The show had just finished, and the crowd rushed at me as they always do
Duke, we enjoyed the show. Duke, Duke, when are you coming to London again
I smiled as they shook my hands and hugged me
Then she stood out. She was in a group of four middle-aged women.
Dark skinned, average height and was once beautiful
Duke, I came here specifically for you, she said. I looked into her eyes and knew I was in trouble already
I tried to smile, and she said – It is not a smiling matter
I don’t live in London, but I have taken great pains to come to London to meet with you
I said ok… I get your writings. Your writings go very far, and I want to eyeball you and ask you why you hate women
The group went silent. One of them tried to calm her nerves, but she pushed her aside and continued
Men like you are a problem; men like you give women a bad name, and I felt that I should come this far to give you a piece of my mind,” she enthused.
The London weather was cold but not colder than her stare
My friend tried one last time – can you stop this? You are embarrassing me. Is this why you came? If I had known, I would not have let you follow us
By this time, she had totally lost it – leave me alone so I can speak my mind. I have been reading him for years, and when I heard he was in London, I decided to take the opportunity to meet him and confront him
By this time, a slight fear crept into my mind. What if this crazed woman threw acid at my face or even brought out a scissors to cut my dreads, then you people will say – no justification to beat a woman.
Well, I asked her people allow her to dry herself out, and she fell into a major rant
You don’t understand women, and u will never understand us. Your positions are naive and illiterate, and the sad thing is that you have influence and are using that to tar womanhood, and we will deal with you.
I smiled and asked if there was a particular position she had in mind so we could face it.
By this time, a small crowd had started building up, and she felt she had an audience
She said Akpabio and Natasha, and I said, ‘Okay, brilliant’.
What was my position? She couldn’t say so. I asked what her position was, and she said Akpabio is guilty, and I said how, and she said his track, he is a philanderer and must be punished
So I asked, Any evidence, and she said What more evidence do we need beyond the fact that a woman has been violated
By this time, I knew I was dealing with a crack head, and I asked – so we should bring down a Senate President cos a woman said he held her hands?
Madam, you’re talking crap, and I stand by my position on this and any other position that I have taken regarding women on any matter since I started talking publicly
I was ready, and she knew it, but as it always is, she went into an emotional rant, spewing invectives and not letting me say a word. When she finished, she huffed and walked away.
This scenario is what plays out in most conversations on issues that women are passionate about, especially when it comes to their empowerment, sexual relations, marriage, career and the rest.
Emotions get the better of discussants, and logic flies out the window
So she comes all the way from Golgotha to finally meet me, after years of planning, and in less than five minutes, she has huffed away without even hearing me out or achieving anything.
I love women, and by this, I mean rational women.
Women who are decisive about issues and who step back and ask serious questions or look at the facts before taking up positions
What amazes me the most is how they forget due process, fair hearing, justice and fair play when the matter concerns their gender, but if their gender is on the dock, they suddenly become democrats and strong legal minds
I respect and adore women – the ones that have sense, and I must say that the ones that have sense are very plentiful, even more plentiful than the other set, but we don’t really get access to the ones that have access cos of the noise of the ones like this woman who came all the way to attempt to bully me.
It is as a result of my immense love for women that I am working with 6 of the most incredibly gifted female theatre directors next year.
In fact, one of them just became a professor.
Congratulations, Prof. Ifure Ufford-Azorbo.
We look forward to MAKAMBA next year; it will be a blast.
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu