Tag: MohBad

A young musician, late Ilerioluwa, Oladimeji Aloba known by his stage name of Mohbad just died a few days ago and a lot of questions are  unanswered yet.  How did such a talented 27 year old live through an industry with all the bullying and neglect he sang about with no protection? Nigerians are asking questions. But what answers are available?

The Nigerian police had exhumed his body in order to provide answers. There have been national protests and even a Night of Tributes organized in Lagos. The Senate Committee on Entertainment Economy headed by Senator Elisha Abbo, notorious for physically assaulting a woman in a sex toyshop some years back just visited the mother in the company of Nollywood actress, Tonto Dike.

The result of the police autopsy has not been made public but sadly   again there are casualties from the Candlelight Memorial  as police tried to disperse the crowd that proceeded to the famous Lekki Tollgate after the night of tribute at Muri Okunola Park in Victoria Island.

 Many people even outside the shores of Nigeria want to know the cause of death of the budding musician who in some of his lyrics had somewhat ‘prophetically’ talked about being more popular in death after he has passed and predicting how the rights and wrongs he might have done would be under discourse. Many have suggested he might have had some premonitions about his death. What many fail to add might  he never sang about dying at 27 and nothing about the cocktail of allegations and controversies surrounding his very tragic death.

The Roundtable Conversation as always wants to point the torch into the mirror of our lives, our society/system, parenting,  governments, our values (upheld or eroded), our Ostrich-playing and the fact that Nigerians love to address the symptoms instead of the fundamentals. The Mohbad death is trending, bloggers and other content creators are having a field day on the internet. Allegations are a million a kobo. While many seek for justice on one hand, they dish out injustice with the other. Many innocent people have suffered some collateral damage since the death. We must ask why the people often take the laws into their hands. There is a trust deficit on governments and their agencies.

If this same boy sang about being bullied in the by his former music label, why did the industry not raise alarm, why did the police with active social media presence not wade in, where were the parents in the whole arrangement?

The Roundtable Conversation sought the thoughts of the matriarch of the entertainment industry, the multi-award-winning Taiwo Ajai-Lycett. Expectedly, she is saddened that Nigeria and the world lost such a young talent whose contributions to the global community would have made a huge difference.

So she started from the homes. She believes that tragic as the incident is, it is not an isolated case. While not blaming the parents directly for the death of their child, she believes that hearing the father, less than 48 hours after burying the son talk about money and material possessions at a time he ought to be in mourning is symptomatic of the loss of family values that put the son in danger.

She could not understand how that discussion can even come up now given the tragedy that has left the world broken literally. But it aligns with her assessment of the erosion of values in the society. She feels there is too much poverty of the mind in ways that some parents now just have children they cannot even care for and that caring to her is not about riches or poverty. It is about the fact that most parents now see children as ATM. There seems to be more concern about the wealth children can bring than parents taking real care of their children like has been the case especially in a cultural society like Nigeria. Children are now raising themselves. There is a breakdown of values. She believes the boy is just one of many in the hood. It is not about poverty, what we see is a breakdown of societal values. Neither the father nor the mother seems to have been hands-on to raise and guide the dead boy.

Sadly, many young people are on the streets and are suffering the same fate as the dead Mohbad but most are not in the limelight so there stories are untold and unheard.  Before we blame the system or government, the families are failing already. Everything seems to be about money and parents do not mind how their children get sudden wealth. The society seems to respect money no matter how it is made and even the musicians have their lyrics and videos celebrating wealth and its acquisition not necessarily the process of acquiring them.

Dame Ajai-Lycett wondered how the parents did not monitor his academic progress closely, as the boy sang, “…dad gathered money for Polytechnic but I didn’t attend classes…”.Where were his parents? The vacuum then got filled by gangs and bullies who he had resorted to. How did the parents not notice and nurture his talents? It does not need a PhD or money to be an engaged parent.  Then the father was so heartless to talk about him not giving him money and posturing to have access to his money even before the sand on his grave settled? Some parents traffic their kids in different ways she said.

When it comes to the talk about police not wading into the fact that the boy sang and spoke of his bullying, Ajai-Lycett finds it hilarious that people have such unrealistic expectations. She recounted her experience with the police after she was attacked and raped in her house some years back. She said that in Nigeria, it is all about the highest bidder for protection.

The politicians and other rich men get round the clock police and military protection because they can fund the services. Her rape and robbery case has not been investigated many years after because she as a victim refused to fund investigations and prosecution. That is an aberration she can’t be part of. So to her, poor Mohbad might have sang about how he was being bullied, if the alleged bullies were richer, he had no chance in hell and so are majority of the people.  Sometimes there are official collusion with the bullies. The security agencies often terrorize the population instead of serving and protecting them.

If a Taiwo Ajai-Lycett with her global iconic status could not get justice from a system she has spent more than fifty years serving, it is difficult to expect a miracle for a budding  27 year old Mohbad. She says that is why more and more people are raped, robbed and bullied but nothing happens. A Mohbad at 27, with little money and experience had no chance. While no one is claiming he died of bullying as the autopsy has not confirmed, Ajai-Lycett believes our system keeps failing many.

Read Also: MC Oluomo gifts MohBad’s son, parents N5m

Ace Comedian, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome popularly known as Alibaba in an interview with a TV station equally expressed his worries about the death of the very young musician.  Being a veteran of the entertainment industry, she understands the roots of the pressure those in the entertainment industry go through which often starts from families, friends, peer groups and even the society at large.

Alibaba believes that there is some serious parental guidance lacking generally in society. The target is to make it big, to show off, to indulge in luxuries and to belong. Tremendous pressure that needs a lot of grit and will power  to resist stem from good parenting.  He understands the pressure for young people who often fall into the hands of some producers or music labels that pressure them into certain weird lifestyles that might be inimical to a flourishing and sustainable career.

He observed that most of the record labels or producers often mount pressure on young ones to follow certain social styles which in their thinking might help them hit the limelight fast. Some he said are often persuaded to either get certain tattoos, join certain groups, smoke or drink as a sure route to success. These things are known pressure points that if not well handled can spell doom. In all these, Alibaba believes only discipline rooted in parental and school guidance can help evrry child in whatever field.

Alibaba believes that discipline must back any type of creative talent for sustainable success.  A creative must have the willpower to resist being corrupted or negatively influenced. He believes that there are creative that have maintain their dignity while succeeding in projecting their creative talents. This group takes strong stands and do not fall to tragic bad influences. The artist in any genre must define the way he wants to go but that is only backed by parental guidance and training.

The veteran comedian believes that aspirations must meet reality in life. It is valid to want to ‘blow’ but your aspirations are driven by what you see, what are your parents and society showing to you? What influences a child is what they see. Parents must be good role models for the children to take after. They must be firm and not permissive or absent.

He believes that there are successful artists  like Timi Dakolo, Dareh Art Alade, Cobhams and others who don’t fit into the popular social misnomers like drinking on stage/videos, smoking or have any allegations of cultism or cybercrimes are good models. Bottomline for Alibaba is that families through good parenting must mold children and instill contentment and confidence that talent backed by hard work is enough.

The Roundtable Conversation in talking to these two veterans,  believes that we must stop playing the Ostrich and understand that there are many Mohbads, some are unsung and never mourned  but they define a society that have departed from the core values that help nurture talents and give every child and adult the chance to blossom.

Any lessons from a dead Mohbad?

The conversation continues…