2face is planning a protest- at this point everyone knows that much. With a long history of social activism and collaborations with several pressure groups including Enough is Enough and Light Up Nigeria, 2face is always, always on the side of the Nigerian people even though his wealth affords him the privilege of being able to sit out bad governments. But not everyone thinks 2face has the right to the be the face of a protest against an incompetent government and a president who goes on holiday days after the Airforce under his command kills 250 civilian refugees fleeing a terrorist crisis he leveraged to get into power. I would get into that, but this is the sexuality blog, not a pundit site, so let’s narrow.

Why can’t 2Face organise a protest? He is not a good role model. Why isn’t he a good role model? He has 7 children from 3 women and in the words of twitter user Knewkeed “is not a muslim or polygamist”.

Try explaining to the avg Nigerian how a father of 7 kids with 3 mamas, who's also not a polygamist/Muslim has their best interest at heart

— Eric Okafor (@KneWKeeD) January 31, 2017

Let us not forget that at no point has 2face treated the mothers of his children badly or refused to acknowledge his children or provide for them. Neither has he tried to keep his children apart. The mothers of his children are civil with his wife and as much as possible they all co-parent. It is the best possible outcome you would expect for a dicey situation like that. But apparently, none of this matters in the face of 2face actually having these children.

We often think that only women’s sexualities are policed by patriarchal societies but 2face proves that men are just as affected by this as women. When 2face was having his children men praised him for being a ‘player’ and not letting anyone ‘tie him down’. They ridiculed the mothers of his children, swore that 2face would never settle down, called his sexuality into question. And now that he has settled down and is being an exemplary husband and father they turn around to condemn him for accepting his responsibilities anyway. The same men try to use his personal life to shame him and deny him his civic rights. People are trying to discredit a planned national protest because of what one man did consensually with the mothers of his children years ago.

I’d be surprised if I wasn’t Nigerian.

2face has never let anyone dictate his life and I doubt he is going to start now. Which is just as well.

In the words of Peter Roskam – “Decisions are made by those who show up.”

Op-ed Editor