Africans get arrested and go to jail, all the time. It almost feels like nothing. We have Nelson Mandela and Olusegun Obasanjo to thank for the “go to jail and become a president” thing.
But how does that apply to the Entertainment Industry, here in Nigeria? Do our celebrities, role model, just get arrested and we keep hailing “free this free that”, then they go to jail and the chants continue, until they’re finally freed?
That scenario is a typical American one. Sadly, things happen differently here, and the only sure thing is that life after jail for a celebrity (musician, in this case) is uncertain. I guess, in Naira Marley’s issue, we shouldn’t be talking about jail.
A Quick Back-story.
It all started when female singer, Simi got into trouble on social media after she came for ‘yahoo boys’.
See me, I see you. Then, a couple weeks ago, Naira Marley who was actively involved in the conversation decided to live the moment and released a song called, “Am I A Yahoo Boy?” where he was chanting “See me see trouble, am I a yahoo boy?” with ‘see me’ being a pun on Simi.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxNG82KlZ4D/
It’s quite expedient to state that, a work of art like a musical piece can barely be used to prove your guilt, in a court of law. But EFCC arrested him, anyway. That is, they had some leads, someone has probably snitched on the artist. It’s suspicious why they waited till he did that song before they made the arrest, and also why he was arrested alongside his friend, Zlatan Ibile, who was later released (on what terms we don’t know.)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission didn’t waste time, and before we knew it, an 11-count charge is against Marley. In case, you don’t follow, all those charges had something to do with yahoo yahoo – the internet fraud that is all the rave now. If found guilty of the charges pressed against him, he might end up in jail.
Now What?
“Naira Marley, igbolabi…” Will he go to jail? And if he does, for how long? And when he comes back, what is he coming back to meet? Our music industry is quite notorious for quick disposal of artists who are just away on vacation, let alone to jail. We’ve not had many, yeah (cause Trap isn’t a thing here) but Sinzu and Dammy Krane? They were convicted outside then country, and the industry never received them again. Will this also happen to Naira Marley if he’s convicted of credit card fraud and other stuffs? Most likely.
We wish Naira Marley all the best.!!!
Does that means all these guys living lavishly in this entertainment industry, are into fraud for a living?