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7 tweets,
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When I saw @DrJoeAbah thread about how @Twitter has become a toxic space to "drag people based on false allegations" and how that may lead to people like him leaving the app, I knew to take his words seriously because we've lost someone like him before.
I am talking specifically of Pat Utomi. Prior to May 2016, @UtomiPat was very active on twitter. He was not only tweeting articles, he was actively engaging. Until May 29 2016 when he tweeted this.👇 Though his handle was still tweeting articles, he stopped engaging totally. 
This platform lost the opportunity of having an institution like Pat Utomi of the Patitos Gang to enrich our conversations. What led to his decision? The same things @DrJoeAbah said. He was insulted & called a scam artist. False allegations were fabricated & promoted against him
Like @DrJoeAbah he wasn't looking to be adored, neither was he looking to be given a free pass because he is an intellectual. He was just hoping for a platform that can facilitate and allow for intelligent and quality public conversations. A wish he found easier said than done.
Like @DrJoeAbah he prophesied about the consequences of permissive culture of insults, "dragging" & reckless talk that was the order of the day on social media, framing it rightly as "seeds of destruction". At the end, when he could no longer stomach the dragging, he left the app
It's for this reason, I and many others made our appeal to @DrJoeAbah to reconsider. I recall the first time I met @UtomiPat, it was at an event at the US Ambassadors residence. Lost for words, I shook his hands and said "Thank You for Everything You do".
This space needs people like @UtomiPat, @DrJoeAbah @OlufemiAwoyemi @sgyemikale and many other intellectuals, to not only update us on their work and activities but also engage. I don't take the warning from Dr Joe lightly, which is why this particular piece of story is relevant.
