Open letter to Basket Mouth by Citizen Evelyn

Dear Bright Okpocha (aka Basket Mouth),
I am a very good fan of your comedy show
including my husband and kids, I would rather
have spoken to you over the phone or make time to
see you face to face, but as it is the season of
open letter in Nigeria, I would like to use this
medium to express how disappointed I am over your

comment or joke as you may call it on “Rape”.
First let me try to educate you about the meaning
of Rape, maybe you did not check your dictionary
for the meaning or you don’t have one at home.
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving
sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or
more persons against another without any consent.
The act may be carried out by physical force,
coercion, abuse of authority or against a person
who is incapable of valid consent, such as one who
is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal
age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used
interchangeably with the term sexual assault.
Rape and sexual slavery are recognized as crimes
against humanity and war crimes. Rape is also
recognized as an element of the crime of genocide
when committed with the intent to destroy, in
whole or in part, a targeted ethnic group.
People who have been raped can be severely
traumatized and may suffer from post traumatic
stress disorder; in addition to psychological harm
resulting from the act, rape may cause physical
injury, or have additional effects on the victim,
such as acquiring of a sexually transmitted
infection or becoming pregnant. Furthermore,
following a rape, a victim may face violence or
threats thereof from the rapist, and, in some
cultures, from the victim’s own family and
relatives. More about rape and its effect of
victims can be obtained for free from the
Encyclopaedia.
Bright, let me ask you, have any of your relation
been raped before? Have your blood sister or
daughter been raped before? If the answer is yes,
then how can you possibly make a joke about it.
but if the answer is no, then you must be
ashamed of yourself ….
Your lack of respect for women has manifested.
When you first began to make jokes about Nigerian
women we thought that it was to make people
laugh, now you can be easily accused of making
these jokes because you want to disrespect,
humiliate and insult Nigerian women. Why should
Nigerian women be painted black by a fellow
Nigerian who they pay money to watch his show?
These women who come to your shows are the
people putting food on your table, the clothes you
wear, pay your bills, fuel your car and you have
the innuendo to rubbish them?
As a brand ambassador of some companies in
Nigeria, you are supposed to be a role model for
our children, but what are you teaching them, are
you teaching them that rape is fun? you are
telling them that any girl they want to have sex
with and who says no should be raped? To the
girls you are simply calling them sex toys that can
be bought with money. By your joke you have
reduced Nigerian women to zero. How will men
from other countries see our women?
Finally, I will advise you to always think about
the consequence of what you open your mouth to
joke about because that mouth that brought you
fame and good things of life may still play a part
in bringing you down.
Evelyn Ejiogu