Nigerian comedian, Omini Aho earlier this week called out Ubi Franklin over slapping him after he shared a joke targeted at him(Ubi) at a recent comedy show.
Few minutes later, Omini pulled down the Instagram post, appreciating Ubi for supporting his forthcoming show. Many of his fans on Instagram were stunned at his instant change of demeanor.
In a chat with IndependentNg, Omini said the slap is a blessing in disguise.
According to him: “It actually happened on the 20th of October, it was not a publicity stunt. He slapped me because of a joke I said on stage. Interestingly, Ubi wasn’t even there when I said the joke, I think someone who was on his table narrated the joke to him
“He came to meet me at the back stage while I was still very busy directing Acapella’s performance; he came to me and expressed his anger over the joke the next thing that happened was that he slapped me. I was even trying to retaliate but people stopped me and I didn’t see him again. I was very angry that day, I had to narrate the ugly incident on my social media page.
After this, some other people in the entertainment industry called me to take the post down but I refused. Eventually, Ubi called me himself and apologised. He mentioned that it was someone who was on his table that told him about the joke; he got angry without even hearing my side of the story.
He didn’t understand the context in which I told the joke. When I explained the joke to him, he apologised and admitted that he took the wrong decision.
I could have taken it up legally, but my attention is on my upcoming show and I don’t want to be distracted. I have forgiven him, we are cool; he is like a brother to me. I am a comedian and I always try to take advantage of every moment to generate humour.”
“Ubi told me he admires me and offered to support my show; he sent me some money so I decided to use it to give people free tickets to my show. On a normal day, if I wasn’t having my comedy show tagged ‘No hate speech’ in November; I wouldn’t have let it slide.
I told one of my colleagues that if Ubi didn’t call me, it’s either I beat him up the next time I see him or he would do a public apology. It is not about money, what if I take it up legally and the case gets adjourned to the proposed date of my show? I had to be rational about it; it wasn’t money that stopped me from taking up the case.
What if I beat Ubi Franklin and he faints, that may get me into more trouble. This was the best option for me; I decided to use the opportunity to promote my show. I even see it as a blessing in disguise.
Some lawyers were ready to take up the case; it is a case of assault. Ubi is lucky that it happened at a time when I am focused on making my show a successful one.
It is my first comedy show ever. I would definitely crack jokes about this whole saga on my show.”
 at a recent comedy show){kind=link}