But, how patriotic???
Recently, the media was agog when
popular entertainer Basketmouth posted the picture of his annual UK Valentine’s
Day show on social media. The major issue was that the day of the show Feb. 14th coincided with the day of the Presidential election in Nigeria. The show is to be
held in the UK. The issue sparked a major debate among his fans online with regards to whether his action
was right or wrong.
Some of his fans argued that it would
be unpatriotic of him to be absent during the forthcoming general election.
They also said that as a celebrity and a role model, he should perform his
civic duties.
However, in a chat with SB, BasketMouth said that it's not possible for him to cancel his show
because of the election, stating that the event had been planned long before
the election date was announced and if he cancelled the show, he would lose
millions of naira.
In his words:
“This
has been an annual show in the last six years. It is a franchise and it holds
every Valentine’s Day in the UK regardless of the day it falls on. It has been
happening for the past six years and the venue has been booked long ago. The
tickets have been on sale long before it was announced that elections would
hold on that day. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it because
everything is ready and I have to go on with my show. The people talking about
it apparently do not know that it is a franchise that has been on for about six
years. I cannot cancel the show because of elections,”
He continued:
“If
about thirty people that are probably in London and would not vote comment on
my page; that does not mean that my whole fans are upset with me. Truth be
told, if they are talking about fans’ comments, I would like to see about three
million comments from different people to show that they are unhappy. If you
check well, those people that are commenting are not in the country. They are
probably somewhere trying to get their permanent resident permits. I have no
reason not to vote; I am a proud Nigerian”.
Culled: Saturday Beats,
This is maturity at work
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