Bless me father for I have sinned. My last confession was two days ago. Father, I am an entertainer and I have been lying to my fans for many years. Really? Tell me about these lies my son. Father, where do I start from? The lies are so many that I don’t know where to start. Go ahead son, you start from anywhere, the Lord is listening.
Father, I lied that I was signed by a
foreign record label. I also lied that I am a brand ambassador of one of
the telecommunication firms. Whereas I was only paid to make the jingle
and later feature on the TV commercial. I also lied to the public that
my album sold six million copies. My son, why all these lies? Father, I
am not the only liar in the industry. We are all liars. Lying is part of
the job’s description. Are you serious? Yes father, I am being very
frank with you. My lies are even mild compared to some of my colleagues.
Imagine one female artist lying that she was a backup singer for Mary J
Blige. How can she be a backup singer for such an international star
and nobody saw any pictures or videos. Normally as an entertainer such
materials could have been used to promote her brand. She also lied that
she wrote a song for Fantasia that won a grammy. As I am confessing to
you, nobody knows the title of the song. There’s no credit to her on
Fantasia’s catalog. A Nigerian singer said all these? Yes father.
Her own lies are even small sef. Another female singer lied that Beyonce’s father was her manager while she was in the US. No you must be joking! Haba
Father, can I be lying to you during confession? My son, as a reverend
father in this parish, I have seen so many strange things. When a man is
possessed by the devil there’s nothing beyond him. And from what you
have been saying, there is absolutely nothing beyond you entertainers.
But go on, tell God more of these lies of yours.
I have lied about buying houses in Lekki
and other parts of Lagos. But I thank God that till today no one has
thought of looking up these properties at the ministry of lands
otherwise I would have been caught pants down. Are you listening father?
Yes go on son, the Lord is also listening. Ok, I have been bribing
radio presenters for a long time to play my songs. There is this veteran
presenter on the island that collects a million naira and two bottles
of Jack Daniels and Black label and one box of cuban cigar from me. He
also collects hampers and makes you promise to buy him a cake on his
birthday. You mean he collects all these just to play a song? Yes father
that’s what he charges. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, what about those
musicians who can’t afford to give him these things? Haa! If you can’t
afford it, then your songs won’t be played no matter how good they are.
But why haven’t you musicians come together and fight people like him?
And also, why do you keep bribing them? Is it not the same bribery and
corruption you people are always accusing the Nigerian police of? Yes
father I totally agree, we are no different from the police.
But how can we unite and fight this
corruption when Nigerian artists are lily-livered. They all pay these
guys and go back grumbling in their bedrooms. And whoever decides to
speak up on their behalf will be insulted by the same people he’s
fighting for. They will accuse you of trying to make things difficult
for them. This is really terrible. Yes father it is really terrible.
Ok what other confessions do you have for
the Lord? But Father, do you think the Lord can forgive me of all these
sins? Don’t you worry yourself about that, we will pray to Saint
Anthony of Padua to intercede for you. Thank you father.
Now let me go on. Most times when I see
that a song of a particular artist is gaining more popularity than mine,
I call on my guys at the radio stations to stop playing it. And do you
also pay for this? Of course they won’t lift a finger without money
changing hands. But don’t they see that what you requested of them is
wickedness. No father it is not wickedness, we actually call it
survival. Ok father, what would you say if I told you that most of our
awards are lobbied for? And most of the scandalous news you read on
blogs are leaked by entertainers to pull down their rivals? I’d say very
interesting.
Now let me ask you a question father. Do you believe in juju? Boy I am a man of God and you don’t expect me to believe in such. So you mean if I told you that some of us entertainers use juju
to excel, would you believe me? Well, I have heard of such allegations,
especially with the fuji musicians but these things can’t be
substantiated. Why do you think they can’t be substantiated? What would
you make of a musician taking a bottle containing local dry gin, 20
naira notes, cowries, corn seeds and alligator pepper into the vocal
booth and sipping from it and chanting inaudible things under his breath
while singing? I don’t have any answer to that. Just go on with your
confession. There are still others waiting to confess their sins. And
please can you summarise this confession?
Tell me, why do you entertainers indulge
in lies and all you have said here today? We entertainers tell so much
lies and live fake lives because that’s what Nigerians want. They love
lies and they will even call you mumu for speaking the truth. And the
journalists are also guilty. Asides from being too lazy, I think they
are also scared of some of these entertainers. They rather not
investigate anything at all. Even when you tell them a blatant lie, they
won’t bother asking questions. Now we have an industry that is built on
lies. And from the look of things, it will stay so for a long time.
That is all I have to confess father. Your sins have been forgiven my
son. Say the fifteen decades of the rosary and abstain from telling lies
from now on. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Inomine patri et fili et spiritus sancti. Amen.
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