Tuesday brief: Don’t cry for Burna Boy, weep for yourselves
+ Aso Rock breathes fire
Good morning.
Today, let’s have a conversation about late concerts in Lagos. And, unsurprisingly, Aso Rock was not pleased with Obasanjo’s latest open letter.
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Don’t cry for Burna Boy, weep for yourselves
The tears on Twitter were a deluge as Nigerians lamented Burna Boy’s lateness to his ‘Love Damini Concert’ in Lagos.
Some concertgoers arrived at 9 p.m. only to wait well past 3 a.m. before Burna Boy showed up.
And, to twist an already broken ankle, Burna Boy appeared to heap insults on those present who did not “love him”.
Many took it personally, calling for a boycott of Burna Boy’s concerts. Some even made reference to how Davido would not have treated his fans in such a shabby manner.
But Burna Boy’s arrogance is well documented and is a key feature of his personality and music.
It appeared, too, that everyone had forgotten that poor concert management in Lagos was not a Burna Boy problem. In a 2019 explainer, award-winning journalist Aisha Salaudeen painstakingly chronicled the reasons why concerts are always shabbily organised in the city — mostly due to a lack of concert infrastructure.
In his defence later on Monday, Burna Boy claimed neither he nor his band were late. But “the organisational structure and infrastructure is not there for the complexities of my audio and production needs.”
Every year, major concerts headlined by superstars are late in Lagos; thousands of fans wait in frustration for hours; people rant on Twitter, cussing and raising hell; then the concert begins and everyone is happy and all sins are forgiven; rinse and repeat next year. Why do we have to suffer so much for a speck of joy?
In a way, the state of music concerts in Lagos, especially during the festive season, is a metaphor for the general state of things in the country; people are hardwired to endure pain in exchange for a small breakthrough. It doesn’t add up, but it is what it is.
Burna Boy, who has said he is now “gathering the troops to work on building world class infrastructure in the Nigerian entertainment business,” will be fine. Don’t cry for him.
But let’s sit ourselves down and rent our clothes and put ashes on our heads and weep to the heavens, and ask: why do we condone, even defend, unnecessary shege?
What else is happening?
Aso Rock breathes fire: The Presidency hit back at former president Olusegun Obasanjo after the latter criticised the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu said Obasanjo was jealous of Buhari’s successes as president.
Lingering insecurity in the south east: At least four police officials attached to former Imo state governor, Ikedi Ohakim, were killed by gunmen when his convoy came under attack in Oriagu, Ehime Mbano local government area. Ohakim reportedly escaped the attack.
Cleaning up the force: All police officers in the Ajah division of the Nigerian police force have been transferred and are to be replaced by new officers from other divisions, according to a spokesperson. The move comes after police officers in the Ajah division extrajudicially killed two civilians recently.
Political taunts: Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike said he “was touched” after reading Obasanjo’s letter endorsing Peter Obi over Atiku Abubakar. “If your principal cannot recommend you, then there is something fundamentally wrong,” Wike said. Atiku served as vice president to Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007. A spokesperson for Atiku, Dino Melaye, said Wike “should be ashamed” for disrespecting the PDP presidential flagbearer.
Roll back the old times: Legendary pop group, P-Square has revealed they will release a new album in 2023, more than eight years after Double Trouble.
That’s it for today. Let’s do this again tomorrow. And thank you for reading and sharing Solomon’s Brief.