By Hotgist9ja Opinion Desk
By now, almost every Nigerian with a phone has heard about Livinus Nwosu — the popular philanthropist and social media influencer who was remanded at the Okaka Correctional Centre in Bayelsa State for 30 days following his arraignment over a controversial social media post about the state's First Lady, Mrs. Gloria Diri.
Almost immediately after the news broke, VeryDarkMan known to his followers simply as VDM went online with a video that set the internet ablaze. He called Mrs. Gloria Diri a very irresponsible First Lady who lacks accountability and has no shame. His followers amplified the message at full volume. The insults flew. The outrage was instantaneous.
And most people scrolling through their timelines, reacting to the loudest voice in the room never stopped to ask a simple question: did anyone actually watch the full video? Did anyone actually listen to what the girl at the centre of this story actually said?
This writer did. And what the video reveals is more complicated and more instructive than the headline narrative suggests.
What Actually Happened — The Facts Behind The Drama
Livinus Odinakachukwu Nwosu is a well-known philanthropist and online advocate in Bayelsa State. He was reportedly taken into custody after appearing before a court in Yenagoa over comments he made on Facebook concerning the First Lady of Bayelsa State. According to the Niger Delta Herald, Nwosu expressed shock over how the case was handled saying he was invited for what he thought would be a discussion, only to be arraigned and remanded for 30 days.
VDM's response to the arrest was swift and unambiguous. In a statement shared online, he accused the First Lady of abusing her power and failing to honour promises made to the public regarding a young girl who had been assaulted in Bayelsa. He condemned what he described as a flawed justice system in the state and told Mrs. Gloria Diri directly:
"You are a very irresponsible First Lady. You lack accountability and have no shame. Dear Mrs. Gloria Diri, there is no need to arrest more people to cover up your failed promises and the failed justice system in Bayelsa. You have 2 more years in office; then you leave the office and become former."
— VeryDarkMan (VDM), in statement shared online
His followers ran with it. The First Lady was dragged across every social media platform. Her name trended. The verdict was delivered before anyone checked the evidence.
What The Video Actually Showed The Part Nobody Is Talking About
Here is where it gets interesting.
In VDM's own video the same video he used to accuse the First Lady of failing to deliver justice for the young assault victim he actually speaks with the girl herself. And what she says should have stopped every reasonable person in their tracks.
When asked about her case, the girl clearly stated that her court hearing is coming up on April 1. The case is still before a court. It is still being prosecuted. It has not been abandoned. It has not been swept under the rug. The legal process which takes time in any functioning justice system is still actively underway.
Now ask yourself this: how can anyone say the First Lady failed to deliver justice when the case is still in court? Justice is not an overnight event. It is a process. A process that involves judges, lawyers, evidence, hearings and appeals. And the First Lady of Bayelsa State is not the judge sitting on that case.
When VDM asked the girl about school about the scholarship she was allegedly promised the girl said she has not even written JAMB yet. She would be doing that the following month.
So the scholarship has not been delivered. But she has not gained admission anywhere. She has not even sat the qualifying examination. How exactly does one give a university scholarship to someone who has not yet passed JAMB or secured admission to any institution?
The Contradiction That Nobody Called Out
Here is the part of this story that deserves more attention than it has received.
VDM in the same video where he accused the First Lady of failing to get the girl into university also promised to personally sponsor her education.
Which raises an obvious question.
If a scholarship can be delivered immediately and unconditionally why did VDM not take the girl directly to a university and enrol her on the spot? Why would his own sponsorship follow the exact same process JAMB, admission, enrollment that he is criticising the First Lady for not having already completed?
The answer is self-evident. Because that is how education works. You cannot bypass JAMB. You cannot bypass admission. Nobody not VDM, not the First Lady, not the President himself can enrol a student in a Nigerian university without following the established process. The First Lady's promise of a scholarship is subject to exactly the same timeline and process that VDM's own promise is subject to.
This is not a defence of the First Lady. It is not an attack on VDM. It is simply an observation that the criticism being levelled at one person applies equally to the other and nobody making noise online seems to have noticed.
The Arrest Of Livinus My Opinion
To be clear: the arrest and remanding of Livinus Nwosu for a Facebook post regardless of what that post said raises serious and legitimate concerns about freedom of expression, the use of state power to silence critics, and due process.
Livinus himself said he was not informed the matter would go to court. He said he arrived expecting a conversation and was instead arraigned. If that account is accurate, it represents a troubling disregard for basic procedural fairness.
Criticising a First Lady on social media should not result in 30 days in a correctional facility. That position is not controversial it is a basic principle of any democracy that takes free expression seriously.
But the legitimate concern about Livinus's arrest does not require us to accept every claim made about the First Lady at face value. Both things can be true simultaneously: the arrest may have been heavy-handed AND the criticism of the First Lady may have been based on incomplete information.
The Real Problem How We Process Information
The VDM-Bayelsa First Lady saga is ultimately not really about VDM or the First Lady or even Livinus. It is about something deeper and more troubling the speed at which millions of Nigerians accept a narrative, amplify it and weaponise it without ever verifying whether it is accurate.
VDM said the First Lady failed to deliver justice. Nobody checked whether the case was still in court. It was.
VDM said the First Lady failed to give a scholarship. Nobody asked whether the girl had gained admission yet. She had not even written JAMB.
The facts were available. They were in VDM's own video. But by the time the video had circulated enough times, the conclusion had already been written and the conclusion was that the First Lady was guilty of everything.
This is not a uniquely Nigerian problem. It is a global social media problem. But it is particularly acute in a country where public trust in institutions is low, where accountability is genuinely a problem, and where people are understandably primed to believe the worst about government officials.
That priming, that readiness to believe the worst, is exactly what makes unverified claims so powerful and so dangerous. Because it means that anyone with a platform and an accusation can skip the step of proving that the accusation is accurate and go directly to public verdict.
What We All Need To Do Better
Am not not asking anyone to uncritically defend the Bayelsa State First Lady. Accountability for public officials is not optional. If promises were made, they should be kept. If the justice system in Bayelsa is failing, that failure should be documented and challenged. These are legitimate conversations.
What Am saying is asking is simpler and more modest: before you share the outrage, watch the full video. Before you join the pile-on, ask whether the facts support the headline. Before you call someone a failure, check whether the process they started has actually ended or whether it is, as in this case, still in court with a hearing date on April 1.
The girl deserves justice. She deserves a scholarship. She deserves every support that public officials and private individuals can provide. None of that is in dispute.
What she does not deserve is to be used as ammunition in a social media war where the primary goal is not her welfare but the scoring of points.
We can do better. All of us — VDM's followers, the First Lady's supporters, and everyone watching from the sidelines. We can ask more questions. Think more carefully. And resist the very human temptation to feel the satisfaction of an outrage before we have earned it with the truth.
In Pidgin — The Honest Summary
Make we talk am straight.
Livinus post something about the Bayelsa First Lady. Dem arrest am. VDM come online, attack the First Lady, call her irresponsible. Followers run with am. Everybody vex.
But in VDM's own video the one e use to condemn her the girl say her court case dey come up April 1. The case still dey court. And the girl never even write JAMB. So which scholarship dem suppose give her go where?
Then VDM promise to also sponsor her education. Through the same process JAMB, admission, enrollment. The exact same process wey e dey accuse the First Lady of not having completed.
The arrest of Livinus dey wrong that one clear. But the facts wey people use to justify the outrage? Some of those facts no hold water.
Na that one be the real lesson here. Not whether you support VDM or the First Lady. But whether you take time to check what you are sharing before you share am. 🦅🇳🇬
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Sources: Niger Delta Herald, Gistlover, Punch, Premium Times, VDM official statement