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Linda get belle, why do y’all need Panadol?

By Sinem Bilen-Onabanjo
26 May 2018   |   4:13 am
Last Sunday Linda Ikeji broke the Nigerian internet by announcing her pregnancy on her social media. “My greatest dream has been realized. I’m going to be a mum. There’s nothing that has happened in my life that compares to this.

Linda Ikeji. Photo: Instagram

Last Sunday Linda Ikeji broke the Nigerian internet by announcing her pregnancy on her social media. “My greatest dream has been realized. I’m going to be a mum. There’s nothing that has happened in my life that compares to this. I’m beyond happy. I love children so much and literally obsessed with babies and to think in a few months, I’ll look down at a baby and he will be mine. My own son.

No accomplishment, no title, no milestone, no achievement, no money or worldly possession compares to this. This is my greatest blessing. My gift from heaven. Dear God, thank you so much for this gift! Thank you!” the celebrity blogger gushed on Instagram, sharing a picture of her baby bump.

Since then the naysayers have been out in their droves to bash her. Some accused her of hypocrisy claiming that falling pregnant out of wedlock went against her advice to young Nigerian girls on staying celibate. Others commented on blogs and called her a sinner for falling pregnant before getting married. Yet others claimed her babyfather is a married man and hence she cannot reveal his identity.

There was Charly Boy seeking credit where it wasn’t due with claiming Ikeji had followed his advice, “That Linda Ikeji is pregnant is no longer news, women are getting pregnant by the hour and some don’t even want the baby. Thank God she listened to my advice, to get pregnant and forget about marriage. You have done the right thing my girl. Your Mumu suppose Do.”

Don Jazzy quickly cleared up any paternity the questions with a swift tweet, “It wasn’t me.” Blogger Moji Delano shared profound words of wisdom, as she tweeted “Her ability to keep it a secret while regularly posting pics is a reminder that on social media, people only show you what they want you to see. Have this at the back of your mind and never compare your life to that of others.”

Even one Kemi Olunloyo, a journalist, who claimed Linda was wearing a prosthetic bump and attempted to get #lindaisnotpregnant trending, with no success. Linda, meanwhile, continues to enjoy her best life. Since the pregnancy she has shared pictures of her bare bump, putting rumours to rest, adding, “So, a few friends have been calling me, asking me how I’m holding up with all the trolling on the internet since I announced my pregnancy. I kind of felt bad for them because they were worrying over something I wasn’t.”

She addressed the criticism around her not setting a good example to young Nigerian girls and not practising the celibacy she preached for so long. “I’ve always also said and I maintain it; do not sleep around because your body is too precious & deserves respect. You deserve love & dignity. I’ve always said sex should only happen when you find yourself in a loving relationship, with someone you love & who loves you back. I was 100% celibate until I was ready to share my life with someone and I met the man of my dreams,” Linda Ikeji offered.

Linda was not done though. In true Linda style she also went on to share images of an 11-room mansion she’d rented for her new reality show as well as announcing the launch of her LITV on 1 June. Not so subliminally, Ms Ikeji shows she is still laughing all the way to the bank while we are idling away running our mouth over her private matters.

There are parts of the world, whether she is famous or not, whether the babyfather is on the scene or not, a woman falls pregnant, she may tell whomever she pleases; and that’s that. What happens with her belly, the father of her child and her God is between her and the parties involved. The rest moves on.

There are other parts of the world, , whether she is famous or not, whether the babyfather is on the scene or not, a woman falls pregnant, she breaks the news and lo and behold it becomes a national matter everyone has an opinion on. Some bash her over what is rumoured to be an extra-marital affair with no evidence, others – as usual – bring religion into it, questioning her faith because her pregnancy is not legitimised by wedding vows.

Linda is 36. Let us assume for a minute, there was no man on the scene. If like most women in their mid-thirties, with no realistic possibility of a baby the traditional way, if she took the matter into her hands and turn to medicine to fall pregnant, would that be any different? Would we be questioning her faith or virtue? Only because we assume she went through the more commonplace way of procreating and we assume, as she is on the wrong side of 30, the man in her life must surely be married already we proclaim Ikeji as the scarlet woman.

Having had my fair share of repressive cultures, I have come to the conclusion that the less civilised a society the more misogynistic it is, going to the end of the earth to protect, defend and censor their women’s sexuality; the more misogynistic the society, the more preoccupied with matters of sex; the more seek virtue in between the legs of a woman.

Can’t we just let a woman – no matter your opinion of her – enjoy her pregnancy? Isn’t it time, whether it is Linda, or Lara, or Lola, we stick our heads out of women’s vaginas and mind our own business?

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