From Tuface to
Genevieve the list of Nigerian celebrities who have had a child out of wedlock
is almost endless and on the rise. With the recent addition by Wizkid one is
left to ask if child bearing outside wedlock is part of the criteria on how to
become a successful Nigerian celebrity.
There was once a
time when this country was so cultured having a child outside wedlock would
have automatically earned you the right to be fully disowned by your family
with the name black sheep replacing
your last name. It is however funny to see that having a child out of wedlock
is now being celebrated on twitter, instagram, facebook and every platform
available by the same folks who would have criticised you in the past. It is
now a trend , an act for the “cool cats”.
Nigerian
celebrities celebrate this trend like it’s a grammy award or some sort of
addition to their achievement. The fact that through this act some celebrities
now indirectly celebrate unprotected sex, lack of commitment to one woman and
most annoyingly the joy of having children from different woman is pretty
disturbing.
A few years ago
Tuface having children out of wedlock was frowned at, Jesse Jags kept his child
a secret, and Genevieve was mute about her daughter. It was almost a taboo to
mention that you had a child most especially at a young age, but today
celebrities like Mayd, Obafemi Martins, Wizkid, Ice Prince, Flavour, Solid
Star, Davido, Toyin Lawani etc. seem to have taken the game of having children
out-of-wedlock to a whole new level.
I wonder if it’s
the fact that they have access to so much wealth or if their lifestyle which
naturally seems to attract occurrences such as having a child out-of-wedlock,
or perhaps the fact that the typical Nigerian celebrity has failed to see
him/herself as a role model is to blame for this.
A typical
Nigerian celebrity feels he/she has the right to live life whatever way they
deem fit hence have become ignorant of the fact that there are certain groups
of people who look up to them and follow their footsteps. These set of
celebrities fail to understand that there are some fans who monitor their every
move and use them as a yardstick to carry out certain activities “If Davido can do this then I can do it too”.
Even major
brands understand the power celebrities have over the behaviour of their fans
hence the reason why they endorse them as brand ambassadors.
The fact that
the Psquare brothers decided to have kids first with their partners before
getting married seems to be a major motivator for people who are of the opinion
that you must test a car before you buy it.
Don’t get me
wrong having a child is a blessing, it is only worrisome the kind of message
our celebrities are passing across to the fans most especially the younger fans
who seem to be following the footstep of their “supposed mentors”.
I can imagine
our children following in the footsteps of their favourite celebrity, I guess
we all would be left with a society filled with young parents and youngsters
who have come to accept having children out-of-wedlock is for the “cool cats”.
I guess at the
end of the day one is left to accept that this trend amongst Nigeria
celebrities who claim to be too busy to stay committed to one woman but are not
too busy to make babies with the same women is here to stay.
The truth is
there is really nothing we can do about this habit other than to continue to like the adorable pictures of Wizkid’s new baby, Toyin
Lawani’s stylish model son, Davido’s gorgeous Imade when posted online and pray
that our children won’t follow their footsteps.
.
In conclusion I am going to play
the colonialism card and say “ I guess we
have inherited this habit from our colonial masters who’s culture almost
promotes having children outside wedlock”. It’s a norm for them to have
children outside wedlock, waiting to have a child after marriage is almost a rare
occurrence for our colonial masters.
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If our colonial masters have children outside wedlock it's because of the stringent measures attached to divorce which emphasis that the husband will part away with a quantum part of his asset as alimony paid to the wife. To avoid this unhealthy conditions which western women are taking advantage of, the men resort to having children with a committed girlfriend. But in the case of Nigeria, it is simply gross immorality, cowardice and a deliberate attempt to avoid responsibility. Our culture does not permit this moral bankruptcy.
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