I watched a video clip on instagram few weeks ago of a 6yr - old boy (from my guess) singing dbanj's song "eyin boys e gba oju e" while making that slap action according to the song.
Scrolling down the page that same day, i saw dbanj posted photos of himself at Abuja in the company of Dangote...and another one with Obasanjo....and another one at a farmer's conference somewhere in Africa.
Now....i shut down my instagram and tried to put the 2 scenarios together.
This guy is a brand ambassador to many outfits so ideally he's an influence. But what sort of influence is he?
On the other hand, he's not going about slapping people as he sang in his song, but he's mixing with the well-to-do in the society and trying to do something good with his own life. SO WHY IS HE MISLEADING THE PEOPLE HE HAS INFLUENCES OVER?
Why can't he use his influence to change the way an average Nigeria youth thinks?
If he's not singing crap songs, he's busy flaunting blazers made with dollars and his $1m shoe to his teaming followers. These folks in turn will kill to be able to own a pair of his shoe.
So you wonder why the present generation has ended up a waste by the look of things. You wonder why there seems to be no proper youth fit to step forward to lead the nation. You wonder why politicians are being recycled. You wonder if there is any hope for this generation.
"When you see someone who has failed, you are seeing someone who has been failed."
As much as there is a personal responsibility for being a failure, there are equally corporate ones.
Telling someone how to dress (not to sag their pants) does not change their thinking. Afterall Davido and whizkid sag and they are rich. They wine and dine with governors and the likes. They are ambassadors to global brands.
This present day youth has IDENTITY CRISIS. They have only gravitated towards the only force that pulled them- music/entertainment. This is a generation that believes Nikky Minaj is more influential that Martin Luther King in the history of black revolution. We are talking of a generation who can quote all the lyrics from dbanj's album but don't even know how many countries make up the continent of Africa.
What has the dbanjs, donjazzys, whizkids, tufaces, davidos, psquares done other than get rich? They sing about sex and flaunt wealth, polluting the minds of the youth. Their videos debase womanhood and erodes moral values. Sadly, these are the people deemed worthy to be brand ambassadors to big corporate outfits.
What has the corporate organisations done to add value to the lives of Nigerian youths in terms of scholarships, entreprenueral grants, literature/science workshops? Have you seen or heard any? Rather all they do is organise music concerts, comedy shows, and other promos which are not productive but only pushes their brand. What signal are they sending out when they sign these morally bankrupt artists on huge contracts as brand ambassadors?
Finally what has the government (ruling elites) done to ensure the educational system produces future leaders? None. So who is better qualified than them(old cargos) and their sons and daughters? They do not want their class infilterated by people from the lower class hence everything is done to widen the gap and ensure the lower class is totally discredited and no match to them.
The youths now are only left with one goal "get rich by any means or die wretched". All they are doing now is to pursue that "unreal lifestyle" as seen in the videos of these "empty barrels" even though these artists themselves don't enjoy such luxury in reality.
These youths know crystal clear that neither education nor a white collar job can get them 'there' (as it is evident from the lives of their parents and uncles) some who died on the queue waiting to collect their pensions. So they turn to crime, fraud, prostitution, drug trafficking, kidnapping. These are the only professional languages understood by this present day youths as a result of what they have been exposed to and can identify with.
The glory days are long gone.
