messiah Jesus Christ readily stand out. It seems that either they don't ever learn from history or they are simply too cockily Jewish to care, aware that they will always be taken care of no matter what, by the good Lord as a God's chosen people.
Please Israel Knesset, vote to retain Israel in the tested, tried and safe hands of Bibi; say no to the charlatans who want him out of the Prime Minister's office by all means possible, including by admitting an Arab Palestine in a Jewish Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the answer to the Palestinian question and exactly what a petulant terrorist organization Hamas needs in order to be kept at bay from all their bad intentions towards Israel. #KeepIsraelJewish.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
FAUCI LIED, AMERICANS DIED.
DR ANTHONY FAUCI'S EMAILS: TOO DAMAGING, TIME TO FINALLY LET HIM GO.
Now Dr Anthony Fauci's leaked emails shows that so many things were hidden from the world about the dreadful coronavirus pandemic disease which have killed millions of people world wide and still killing people, including over six hundred thousand Americans so far. If and when eventually the detailed damage caused because of some hidden facts at the height of the coronavirus crisis come out and some of them would have been otherwise avoided, the world will have no other country to blame but America as they heavily relied on America's coronavirus tsar Dr Anthony Fauci in making their respective policy decisions tackling the coronavirus. The Fauci emails collaborates the reason why Hillary Clinton refused to release her own emails because of what they contained.
It is damaging to America's credibility and will continue to bleed America's standing in the world as a country whose words cannot be trusted, not any more. A good way to start repairing this damage is to reassure the world that America does not intentionally lie to mislead them by taking a firm action against Dr ANthony Fauci. But as long as the coronavirus "expert" continues to remain on his seat in the Joe Biden's administration as the final authority on matters of coronavirus, that long will the world believe that lying to them is an acceptable practice and it will lead to revulsion. So, Joe Biden should fire the diminutive doctor now from his position and appoint a fresh new face to continue to manage the effort. #LetFauciGO.
WHY HILLARY CLINTON DELETED THOSE 33,000 EMAILS.
ICHEOKU says Dr Anthony Fauci leaked emails show why Hillary Clinton refused to turn over her subpoenaed 33,000 emails and instead willfully destroyed them. The toxicity of their content was such that would have kept every American aghast with rude shock. If Dr Fauci's few emails were this revealing, imagine what Hillary Clinton's 33,000 deleted and bleach washed emails would have showed. It is sad that she got away with it.
GENOCIDAL BUHARI: WHEN WILL THE WORLD CALL HIM TO ORDER?
Muhammadu Buhari is trying to exterminate Christians and other nationalities in Nigeria just to make way for his tribe's Fulani herdsmen to take over the entire Nigerian geographical space. Joe Biden must not stand aside and look as Nigerian Muhammadu Buhari carry out his threatened mass killing of the people of Biafra. It will be easier for the United States of America not to allow the current developing conflict in Nigeria turn into a major conflagration as the consequences will be dire to the whole West African sub region. #StopBuhariNow
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
YET ANOTHER TASK FOR KAMALA HARRIS?
TUCKER CARLSON: WHAT IS HIS VACCINATION STATUS?
So, instead of continuously spewing his anti vaccination message, Tucker Carlson should leave Americans alone to make the final choice on whether or not to get vaccinated. His stance is making it difficult and becoming an unbearable influence on some people who would have ordinarily got their vaccinations but are still hanging tough because of what they hear from Tucker Carlson. People are readily influenced by persons they look up to and hold in a particular lofty manner and Tucker Carlson is definitely influencing so many American people. It is such that were he to publicly on his show admit that he has taken the shot, so many people will immediately follow suit and got their own shots as well.
So, before Tucker Carlson can continue with his gospel against vaccination, it will be nice, in the interest of full disclosure, if he can tell the nation what his vaccination status really is; and whether members of his family including his wife and children have been vaccinated. But it is not fair nor just for his listeners to be continuously misguided into rejecting the vaccine while he had already secretly gotten his own vaccination. Recall that so many America people, especially members of MAGA family, did not know that President Donald John Trump secretly got his own vaccination while still in the White House while projecting a different image publicly, until very much later following his removal from office. Tucker Carlson should not be allowed to pull off a similar deceitful stunt on American people and he needs to clear the air now on his vaccination status.
Is it possible that Tucker Carlson have already been fully vaccinated while still maintaining his anti vaccination stance on television and thereby continuing to deceive millions of Americans who listen to his show and dissuading them from getting their own shots. If he has not got his own shot that will be very nice and acceptable, but it will be abominable and condemnable if he already got his shot while still putting up a different face and preaching a different anti vaccine sermon on his show. ICHEOKU says Tucker Carlson should please clarify and immediately disclose his vaccination status in order to retain the moral authority to opine his anti vaccination message and also maintain his credibility as an anti vaccer guru in chief. But overall, over one hundred million Americans have got their vaccination and at that number, the "vaccine will kill you" fear mongering is no longer an acceptable excuse for not getting vaccinated since over one hundred million Americans cannot be all suicidal. #TuckerCarlsonVaccinationStatus.
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
NAOMI OSAKA SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACCOMMODATED BY THE FRENCH OPEN.
Why should any reasonable person, including someone who is ordinarily not comfortable with speaking with the media, be compelled to face her worst fears and when she couldn't, was fined and threatened with more sanctions, which forced her to excuse herself from a tournament which she could have won handily, thereby foregoing millions of dollars in winning prize money, loyalties and advertisements fees, which would have come her way as a result Why did the organizers of the French Open respond the in the manner they did and not try to first find out why she is not comfortable with speaking with the media once she announced the planned boycott. Instead, they proceeded to fine her and threaten her with other punishments, including disqualification and a permanent banned from all future competitions.
What if she is camera and publicity shy and would rather not be caught flatfooted, mumbling words in front of the world or even completely freezing up in front of the media. What if she has some speech disorder such as glossophobia, selective mutism or even social/media anxiety disorder which she has not previously disclosed. What if none of the above was the case and a pure desire not to engage with the media informed her decision to boycott them. Why must it be an added responsibility for an athlete to speak with the media, what if the athlete does not know how to speak in public before so many cameras and lights; or does not want to speak at all or is not in the mood to engage the media. Why the media engagement compulsion?
ICHEOKU says the tournament should have focused more attention on an athlete's performance rather then her thought process as the French Open competition is to showcase her prowess and not to psychoanalyze her. Why is what she would have said more important than how she would have played in the competition, her first game considered. Why was the media not made to figure the rest out and treat it like beauty which is in the eyes of the beholder. Now that she has been forced to come out as a mental health sufferer and tell the world that her decision to avoid the media was mental health based, what will the organizers who boxed her into the corner, say to millions of people world over who are afflicted with one form of mental health challenge or the other. That they should not participate in tournaments simply because they cannot simultaneously be public relations experts for the tournament.
Why do companies and corporations have PR departments instead of their CEO always opining on matters affecting companies in their interactions with the media on how their companies are faring and performing? To compel someone who prepared and trained for the French Open to abandon ship just because she is not comfortable speaking with the media is too drastic and callous. Why punish such a superstar who would have delivered her A game simply because she cannot stand the media, which increases her anxiety disorder. Then to add insult to the injury, the heartless French Open fined her thousands of dollars and threatened her with disqualification and permanent ban from all future tournaments which forced her to withdraw from the tournament.
That the French Open could be so mean speaks volume about who they are and what they really care for. They have warped priorities and they are definitely not mental health friendly. Why did they go so hard on Naomi Osaka or is it possible because she does not have the "right" skin color? If she were white, would they not have done everything possible to meet her half way to explore possible accommodations? Afterall she announced that she will be boycotting the media ahead of the competition and provided the organizers with ample time to explore what is possible under the circumstance. They could have found her a psychologist to evaluate her and then determine what other options are available. What if she has aphasia or is even dumb? Does it mean that a person who is speech impaired cannot be a tennis player. They could have had the media submit their questions in advance and have her submit her written answers as handouts.
It is unfortunate that the French Open have lost its best promise for a great competition and with her now gone, the light has dimmed on the tournament. ICHEOKU and millions of others, especially in Japan and other Asian countries who were previously rooting for their own Naomi Osaka and enthusiastically watching and following the French Open, will now definitely tune off as the reason for the season has been canceled out of the competition. It was such a disgrace that the organizers of the French Open did not to do all they could have done to mitigate the Naomi Osaka's media problem and instead, went the harshest route possible to punish her with fines and threats of disqualification and ban from all future competitions. It is not the right way to go and their approach and methodology are cruel and lacks a human face. In short, they are heartless. The French Open is anti disability and punishes mental health issues. It is sad. #StandWithNaomiOsaka.