Many feel that, in general, our celebrities have been too silent about the crises we now face in our country. Even those who have spoken up seem to do so hoping people don’t notice; playing it safe. I mean it looks like they just want to have something that they can screenshot and show us when we accuse them of remaining silent when we needed their voices the most. So they drop one generic line here and there without saying anything that can spark a serious debate or open up people’s minds.
Everything I see points to the fact that our celebrities are mostly selfish and are just a bunch of chicken hearted imposters. They only do things that benefit them. Even when they claim to lend their voices to social causes, they are usually just on a PR stunt mission. I have never seen a celebrity around here do anything close to risky to raise awareness on any societal problem.As far as our celebrities are concerned, hobnobbing is the hallmark of their interactions with high ranking government officials and their entitled kids.
I listened to the song ‘We Need Peace’ by Salatiel and 11 other artists and to say I was disappointed is an understatement. In the heart of presidential campaigns a good number of our urban acts came together to do a song calling for peace? STRAIGHT OFF TOPIC if you ask me.
It is no longer news that French is the go to language even for the anglophone artists in this country so I would like to assume that they are not in favour of the secessionist movement - correct me if I’m wrong. And if I am wrong, you are thereby confirming with me that those artists are just doing business in which case their call for peace is strictly business and has nothing to do with a genuine love for this country and the willingness to be part of the change we all want to see.
We all saw pictures from the set of the video shoot showing they even had the chance to do a wardrobe change so Daphne could take off her ‘we need peace’ t shirt and put her waistline on display and also for Blanche to have her curves well packaged for the viewing pleasure of lustful men. I mean what ostentation for a song that is supposed to be a conscious call for piece. What way to show how much your outfit is so important that it couldn’t be ignored for the sake of the peace which you seek.
Secondly, the song is all over the place with a message that can be adequately used for government propaganda. What are you talking about guns everywhere, blood everywhere, children need to go back to school, water don pass garri, papa God make you come to our rescue, stormy weather on a sunny day, no more blood we need a holiday…. REALLY?
The only political message that any young artist in this country had to have at this time was one that will inspire people to make sure Biya experiences the force of the people. It is sad that 12 artist come together and can’t paint a true picture of their society. It is either they don’t know what is happening in which case they should sit quite or they know and they are trying to play safe as we have come to know them to do. The song is addressed to no one. They don’t put responsibility for some of the ills they sing about on anyone. NO name calling. The song in itself is tantamount to a stray blank bullet.
The artists on that song were better off just doing a press conference announcing their support for one of the presidential candidates explaining to the public their choice. That would have cost less and had a bigger impact but I know why they can’t do something like that. How many so called celebrities even cared to read through the political plans of the candidates? What most of them are are just people avoiding responsibility but wanting to be worshipped. I’m sorry but with the problems we face in this country your nice voice is not enough to make you a hero. If you doubt me, ask Eto’o.
Everybody in this country knows we need a change of leadership before anything else. Just at the time when we could join our voices to try and force that to happen, you come out with a peace song? All your calls for peace count for denial to identify the real problem; in the spirit of the current occupant of Etoudi who refuses to address the anglophone problem and other issues in the country for what are. The only thing that will happen to this peace song is that the government will start using it if there happens to be any uprising in the case where some people express dissatisfaction with the results of the presidential elections. It fits perfectly in their narrative because in essence it is blaming Amba boys for all the atrocities since the government has the right to bear arms.
Any-ha!
Our so called celebrities are caught up in selling fake dreams to the youth and very few of them have any genuine sense of service to their communities. What they know best is to stunt on other young people with the things they bought and the people they can now hang out with. I see some artists attacking people for sitting behind their keyboards and talking while they the artists are walking the talk.I have a couple of questions here:-
Did your songs get people to register to vote? Did your song help IDPs? Did your song buy food for refugees in Nigeria? What exactly did your song do other than earn you YouTube views, attention, and streaming dollars from Spotify?
I am very well aware of the power of music but I am yet to hear that song which ignites the hearts of people to make them take responsibility for the future of our country.
The more I think about it, I am of the opinion that all these celebrities should just sit down and not be heard. When you think about the content of the work that made most of them famous in the first place, there is not much you can expect from them. This is a country where Nathalie Koah and Coco Emilia are guests of honor at the parties of state officials - go figure!
It is never too late for us all to start using our voices for good but it has to start with us living exemplary lives and taking responsibility for the future of our country.
Before you go, check out these lyrics:- ___________________________________________________________ “This is a message to the government expressing what’s exactly on the people’s mind. We are fed up of those who oppress our lives And everything that takes away our rights Our country seems to be moving backwards This is almost making us hate our own nation This is unfair for you to be misruling us Imagine a child who was unborn when you came has also long become a parent Somebody help us tell this to Biya I also beg his fellow elders to talk to him This is a very wrong thing he is insisting on Now see the whole nation is miserable They say what used to be democracy has now become a hypocrisy What was meant to be a fundamental change has become no change They say you have abandoned the reasons you fought for and now doing what you fought against They request that you don’t touch the constitution because it is their only remaining hope
We are living a time similar to the one of slave trade What was the purpose of Liberation when we can’t have a peaceful transition What is the purpose of the constitution when the government disrespects the constitution Where is the freedom of expression when you judge me because of my expression Look what you are doing to this nation what are you teaching the future generations See our leaders become misleaders Freedom fighters become dictators They look upon the youth and say we are destructors
Rise up friends because we know that saving our nation is a responsibility of us all So if you see injustice and keep quiet you’re betraying your own country And if you see some of us standing up on your behalf and you shy away then you’re sacrificing us Remember that if rabbits also stand together as one in large numbers they can chase away a leopard ________________________________________________________________
Those lyrics(I changed a few names to show you how that story fits directly into our context) were penned by Bobi Wine whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. Bobi Wine shocked the ruling party in Uganda when he went into politics and won a seat in Parliament by a landslide last year. Now, at age 36, he has declared his intention to challenge Uganda’s 74-year-old president, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, in elections in 2021.
A year before he won office, he wrote a song called “Freedom,” whose lyrics you see above. It went viral and transformed into a kind of cri de guerre for a nation fed up with corruption, chronic unemployment and crackdowns on free speech.
I’ll be posting an article from the New York Times about Bobi Wine for those who will like to know more about him.
- Tino Foy