Veteran Nollywood actress Rita Edochie has torn into critics who claimed she has arthritis after a dance video she posted on Instagram. She used the same clip to dare them to find any mother as strong, flexible and active as she is.
The rumour started in the comments under the video, with some viewers reading her movements as a sign of illness. Edochie did not ignore it. She answered in a long, fiery caption and made it personal.
“Can their mothers ever be as strong, active, energetic, and flexible as I am? Impossible. Did I perceive that your mother is in the village struggling with her steps? Are you upset that she barely dances as I do?” she wrote.
She continued:
“You see me moving around, touring different places, standing for hours, active from morning till night, yet your empty head could only find arthritis to talk about. Chaiii. I am the mother that mothered their mother!!”
She said jealousy, not concern, was driving the talk.
“You are only jealous because I am trending. My name is everywhere, and it is obviously disturbing you. If you are tired of seeing me, delete your social media accounts and free yourself of it; otherwise, you will go blind from watching me.”
While the comments diagnosed her, she said she was on the road promoting a cinema film.
“Anyway, while you were busy diagnosing yourselves with arthritis, I was actually very busy touring different places to promote and support the cinema movie.”
She added that she is strong, active and “giving you people pressure.”
Edochie also warned that social media pile-ons can push people into depression and said she will not quit posting because of trolls. Supporters piled into her comments, calling her Ijele and praying she stays healthy. One fan wrote that critics’ mothers “cannot even stand straight.”