Ajike Okin

The internet went berserk when the famed musician and song composer, Tiwalade Savage admitted on an American radio programme that an X-rated video of herself and lover was leaked by an anonymous social media user she claimed was on the verge of blackmailing her in exchange for the intimate visual content.
The Somebody Son crooner was in the United States of America (USA) for the promotion of her latest album, Water and Garri when she was caught in the web of this scandalous development.

Too hard a bite, the mother of one swallowed the bitter pills by admitting that indeed the video was erroneously uploaded on snapchat by her man but was immediately deleted by this unnamed lover of hers. Apparently, it was too late as the video was tapped by her man’s stalker on Snapchat, and this individual was on her heels to get some cash out of her.

Speaking further, Tiwa, agreed to owing the unsavoury narrative. To industry insiders, this insidious antecedent is dent on her budding international fame. To think that she is gradually enlisting her name on the roll call of Nigerian musical stars such as Burna Boy, Wizkid, new entrant Tems, Davido who have been recently acclaimed to be amongst the best in the global rating of entertainment, makes this even more heartrending.

The fact that she accepted the narrative and ignored the threat by this hellish emissary bent on rubbing the Tiwa Savage brand name in the mud by releasing the sex video, is a smart PR move by the artiste. By so doing, she has forestalled what might be a waiting danger because eventually the video will still get to the social media space somehow (either she pays the blackmailer or not).

While some apologists and an army of her loyal fans hail her confession as a worthwhile direction, Tiwa Savage shot herself in the foot when she gaffed at an event organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism this penultimate weekend.

The event tagged, Eko On Show, is a Fashion, Music and Arts exhibition show in commemoration of the nation’s 61st Independence anniversary.

In an attempt at taking the wind out of a sail, Tiwa, in the middle of her performance trivialised her sexual misadventure by speaking in Yoruba in reference to the leaked video by saying:
“ó f’okó yẹn á¹£e mí léṣe” loosely translated as : “He thrilled me with his penis”, with legs slightly opened and pointing to the middle of her thigh. This show of vulgarity cannot be excused as any sense of Wokeism, it smirks of lack of moral values.

For one, Tiwa Savage was performing on a stage that seeks to “honour the labours of our heroes past” in the presence of top government functionaries and teeming fanbase (including those who watched the Eko On Show) event on Instagram Live. Chances are that Tiwa Savage is a role model to many Nigerian girl child who crave to be another Tiwa in the future.

One should begin to worry and ask questions like – Did the Lagos State Tourism ministry even know Tiwa had an ongoing sex scandal online before bringing her on their bill. Do the organisers care to know if such public performance will have a negative or public effect on the viewers. The supposed PR benefits for the singer and the State from the show ruined in a split of seconds because of a reckless statement.

My fear however is, those urging her on would drive her down the bottomless pit, where people like that are consigned to the debris of history.
It is important at this point to condemn the part played by a Government ministry in this show of shame. How on earth could the Ministry saddled with promoting our Arts and Culture be, in any form, associated with this? Who exactly did we offend, to the extent of exposing our impressionable youths to this level of vulgarity? Someone needs to provide answers to this and more questions.

The only other question that comes to mind is “Nje agbadun bayi? (Are we all in our right senses?)