The viral ‘Mummy Calm Down’ video continues to generate ripples across the country, with various experts and the general public giving mixed reactions on the appropriateness of the video and possible question of child abuse, especially with comments from Governor Sanwo-Olu, TheConscienceNG reports.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had attempted to make a hero of the boy in the video, drawing multiple references and lessons from the unnamed boy’s circumstance, negotiation skills and brilliance in his Sallah message to Lagosians on Wednesday but drew the anger of some experts, including Buhari’ social media aide, Lauretta Onochie who alleged child abuse and rights breach.
TheConscienceNG reports that Sanwo-Olu in his message which was posted on his official Twitter page, said, “I saw a video of a charming young boy online asking his mom to ‘calm down’ as she was set to punish him for a misdemeanour. I was moved by his sobriety, which reflected in his promise of “last chance”, when confronted with the fact that he is a regular offender.
“Interestingly, the video inspired this special message to the good people of Lagos State because of the deeper meaning it conveys. Fellow Lagosians, we need to ‘calm down’ as we enjoy the coming holiday and festivity.
” I urge every Lagosian to ‘calm down’ and not get carried away. Like the rest of the world, we are still in the middle of a pandemic and need to remain extremely careful to keep the gains of the sacrifices we have all made in the past months.”
The Governor then expressed, as an aside, his desire to meet the young boy popularly associated with the phrasal verb ‘calm down’.
However, in separate reactions, some Nigerians disagreed with the Governor.
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Onochie criticized the video and Governor Sanwo-Olu’s comments, citing breach of the child’s rights and child abuse. She insisted the said video is a clear case of child abuse, stating that in saner climes, the child would’ve been in the care of social services and the mother, identified by TheConscienceNG as Mrs Toluige Olokoobi Babalola, charged.
“The Governor’s action is clearly a gross violation of the Nigerian child’s right act of 2003 and 2015 (especially right to private life) and clearly negates his position as the Chief Executive of the state with the highest number of children in the country, ” she lamented.
Also reacting, Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Abiodun Tugbiyele on ‘Sunrise Daily’ show on Channels TV whilst examining the content and fallouts of the video openly blasted the governor and whoever might have celebrated the boy in the video as an accomplice in the very act of child abuse.
The legal practitioner says ”the child has been mocked in the public, there’s nothing to be celebrated in the video. We need to watch that child.The governor should actually call the mum and reprimand her. I don’t know why we celebrate crime in this country.”
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Speaking further, Tugbiyele calls the act of shooting and making the video go viral as an invasion of the child’s right and privacy. You have to respect the rights of children as you heap adulation on him. You made an accusation charges against the child in the said video and you circulated it.Why?
Speaking however during the programme, a former Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Mr. Monday Ubani said the boy in the video should be celebrated for marshaling his way out of trouble via his sound negotiating skills and sheer brilliance, dismissing child abuse and rights allegations.
