Tayo Onanuga, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria has taken on Nigerian social media calling a lot of people on it Cyber-hyenas, Cyber-vandals, and Character assassins.
This is due to the backlash he received for a Facebook post he put up where he said the suffering in Nigeria might just be a bit exaggerated.
He was hit hard for these comments which many termed as insensitive by many who read it.
He has hit back saying that social media has been seized by the wrong sort of people and that they were acting on a mob mentality.
He said, “Lynch-mob, cyber-hyenas, cyber-vandals, character assassins: this is the motley crowd that has seized Nigeria’s social media space, either on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. It is a mob and functions like any other mob, pouncing on targets, remorselessly, twisting your words to achieve a preconceived end.
“The rampaging crowd in cyberspace is the opposite of what Mark Zuckerberg and co have in mind in creating communication networks to link friends or people with common interests. Judging by my experience in the last 72 hours, I am no longer surprised why many decent people either closed their accounts on the various platforms or have become inactive.
“No sane, decent person can truly condone the vicious band of assassins always on the prowl, looking for preys to desecrate and mutilate, all because the victims’ viewpoint does not tally with their jaundiced position. I am sure that Zuckerberg will be mortified about how Nigerians have fouled his platform and Twitter. They are now nests of uncouth, ill-mannered, hate-filled Nigerians. Fellow Nigerians, we cannot all think one-way.
“We cannot all think alike. I have the inalienable right to have a different idea from yours. And that in civilised societies does not call for the unbridled umbrage that my posts have attracted and the unwarranted attacks against my child.”
“Good morning!.”