Hashtags as Metaphor for Lynching, by Yemi Ogunseye

Lynching is when a group of people kill someone for an alleged offence without trial.
Over the years there have been various types of killings without trial.
Image, reputation and essence can be killed with similar consequences as biological deaths.

There are the living dead, people whose souls and life force have been drained and flushed away by factors, elements and variables that are beyond their immediate control.

Everytime there is a Hashtag towards a misdemeanour its content, structure, form, direction and expectations are nothing short of mob action.
This mob action is without decency, decorum or recourse to appropriate legal quarters.

The Hashtags perfectly encapsulates the quintessential appropriation of the prosecutor, the jury and the judge leaving no room for the accused to defend themselves nor allow the law of the land to run its set course.

Such is the lot of people or establishments that have been unfortunate to be at the receiving end of these uncontrollable initiatives.

Now a certain Adamu Nuru who is the MD of FCMB is at the receiving end of this hashtags and by extension the image and reputation of his banks.

It is poignant to point out that the image and reputation of a bank is directly proportional to its marketability and profitability ultimately.

These hashtags are increasingly de-marketing the bank.
Most of the current ones that are viral are no longer about the man and his cross but about the totality of the brand FCMB.

Consequently, a marketer would be relieved of his or her job because he or she has not met her target, forgetting that the credibility platform that is much needed to meet it has been lynched by hashtags meant to sack their MD.

If in the process of sending the man packing as the MD the value of the bank has been diminished, who is responsible for that?
Is it the man’s indiscretion or the campaign of calumny that seeks to eject the man?

Can the petitioners be held accountable for the intangible and tangible loss suffered by the bank?
Is the bank now suffering the effects of collateral damage?

Now that Hashtags are assumed to be for social justice, are they towing regulated paths and not become laws unto themselves?

As the age-long question rages on, who guards the guards?
The role of the media as the society watch dog comes with very great responsibilities that the practitioners are exposed, grounded and grinded to.

Are the proponents, the creators and the vectors of these crusades aware of these great responsibilities?
Are they conscious of the consequences of their actions?
The inability to understand the ramifications, magnitude and ripple effects of their actions is tantamount to lynching.
They should stop playing God.
If they feel bad about a situation they should go to court.

Yemi Ogunseye is an Ibadan-based Marketing Communications professional.