We are all bullies

The heart-wrenching bullying and tragic death of Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr) recently, a student of Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos, has again brought to the fore the menace of bullying in schools.

No doubt, at least seven out of 10 Nigerians experienced bullying in school either in primary, secondary, or university/polytechnics; whether public or private institutions.

As the norm in our society, the death of young Sylvester sparked a #MeToo movement in the country. Everyone was condemning bullies and I asked who is then the bully in schools? Since everyone was claiming to be a victim. In a nation of hypocrites, everyone is now an advocate of condemning bullies and none has admitted to being the perpetrators of the acts.

There are reported cases of students joining cults in school to avoid being bullied by cultists. Sadly some of these students lost their lives in the process.

We also have the “ogas at the top” bullying junior female staff who refuse to give in to their sexual demands. If only your opinion and beliefs are final, you are a bully.

We also have cases of religious leaders bullying members of their congregations. The list is endless.

While bullying still persists in schools and needs to stop, bullying has now moved to social media platforms.

There is this mob mentality now on social media, if your arguments don’t align with the popular bandwagon at the moment or hold a contrary view you are bullied, insulted, and harassed. I remember the #EndSARS protest at the Lekki tollgate, if you don’t agree that there was a massacre, you would be insulted and bullied on social media.

Members of the All Progressive Congress(APC) constantly bully members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on social media and vice versa.

People are constantly being bullied on social media for having different religious beliefs, sexual orientations, or for just being a northerner or southerner.

Indeed, it is safe to surmise that there is an epidemic of cyberbullying in the country.

I remember Nigerian music mogul, Ubi Franklin, who said he attempted suicide several years ago over cyberbullying. Franklin said he was bullied on social media a few years ago which made him depressed and resulted in several failed attempts at committing suicide.

Olufemi Olugbile, a consultant psychiatrist, has also warned that social media bullying may increase the rate of suicide.

Cyberbullying will no doubt increase the rate of depression. I also remember the case of a Big Brother Naija participant who was ferociously bullied and had to leave social media.

If you bully people in school or on social media, you are a bully and this nonsense needs to stop. It’s a free world, people should be allowed to have a contrary opinion, religious belief, or political affiliations. This mob mentality and social media terrorism must stop.