By Odiete Johnbull
At last, self acclaimed media personality, Fejiro Oliver, whose real name is Tega Oghenedoro was released on bail recently from Ogwashi-uku prison after spending 61 days in the gulag. It would be the longest time he had been slammed into the cooler since he allegedly opted for a dangerous career of blackmail, extortion, name calling, witch-hunt and manipulation disguised as journalism.
While Fejiro, as he is better known, basks in the euphoria of temporary freedom, there are vital issues to urgently address if he must continue on the path that he has chosen for himself as a career. It is undoubtedly a time for stock taking. And he must do so before the security agencies come knocking again, based on petitions allegedly written by the high and low in the society.
Until his incarceration, Fejiro had carried on as though he was a journalist. He introduced himself as one and basked in the euphoria of being described as one. But, all that changed after his arrest for cybercrimes related charges. It must have been an eye opener for him to realize that blackmail has no place in the journalism profession.
It was the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) which first issued a rebuttal, disowning Fejiro and stated emphatically that he was not one of them. Chairman of the Delta State Council of the NUJ, Mr Churchill Oyowe in a statement declared that Fejiro is not a member of the union, nor any of its affiliate bodies. He challenged the then detained social media buff to provide any proof to the contrary, or indeed membership of any professional media group or association.
Another eye opener for Mr Fejiro was the painful experience of being abandoned by the high and mighty, who until the arrest saga, sponsored his many exploits. None of the so called politicians and big men said to have been backing his so called crusades, showed up when it mattered most to help him.
It must have been a shocker for Fejiro when none of his famed backers showed up at the police station, the court or the prison to demand for his immediate release. Neither did they issue any press statements in solidarity. It must have dawned on him that he was being used by the top shots without him realizing it.
Fejiro gave the impression that he was a friend of the high and mighty. Many people thought he had connections in the corridors of power. But no big man showed up for him in the moment of great need. None of them agreed to stand surety after he was granted bail by the courts. It must be a sobering experience for someone who made society believed he was one of the big men.
Of course, many people regarded Fejiro as one of the top social media buffs or bloggers in the country. And they were not disappointed when other top influencers initially joined the fray and raised the alarm after Fejiro was arrested and detained. The chant of “Free Fejiro” soon flooded the social media space.
But the advocacy for Fejiro to be released did not last long. Again he was quickly abandoned even by those who ply the same trade with him. From a cacophony, the voices in the social media soon became muffled, till we stopped seeing the “Free Fejiro” posts. Only a handful of the known bloggers, if any, made it to the police station, court or prison.
As it turned out, many of the bloggers found out that they were as culpable as Fejiro. Some discovered that they had worse allegations awaiting them once the police decided to press charges. A lot of them instantly withdrew from the campaign to free Fejiro to save their heads.
I’m sure that our dear Fejiro must have discovered during the 61 days in captivating that his kind of trade does not pay. All the money allegedly made from blackmailing people and extorting money from them could not help his case. Instead, he found out that some of his past victims were behind his travail. They wrote the petitions that kept him in handcuffs.
Fejiro, perhaps discovered only too late in the gulag, that he was not above the law after all. He had given the impression to many that he was above the law, abusing people and calling them unprintable names. He did not care whether there was a law on libel or slander. He simply defamed anyone that was not in his good book.
But, the police came calling and made him to realize that no one was above the law. His initial thought that the offence for which he was arrested was minor, soon dovetailed into a season of apprehension and great anxiety. Little did he know it would take a whole 61 days to secure freedom. And there’s no guarantee that he won’t be back to the dungeon any moment soon.
Equally intriguing in the past few weeks was Fejiro’s understanding of what is true. He discovered too late that some of his so called reliable sources manipulated facts and falsely presented them as the truth. It was a beleaguered Fejiro who found out that he was a pawn in the hands of evil men pursuing selfish interests.
Well, what should an alleged blackmailing sctivist expect from those who seek to use him? Definitely not the truth. At best, he should have known that what he would be served are a cocktail of embellished facts. Fejiro realized too late that truth has many colours after all.
Perhaps, the greatest lesson that Fejiro must have learnt while in prison is the worth of true friendship. He never knew the importance of keeping true friends until he was slammed into the cooler. Fejiro wss said to have betrayed his closest allies, believing that he was a maverick.
Sadly, he was served a full dose of betrayal by new friends, many of whom saw him as a rival or competitor. You may say it was karma at work. Because Fejiro came face to face with his nemesis. He confronted his ‘chi’ as the late Prof Chinua Achebe puts it in the classic, Things Fall Apart.
Ultimately, it is my earnest prayer that Fejiro has learned from his mistakes, even as there is no guarantee that he has escaped the long arm of the law. One thing is certain, it is what he makes out of these seven hard lessons that will determine if we will see a new Fejiro or a drunken sailor bent on having a shipwreck. Only time will tell.
“Johnbull, a postgraduate student writes from Abraka
