Ace movie maker and critic, Charles Novia in this article titled ‘Flaunting it, faking it,’ called out Nigerian ccelebrities for their fake flashy lifestyle constantly flaunted on social
media.
Read his concise piece below:
“Among the present crop of Nigerian
musicians, I would vote for 2face Idibia as the most humble of the lot. His
humility is well-known by a lot of people as one of his greatest assets added
to a very warm and friendly disposition. Apart from his humility, one
appreciable virtue he has is his sense of modesty even when he is easily one of
the richest musicians in Nigeria. You don’t really see Tuface going on
instagram or other social networks to flaunt a new watch or new car or some
material possession. Not because he cannot afford them but because he has sense
of proprietary. (please continue…)
I had an informal conversation with
him in Atlanta, USA in October 2013 one evening when we were both hanging out
with a bosom friend and brother, Chris Ikpefua of Vogue Entertainment, USA and
Tuface told me something profound. I have known Tuface since 1997 when was a
member of the then duo-group, Plantation Boiz with Blackface and I was a
contract staff with the network service of the Nigerian Television Authority. I
was a Presenter of a youth programme on NTA Network then, ‘Youth Dimensions’
and I featured Tuface and Blackface for the first time to a national audience,
over 30 million strong. Tuface wistfully took my mind back to that episode and
kept regaling everyone with tales of how ‘this man helped his career way back’.
He was also effusive in his praise about how I brought back and rehabilated
Majek Fashek in 2005 back to the music scene, after Majek’s years in a
self-imposed wilderness. Personally, I was pleased at Tuface’s verbal obeisance
to me. In an industry of short memories, he knows where he has come from and
remains who he is even after getting to his destination.
Tuface then told me something
profound and touching. ‘ You know what? Sometimes I look back and remember how
I started, who I started with, the other musical groups we had when we started
and the solo artistes then. I look around now and for some reason God has made
me still relevant till now for close to twenty years in the music industry. It
humbles and chills me. I feel sad that most of my peers are not where I am too.
Artistes who struggled with us to build the music industry to this level with
their talent when there was no structure. I feel very sad for them, Bros. I am
also aware that many of the young and even the established artistes look up to
me as a role model of sorts. If I screw up, they too might screw up. So,
Bros, I went into properties. Immediately I started buying houses, the others
looking up to me slowed down and began to invest in properties too. It made me
happy because they would have something to fall back to later in life. Bros, I
get properties but nor be wetin dem dey shout about.’
I was impressed by his sense of
acumen and again modesty in wealth. But Tuface is an exception and a cursory
calculation of his income from worldwide concerts and endorsements in the
past decade would show that he has made money impressively to explain his
commendable investments.
I wish I could say the same for the
crop of Nigerian artistes who love flaunting their material possessions
for all to see. More often than not, those things being flaunted are part of a
hype culture. There is a need to ‘belong’ and most of those acts, wracked by a
poverty mentality, believe a $300,000 designer wristwatch or an expensive car
or SUV are the yardstick to measure their wealth. No, they are not. Maturity
and moderation matters. A rich person does not need to tell the world he or she
is loaded. The world perceives it.
Our musicians and actresses
deluding themselves on social media with this flaunting fad are not being
true to themselves. The entertainment industry is a coterie community and the
statistics of income are not hidden. When you try to hoodwink the public that
you bought a house or a diamond watch just from the singing and prancing on
stage in an industry where CD sales are dropping, or that you bought some house
in Ikoyi just by being an unmarried actress when we all know how much an actor
is paid for a role, is stretching the story a bit too far. Granted, these
artistes might have other legitimate sources of income but such sources are
negligible in turnover.
One day, very soon, those wealthy
shady barons and pimps using the artistes in the industry as cannon fodder
might just move to another area of interest. And don’t get me wrong, how people
make their money is entirely their own business. What I am pissed about is the
deception; the whole stinking deception. These artistes hoodwinking the public
that they made their money through their art when there is more to it. Others
who are not in the entertainment sector make money through these same avenues
these artistes use but they don’t come out shouting about it as such.
In essence, what I am saying here
is; Guys, make una cool down. Make your money as codedly as una don dey make
am. Make your work dey speak for you for one side and your money dey quietly
answer you for the other side.
The fake life and lies don dey too
much for many of una. Shikena!”
