Perhaps no civic right and responsibility is more important than the right to vote, and be voted for.
With that power, citizens get to determine who leads them at any point in time. Nigerians have not really enjoyed that privilege as much as other countries in the world due to protracted military rule, and wide-spread rigging that characterised past elections.
However, things have taken a different turn in the past couple of years, as many people have become more aware of their rights and are ready to enforce it.
In the run up to the elections, many celebrities including singers and actors were used by politicians to sell themselves and their campaigns. Many of the entertainers got paid handsomely for it, but it’s so sad that on election day, some of these celebs weren’t even in the country to vote.
They kept tweeting and uploading pictures on Instagram prior to the election urging their fans to vote, but they did not vote themselves. Isn’t that a case of ‘Do as I say, and not do as I do?’
Entertainers guilty of this offence include Omo Baba Olowo, Davido and billionaire, Femi Otedola’s daughter, DJ Cuppy, who both went to Kenya to perform at the country’s independence concert.
Others are Flavour, his producer, Masterkraft, and P-Square, who went to London for the Dance Afrique concert.
OAP and former presenter of Trending On HipTV, Toke Makinwa, was also not in the country on election day, as she was busy posting pictures of herself goofing around in an Asian country. She caught some flak for that though, as many of her followers slammed her for what they termed her unpatriotic behaviour.
Choc City rapper, Ice Prince got into trouble with his fans too. Some of them criticised him when he put up a picture of himself holding his Nigerian passport on election day. He was asked if passport was what he would use to vote, and that he should have put up his PVC instead.
It should be noted that Ice Prince had announced that he was in Atlanta, USA, last week and it’s believed he’s still in the North American country.
The issue of influential entertainers not leaving good examples behind has once again played out in this scenario. It’s like many of our celebs don’t know that their positions come with responsibilities. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and several other busy business executives cast their votes. Surely, they must have had to cancel, and postpone many international meetings and engagements because of that. Why couldn’t our entertainers have done same.
