We live in a world where being seen is everything, even if it means bending the rules. Just two weeks ago, the media was flooded for over a week following the saga between VeryDarkMan (VDM) and King Mitchy. It all started on the 24th of February, when King Mitchy tweeted on her page, calling VeryDarkMan to account for the millions of money donated to his NGO which has not been used for over two years now. King Mitchy stated “I renovated a school in Six days, give me 50 million and I will renovate more schools, get to work bro.” Consequently, VDM refused to reply to her tweet directly, and instead, he mentioned that she was only a political tool used by Seyi Tinubu. He accused her of sleeping with Seyi Tinubu (the president's son) in order to get the money she uses for humanitarian support.

Thus, Mitchy felt emotionally bullied and threatened to commit suicide which led her to drinking Hypo and circulating the news across the media that she had died after the consumption of the cleaning agent. Interestingly, following her attempted suicide by hypo, VDM also drank hypo and claimed to have died as well. A full burial rite was organized for him and he was buried in a casket by his rattled followers. That was what led to the trend of Nigerian youths drinking Hypo everywhere and using it for content creation. Although, the hypo company immediately released a press disclaimer to explain that hypo is a washing agent and not a drink for human consumption.

During this whole process, different individuals had their preferences on who was right or wrong. Nevertheless, beyond the noise of the hashtags and the frenzy of online commentary, this saga offers us an opportunity to examine our own digital footprints through the lens of the Gospel.

It must be made known to all Christians that humanitarian Acts should not be source of competition. St. Paul urges Christians to outdo one another in showing Love (Rom 12:10). Yet, he does not encourage unhealthy and political competition in selflessness. Such competition only exposes one's selfishness and ulterior motives for doing good. Rather, he invites us to give as much as one can afford. Just as Jesus says “when you give alms, your right hand should not know what your left hand is giving” (Matt. 6:3). When humanitarian acts are reduced to social media publicity and political competition, the purpose for which it is carried out is being defeated and the very heart of charity is lost. True selflessness does not need a camera or a ‘challenge’ to be valid.

Also, irrational adoption of media trends is a thing of concern nowadays, amidst all troubles and challenges facing the country currently, people's emotions were easily spurred by consumption of Hypo without weighing the health implications of its consumption. Suicide is not something to be admired or made joke of at any cause. The immediate caricature of suicide made by drinking Hypo everywhere, undermines the moral implications of suicide and exposes a generation of people bereft of rational judgement and moral discipline. When we make a joke of morality and life itself for the sake of ‘content,’ we risk losing our sense of the sacred. We must learn to weigh media trends against the weight of human dignity before hitting ‘share’ or before adopting them.

On the other hand, the youths are encouraged to be conscious of what they do online in the name of content making. The attitude of King Mitchy whereby she drank hypo and lied of her own death in order to gain media popularity underscores one who is highly desperate for likes and followers, regardless of whatever consequences that may come along. We must be on guard!

It must be noted that there is no harm or crime in making yourself known in the public space with the creation of edifying contents but polluting and increasing moral decadence is what is not acceptable. As Nigerian youths increasingly look to the digital space for identity and belonging, which should not be, nonetheless, we must ask ourselves what kind of ‘content’ are we truly consuming. We must move beyond the unregulated chaos of the media so as to reclaim our capacity for rational judgment. We are called to be influencers of the Gospel, therefore, in every post, tweet and comment, may we remember that we are stewards of a message far greater than any trend. Remember, the message that life is sacred, and love needs no audience to be authentic.