Amidst the seemingly endless zeal for power, fame and unabashed love for politricks or should I say the tricky art of politics, there exists a few who have chosen to play safe and evade the melodrama. Music icons like Femi Kuti, Banky W, Sound Sultan, amongst others fall into this category of social activists that have chosen to instead, be on the side of the people. Talk about being astute!
That is not to say that artists who have chosen to support certain politicians are not on the side of the people; well not if you actually have the people's interests at heart but how can one know this when one is no psychic?
Music, an art of combining musical tones, is a powerful tool in the media and politicians understand this fact. They recognize music's effectiveness and immense strength in conveying their message. Therefore, what more could they ask for? After all, they need the power, the fame and they have the money to spend, right? Alas, here comes the musician willing to pledge their undying love and support as long as the price is right, not necessarily for patriotic reasons. Do you think Politicians could take advantage of this? Of course, they could and would, if they wanted to but let's look on the brighter side- they are lending a helping hand to people in dire need after all, money answereth all problems, some might say. What is wrong with dancing to the old tune played by the piper as long as the piper pays the bills? The piper in this case, is the politician. However, is it really worth it? Can all the money in the world replace your birthright? You might need to ask yourself these questions- after all, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
In the past, we've heard of cases where some Nigerian musicians wholeheartedly endorsed certain political candidates and the politicians ended up being disgraced out of office. The shocker here is that these very musicians involved back then, have seemingly not learnt their lesson as they are letting history repeat itself. What then is the way out? What happens when I pledge my support by endorsing a certain political candidate and he/she ends up not delivering as expected when eventually getting into office? What, pray tell, would be one's defense? Your fans lose faith in you, the people lose faith in your integrity and you end up becoming a questionable character where previously, you had probably been a force to reckon with, an exemplary personality in the industry. You lose it all, for material gain. A good illustration is Nigerian music legend- Onyeka Onwenu's endorsement of former head of state- Abacha in the past, although she denies this.
In Nigeria however, not so many artists are crazy about money or forgoing their birthrights for cheap gains.
Award winning Afrobeat king- Femi Kuti for instance, claimed he was never offered because the Politicians probably knew he was too set in his ways to agree to such an offer.
The general public should however take note that endorsing Political candidates is NOT A CRIME as long as you can search your conscience and honestly say your motives are genuine. Fans of these musicians however, have a major role to play here and should learn a lesson from this by not letting their judgment be clouded, influenced or biased by what they see or hear in the media. You have a right to your decision and you should make them according to how you see deem fit. As former American president once said, as recorded in history books- "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country".
Let's therefore take our destiny into our hands! Our duty here is to vote. Vote for change, vote for judiciousness, vote for integrity and refuse to be side-tracked by falsehood. Then and only then, can we tap our hands on our chest and say we have reached a true democracy- government by the people and for the people, a country devoid of greed and filled with the practice of equality of rights and opportunities. Let's set the pace for our African counterparts and be world changers by ridding our land of the tricky art of politics- POLITRICKS!