CHUX OHAI is on the trail of some top entertainers currently out of favour with fans over postings on the social media
The year is barely one week old and some
celebrities are under attack from their fans on social media. The
latest ‘victim’ is Jude Okoye, the older brother of the musical twins,
Paul and Peter of the P-Square.
For daring to post a photograph showing a
pair of hands fixing what looked like an automatic revolver on his
Instagram page, Okoye was at the receiving end of flak from scores of
Nigerians online on Tuesday.
Many of those who reacted to the images
in the photo were shocked that a celebrity of his stature, with a string
of successful music video productions to his credit, would be so bold
as to display his personal ‘arsenal’ in the public domain.
Some of them were plainly abusive in
their choice of language. Calling him unprintable names, they wondered
what he needed a gun for.
Writing on a blog, for
instance, an unnamed respondent said, “Does he know how many youngsters
that are looking up to him? This generation with their wild imagination.
And these so-called celebrities are supposed to be role models? I don’t
like this.”
Another fan named Chris queried the
yardstick for issuing gun licences in the country. “Are pistols now
legalised for individuals to carry? I thought that only rifles meant for
hunting are officially allowed. Obviously this is about money and
celebrity things,” he said.
But, underlying the angry responses to
the posting, there is a palpable fear of the unknown. There is the fear
that the weapons may end up in the hands of thieves and kidnappers who
might be tempted to “shop for supplies”.
Trying to interpret the existing law on
private acquisition of firearms in the country, one Halton noted, “No
individual is given licence to own handguns. It took me serious work to
licence my hunting gun (pump action). This man has to explain where and
how he came into possession of these dangerous weapons.”
Also reacting to the post on the same
blog, Ice Yetty described it as the “most ridiculous act” of 2014. She
wondered if showing off his guns on social media is the celebrity
producer’s way of announcing his success as an artiste.
But a comment by Bonita Bislam introduced
a sardonic twist to the development. She said, “In the world of show
business, I guess everything is worth showing off. Jude, well done. I
expect you to show off your snipers’ list as well.”
Highlighting the latest trend among
Nigerian celebrities, an anonymous respondent wrote, “Celebrities have
gone crazy. They show off cars and accessories on social media. Now they
are showing off with guns. The next person is going to post a picture
tagged ‘my bombs/explosives collection’.”
Earlier, popular comedian, Bright
Okpocha, aka Basketmouth, had the biggest bashing of his life from
fellow Nigerians on social media on Monday.
Basketmouth’s crime was that he posted a
joke about rape on his Facebook wall, which seemed quite wrong and
ill-timed, especially at a time most Nigerians are virtually up in arms
against rapists in the country.
Seeing that he had erred, the comedian had quickly pulled down the post and apologised.
“Ok guys, I’m sorry about the rape joke. I
won’t crack such jokes again. I’ll just stick to jokes about men being
able to marry under-aged girls in Nigeria,” he said.
Unfortunately, even this show of remorse
did not go down well with some of his critics, who felt that it was
rather ‘cheeky’. So on Tuesday, they continued to rain ‘abuses’ on him.
On Facebook, an angry Micheal Nwagbegbe said, “Ours is a sick society. One gets popular by throwing dirty jokes about.”
But a fan, Okoye Chukwudi, came to the
defence of Basketmouth and in turn incurred the ‘wrath’ of a number of
people when he wrote, “Basketmouth’s joke is a reality in Nigeria. It is
more than a joke. It happens every day. I don’t know why Nigerians
don’t like to face the truth. I don’t see why Basketmouth should even
tender an apology. If you think what he said is false, then you have not
been living in Nigeria.”
Unable to mask his displeasure with
Basketmouth’s ‘performance’ online, Abdulkareem Aminu came down hard on
other standup comedians. “Even if I won’t mention them, Nigerian
comedians are largely un-funny, spewing recycled jokes and desperately
trying to make people laugh and in my case, failing,” he said.
Lately Nigerians have begun to see the social media as a sacred territory that must not be profaned by what they consider to be the excesses of some celebrities. They have persistently kicked against actions by the latter, such as the posting of nude photos, as well as provocative comments that tend to offend the public morality, online
PUNCH
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