Victor Osimhen vs Victor Ikpeba: Let’s learn how to respect pundits
I have read all sorts of divided opinions on the “insult” Osimhen passed on a national team legend Victor Ikpeba because of the analysis of his bicycle kick against Ghana. I still can’t wrap my head around any misstep Ikpeba made as a pundit on that TV show to have deserved being called “AGBAYA” by a player who was yet to be born when Ikpeba won the Olympics gold medal in 1996. Osimhen should go and find out why Ikpeba was nicknamed THE PRINCE OF MONACO, till today Ikpeba is the record goalscorer for Monaco in European football. Ikpeba was a member of the 1994 squad that won our second AFCON title in Tunisia and represented Nigeria at the 1994 and 1998 WC, he won the African player of the year in 1997, that was a year before Osimhen was born in 1998.
Ikpeba gave his opinion as a striker that was highly rated in his playing days, Ikpeba won the Ebony shoe award at the age of 20 in Belgium, he knows what a striker can/should do with the ball in the box 18. He gave his opinion and still praised the boy’s work ethic on the day. So what wrong did he do? How many times have Osimhen responded to the Italian pundits that have criticized him since he came to Italy? He dare not respond to a foreign journalist the same way he insulted Osimhen.
A couple of months ago, Former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Carragher, also revealed that Lionel Messi called him a “donkey” after he suggested the Argentine was not a smart signing for Paris Saint-Germain last summer. With only 3 league goals, has Carragher not been vindicated as a pundit? So why would Messi call him a donkey just because he knew that Messi would flop in France? Or does he thinks everybody should idolize him because he is Lionel Messi?
I can’t count the number of times political analysts and sports analysts on radio and TV have been insulted on and off-air on issues they simply analyze from their perspective which could be right or wrong depending on how you see it. The most unfortunate part is that majority of the people that hide behind the keyboard on social media to insult some pundits cannot see them face to face and insult them.
Let me say this to you if you are one of those that derive pleasure from insulting analysts, The job of a pundit is much more difficult than the job of a host/presenter. The presenter will only give you the news while the primary duty of a pundit is to look at the news raised by the host/presenter from different angles and he has a few minutes to do that, he/she must look at the pros/cons of that news, relate it with past or present occurrence and try to let the news make sense to you. most times they get asked questions that they never anticipated, yet they must answer the questions and speak from a learned angle and not sound foolish to you.
A Pundit/Analyst does not deserve your insult, make it politely known to them if you have a different opinion of whatever he/she says. Show RESPECT, RESIST the urge to insult them, ENCOURAGE them with your words and CORRECT them like a gentleman.
Nobody is an island of knowledge, no pundit can claim to know all but you can be sure that the analyst you are insulting or you’ve insulted must have done a lot of research on different issues and have all-around information before accepting to be a pundit. Are you even aware that some of them are just as frustrated as other Nigerians with the situation of things in our dear country and they don’t enjoy any privilege for being an analyst on your radio and TV? So why would you transfer aggression to them?
It’s normal to disagree with anyone but it’s abnormal to insult people because you disagree with them, Some people would even go as far as threatening a pundit, that attitude must STOP.
Let me end this by saying that i am a sports analyst and sometimes I talk about politics, i ignore insults from my audience sometimes but many times your words hurt when you say them just the same way Ikpeba might be hurt with the words Osimhen said to him but maturity would not allow him to trade words with someone young enough to be his son.
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