Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Mercy Johnson Please Don’t Let Us Down By Chinwe Ochu






The title of his piece was crafted as an attention- grabber, nothing
else. Do not interpret it negatively. I wrote it that way out of the
sweetness of my heart. I like Mercy Johnson; in fact I wanna like her
die. Don’t get me wrong, I am female; and not many ladies like her.
Reason? Who knows the heart of women? Not me, anyway. I wouldn’t want
to go into why women can’t stand themselves. (I am not Dr. Phil).
Anyway, even the recent storm circling round Mercy Johnson has not in
any way dampened my fancy for her. (And I’m as straight as Elton John
is gay)

Anyway, moving on. No one in this country (those that read, of course)
will claim ignorance of Mercy’s recent trial. From online
entertainment news outlets to blogs, her story is everywhere,
eliciting more reaction than gist of any other Nollywood star in
recent times. Way to go, gal!!! Don’t get me wrong. She has always
grabbed our attention. If Mercy is not shown in photos with
boob-revealing outfits, she is accused of publicly confronting fellow
actors that say supposedly untrue things about her. When that didn’t
seize our attention enough, her bogus wedding dates were sent flying
from whatever source we hear them from. This chic never leaves our
thought for long intervals. Why would she when her hour- glass figure
adorns our screens; leaving men (and ladies too, I’m not judging)
wondering if she gives freely? (Uh oh)

I noticed that despite her so-called scandal-ridden life, Mercy
Johnson still has our admiration. This present case is evidence. Here
is the story in brief. She is accused of ‘snatching’ another woman’s
husband and steadily preparing to marry him. The wedding which is
slated for the August 27 might or might not happen depending on the
outcome of events. The man in question, Prince Odianosen Okojie
allegedly married a Mrs. Lovely (yes na her name be that) Okojie in
Italy in 2006 and has two kids to show for it. The Lovely- woman then
began her media war (be it justified or not, I don’t care) against
Mercy.

In the first place, Lovely Okojie has accused Mercy of snatching her
‘husband‘. Really? Snatching? Who still says that? When did men stop
becoming willing participants to home- wrecking? Is the Prince a moron
that has allowed him self to be snatched against his will? If so,
Mercy, dear do not marry a moron. Since Lovely, the alleged wife of
Odi (that’s what they call him) has somehow convinced us that he
doesn’t have a mind of his own and thus can be snatched; I would
advise Mercy to cancel the wedding. Who would want to marry a push-
over, who can be snatched at will?

The Odi- guy as soon as he ‘noticed’ he had not divorced Lovely filed
marriage annulment papers on the 12th of July. Yes, the July of
yesterday. If he wanted to get a divorce and marry Mercy, why didn’t
he do so a lot earlier? He would have saved everybody the stress. But
no, he allowed the matter to escalate before he did something about
it. Imagine the embarrassment Mercy would have felt after claiming she
was ‘getting married to a single, unmarried father’.  I really feel
for Mercy. For once, I believe she is not the script writer in this
new Mercy Johnson- inspired drama.

On Lovely Okojie waking up few weeks before the wedding and causing
this whole brouhaha, I think its bull you- know- what. Mercy and Odi
had their traditional wine- carrying ceremony back in 2009 (two long
years ago) and it was a big deal. Typical of anything concerning Mercy
Johnson, the event was highly publicised. She was gushing to newsmen
and bloggers about how in love she was, precipitating her- wedding-
date- rumour frenzy. All these happened and Lovely sat pretty in
Canada; or wherever she claims she stays with her kids, until she
realised it was almost time for the long walk to the altar. Why did it
take her so long?

Another matter is this Prince business. Prince… Prince… Prince of what
land? Everything I’ve been reading on this matter does not answer that
question. So, after all the dust this case has generated, no body has
bothered to look- up his family? We have to know o. It’s not by
Princing up and down; trying to ruin poor Mercy’s life. Anyway, if he
deliberately goes ahead to marry Mercy; since Lovely by all
indications will not give him a divorce, that will be bigamy. The
Prince might be locked up; if for nothing, following public uproar.
Who wants their marriage to start on such a sour note? Even if love
has broken my head and removed my brain, would I not at least listen
to voices of reason?

As at Sunday, the 13th of August, Mercy’s publicist Samuel Olatunji
said ‘she’s not sure’, when asked if his client would go ahead with
the wedding. My sister, please be sure. You are talented and good-
looking (forget all that noise about your skin. Na beef. Black is
beautiful). Please walk on while you still can, before the Devil gives
you a reason to stay. Although the reason behind your hesitation to
break it off, according to the rumour mill is pregnancy, I do not
believe them. Mercy, run as fast as your legs can carry you, before
you actually become pregnant and think of managing the Prince.

For those who want the drama to end in marriage, I wouldn’t hold my
breath for that because after reading this piece, Mercy Johnson
wouldn’t want to be branded foolish (love or no love). Recently, the
wind of sympathy has shifted towards Mercy as new information surface.
Women, who hitherto had a lot to say about this ‘husband- snatching’
incident, have now rallied around her. Do not let us down, Mercy
(hoping you didn’t know of the Prince’s marital status)… Just saying.

*Ochu is an Abuja-based journalist and blogger

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