Naira Marley: When the purpose of fame is not known -By Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh

It has been said that when purpose is not known abuse is inevitable. For Azeez Adeshina Fashola – the 26 years old singer and leader of the Marlian cult – the sayings cannot be untrue. This is because to any discerning mind, every child that is already grown-up is like a history book that gave a background picture of the family it emanated from to the extent that once they behaved in a certain way, it was almost impossible to not guess with great accuracy what went on in the family.

To say that Naira Marley is one such kid who has so far shown – by his manners – that he lacked responsible parenting, possibly had an unhappy upbringing and perhaps missed the proper training that was his right to have in the first instance and, therefore does not understand anything about the purpose of fame is to state the obvious. For he clearly does not know a thing about life beyond been able to put together those lyrical jargons that has continued to corrupt the minds of our children.

Since he came into limelight, he has been in and into one controversy after another; showing in the process a clear inability to manage self or fame. He is indeed a sad reminder of how the family in contemporary times no longer lived up to expectation as regards inculcating requisite morals that not only are able to take the individual up in life but are also able to help sustain them in those heights. Unfortunately, he is cheered on and encouraged by people who should ordinarily shun him if morals still reigned.

A few years ago (the years 2018/2019 to be precise), the singer stirred the hornet’s nest with the release of the song ‘Am I a yahoo boy’. It became clear the mindset he planned to sell to the youths who unfortunately are too daft to sift a protest anthem from one that encouraged cybercrime. The song would go on to sort of give credibility to criminals who are bent on doing damage to the hard-earned credibility enjoyed by well-meaning Nigerians both home and abroad.

As it turned out, the song got him into trouble with the EFCC and that became an opportunity for the media to hype his false personality both in the print and on social media as if he was such a worthy role model. Rather than be sober, his arrest made him all the more audacious because the media was involved! This is where I find curiosity begging for answers. For there is absolutely no pretense that the Nigerian public cannot tell the different forms of popularity nor can they tell the right one to celebrate.

Aware of the following and the clout he now commanded, Naira Marley will go from the courtroom and out of the EFCC net to set up a fraternity he dubbed ‘The Marlian Cult’. Right in our eyes, a cult is grouped and funded by god-knows-who and, the government of Nigeria lives as if fire was not already set on the mountain. For our information, the late American rapper – Tupac ‘2Pac’ Shakur – trended in similar fashion until he was gunned down and taken out of public consciousness in 1996.

When youths who are truly misguided found their way into fame and public view, they usually did the very wrong things. At a time, the US government became alarmed by the popularity of 2Pac Shakur and especially how he used it to promote gangsterism, drug trafficking, sex and nudity as well as the controversial west coast-east coast hostility. Within the African-American nation, notable figures like Quincy Jones, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell at different times; loudly criticized 2Pac for the bad blood he promoted.

This history – as I can see – is repeating itself before our very eyes again. But this time, it’s not playing out in a distant American soil rather it is here in Nigeria. Just a few weeks ago, the same Naira Marley – obviously banking on false popularity as well as the established fact that both the handicapped government and her laws cannot call him to order – proceeded to honor an invitation for a live concert in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital despite directive by the government that citizens should restrict movement from state to state as safety measures to forestall the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

What worries me is the swift reaction of the minister of aviation – Capt. Hadi Sirika – against the aviation company (ExecuJet Services) that did not also extend to the organizers of the concert or the recalcitrant Naira Marley. The minister had handed an indefinite suspension to ExecuJet Services while it only ordered a weak shutdown of the mall in Jabi Lakeside that has since been lifted. As usual, the above-the-law Naira Marley – who is obviously a financial weightless compared to ExecuJet – is let off.

Without doubt, Naira may have been let off the hook so that he could plan for his next show of abuse for the laws of the land. And although the management of ExecuJet had tendered their apologies to relevant authorities, Naira Marley has no one worthy of his apologies. Not after becoming president of his own ‘Marlian Cult’ republic! Another concern for me is the way we did things in this country. Three culprits are known to have transgressed our laws, one is severely punished; the other is let off and the third granted clemency.

If we compared the economic relevance of these three; their value to societal progress and life in general, we would realize that an employer of labor as well as a huge investor in the Nigerian aviation economy is suspended indefinitely; the tout and miscreant (known mostly for his bad publicity) is set free and clemency given to the organizers of the so-called concert (who were driven by the monetary gains to defy the lockdown directives).

This is Nigeria for you; the federation that thought it was the giant of Africa but which cannot make any decision from a realistic perspective even if there is a billion dollars’ worth of investment at stake. For Naira Marley, maybe he should be reminded that stardom is not a destination for every celebrity especially for the irresponsible because it is a place for persons with character. And it is only the disciplined that can maximize the place of popularity without falling from grace to grass.

Obviously without any good morals to impact the young, relevant stakeholders and parents (with voice) who understood the task of guiding their young aright must stand up to the urgent task of tuning out every trace of Naira Marley from the consciousness of their young. This can be achieved by preventing the kids from consuming Naira Marley-branded contents either on the TV, radio, birthday parties and naming ceremonies to name a few.

Naira Marley – as an agent sponsored by darkness to pollute the minds of our children – can still survive when his songs no longer sold by collecting stipends from his paymasters. We have had stars like 2Baba, P-Squared, Banky W, Don Jazzy, Star Boy and T Y Bello who not only wowed us with their songs but impressed us by their conduct and I do not think that if Naira Marley was the definition of stardom; there would be any sensible Nigerian who was willing to associate with these musical greats.

Naira Marley should be called to order.

Comrade Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh; an advocate for attitudinal change writes from Abuja. 08062577718.