One can’t but be amused how Davido is being roasted for speaking evident truths about the situation of the Nigerian economy. With poverty ravaging the land, some social media imbeciles had the nerve to shout down Davido. Imagine.
It is undeniable that this present youth generation is the most politically docile generation ever witnessed. Mumu Confirmed. Or how do we explain the absence of youth protests against debilitating economic IMF policies being implemented, subsidies removed, currency devalued, school fees increased over a 1000%, with no youth protests. Even Tinubu protested and did many many werey when President Jonathan introduced such policies, so who dare carry nose to tell Davido not to speak the evident truths.
It is a sad reality that those currently protesting against economic and political injustices are the old men of Afenifere like the 95yr old Baba Adebanjo that fought against colonial and military rule . At best today, it is the semi-illiterate youth political thugs that we see paid to protest. Where are the intellectual ideological youth, as Yorubas pray Oloun ma jeki a bi Omo Ode, may we not give birth to dumb children.
A generation that will keep quiet or are unconcerned about the present and future of their commonwealth. If the older generations didn’t fight against injustices, would they even exist. Abeg with this youth that are over 70% of the population, Nigeria has no future if they don’t wake up.
It might even be too much to expect our Youth to protest on national issues when they can’t even fight for egalitarian values on their school campuses. They remain docile against the corruption of their student union governments, whereby student unions officials have paid PAs and drive around in private number cars given by politicians. An abomination in times past when students fought for egalitarian values. Students of University of Ife, especially of Awolowo Hall, would have tore such obvious oppressors apart. Now students pass through university without the university passing through them. A generation of Runs girls and Yahoo boys cum content creators.
It is claimed that our youths were first placed on opium of religion in the late Eighties with the establishment with SU/Pentecostalism and Islamic fundamentalism that drove out intellectualism and revolutionary change agencies from our universities. The rebellious 1% initially found brief solace with cults that soon became corrupted and eradicated from universities that became hotbeds of religious moralism instead centers of universal knowledge. Not only were rebellious students hounded out of universities, so were their lecturers. Labour Unions were not spared as their corrupted leadership sold out the masses with faked planned protests with governments.
It is understandable that the force of coloniality wiped out decoloniality from colonial educational structures, but the question has been what happened to our protest music of the likes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Bob Marley etc? Even under a military regime, Fela Kuti fought against censorship and insisted in his Afrobeats song Jenwi temi (let me speak my own), and went ahead to educate the masses with his basket mouth to become the father of Decoloniality with tunes like Lady, Gentleman, ITT (International Thief Thief), Army Arrangement to mention a few.
Unfortunately, the generation that turned Fela conscious Afrobeats into a globally recognized genre, have the freedom of speech in a democracy but only to speak nonsense. With the exception of a few tracks from the likes of MI, Vector etc our youth musicians sing mainly about selfish myopic consumerism and are at best rebels without a cause. They corrupt their wider generation to be mainly conformists that would rather Japa or create content on social media to make money from gossip and sexual innuendos. Instead of Pan Africanism for global racial parity, they engage in divisive Pan Tribalistic perspectives and celebrity worship. This youth don’t promise a bright egalitarian future for the society.
I can’t imagine Fela Anikulapo Kuti being attacked like Davido is being attacked on social media. Abami Eda would have smiled and asked ‘make I yap dem?’ and we would have a Yabbis Night extending to weeks on our hands. But we have a weak generation that can’t soro soke to push for revolutionary change where needed. A few of them were involved in the EndSars, but were mainly foreign guided, as the protest had no local ideological compass. Although Davido has wandered into the politics but it was for his uncle election campaign, and not for the masses.
Music is one of the most powerful tools for social mobilization, but our musicians appear to only mobilize the people to self destructive habits. They smoke marijuana like they are baddest Negros that ever walked the planet, but isn’t it the same weed that Fela and Bob Marley smoked that mobilized the people towards justice and equity.
Please, if Davido can’t speak up against fascists that want to bully people from speaking the truth of our arrested economic and political development, he should just ‘off his mic’ forever. He should shut the ef up, park well and let the real musicians speak up. Many many werey full ground that can speak for the people, or we import from Kenya.
Prince Justice
