For over 15 minutes on May 7, Afro-pop Musician, Tiwa Savage held the world by
storm when she serenaded millions with her musical artistry during the
coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle in England. It
was the first time a Nigerian artiste would perform at the royal coronation, and it
was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
At that event, over 20,000 people attended the coronation concert, while
globally, more than 18 million people viewed her performance. Decked in a
beautiful green-coloured flowing gown in honour of her country, Nigeria, Tiwa
thrilled the audience with her beautiful voice rendering ‘Keys to the Kingdom’, a
song she recorded with another Nigerian artiste, Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade,
popularly known as Mr. Eazi, and featured on Beyounce’s album, ‘The Lion King’.
The high point of her performance was the two Batá (talking drum) drummers
who came to play beside her, leaving the well-packed concert’s attendees
screaming for joy and asking for more.
Tiwa Savage is not the only Nigerian artiste making waves on the world stage.
Nigerian singer, David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, is another
Nigerian music artiste who cannot be pushed aside when it comes to his
achievements in the Nigerian music industry and globally. He has had over one
billion streams on the music platform, Spotify. He is also classified as one of the
most streamed Nigerian artists on Apple Music.
Burna Boy is another Nigerian Afrobeat musician making waves on the world
stage. A Grammy Award-winning artiste, Damini Ogulu always shuts down concert
venues anytime he performs outside the shores of Nigeria. He made history some
years back at the Legendary Madison Square Graden, New York, with his ‘One
Night in Space’ concert, which was sold out, and also hit a million viewers on
YouTube just six days after the show.
Another Grammy Award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter is Ayodeji
Ibrahim Balogun, professionally known as Wizkid. He is undoubtedly one of the
music stars making Nigeria proud on the music scene. His fourth album, ‘Made In

Lagos’, which was released in 2020, has sold 500,000 units in the United States
alone. Since its release, the album has recorded 322 million streams on Apple
Music, 229 million streams on Spotify, and 227 million streams on YouTube. It
also recorded over 140 million streams on Audiomack, over 40 million streams on
Boomplay, and over 20 million streams on Pandora, making a total of over 1
billion streams on Digital Service Providers (DSPs).
Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe, a.k.a Kizz Daniel’s ‘Buga’ hit track, featuring
Augustine Miles Kelechi a.k.a Tekno, became more or less a national anthem on
the lips of millions the world over. Even President George Weah of Liberia, Bola
Tinubu of Nigeria, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria amongst
other prominent personalities have shown us their dancing skills through ‘Buga’.
Another Nigerian singer, Temilade Openiyi, who is professionally known as Tems,
broke into the industry with her single, ‘Try Me’, in 2019. She has since released
other singles like ‘Crazy Tings’ in 2021, ‘Damages’ in 2020, and ‘Higher’, in 2020,
among others. She became the first African woman to win in the Best
International Act category at the 2022 BET Awards. Her hit collaboration with
Wizkid, ‘Essence’, shot her to international prominence in 2021 and earned her
the number-one spot on Billboard’s Next Big Sound Chart.
Another Nigerian Singer making waves globally is Asake. In August this year, he
practically shut down the 02 Arena in London, England, with a sold-out concert.
The crowd was so massive that it led to a stampede during which two fans were
crushed to death. The surprising part of Asake’s phenomenon is the fact that he
sang most of his songs in the Yoruba language. Artistes such as Olamide; Chibuzor
Nelson Azubuike, popularly known as Phyno; Ayra Starr; Yemi Alade; Oluwatosin
Ajibade, known as Mr. Eazi; Divine Ikubor, known as Rema, and Simisola Kosoko,
known as Simi are other musicians making waves and big money on the
international music scene.
Most of these musicians, having made a lot of money from their music, cruise in
the latest automobiles that money can buy. Some of them have private jets to
boot. Naturally, they become role models to millions of Nigerian youths. And this
is where Nigeria, as a nation, should be concerned about the lifestyle of many of
our music stars. On the dark side of the money and fame is the fact that most of
them use drugs to be able to perform and face huge crowds at concerts. It is for
this reason that some parents dissuade their wards from the klieg light.

Rather unfortunately, the Nigerian music industry has become synonymous with
drugs, crime, cultism, and early deaths, mimicking the same trend all over the
world. It is becoming a dangerous trend in Nigeria, whose music landscape used
to be calmer and more morally upright. Things started to nosedive with the
emergence of certain genres of, music and practices that mimicked that of
Western artistes. I will give some examples.
Pop music star, Michael Jackson, died on June 25, 2009, from cardiac arrest due
to a propofol overdose that was administered by his personal physician. Many
believed that Michael Jackson had been struggling with an addiction to pain
medication since his scalp injury from a fire and cosmetic surgeries. His death was
ruled a homicide after investigations found that his doctor had been
administering propofol, a powerful surgical anesthetic, for 60 days in a row to
combat his insomnia. The coroner found lethal levels of the drug in his system.
Another young singer died at the age of 27 from substance abuse. Amy
Winehouse who was reported to have struggled even before she became famous
for alcohol addiction, dabbled into hard drugs like heroin and crack cocaine and
continued to use alcohol to numb her mental health issues until July 23, 2011, she
passed away from alcohol poisoning.
Incredible vocalist and pop star, Whitney Houston, had a long history of drug use
due to the pressures of fame, a history of sexual abuse, and enablement from
people around her. Her addiction was very public and she was reported to have
sought treatment for it at least three times. In February, 2012, Houston was
found unconscious, face down in a bathtub at the age of 48. An autopsy revealed
she had Xanax, Benadryl, marijuana, the muscle relaxant, Flexeril, and cocaine in
her system, which led to her drowning in her bathtub.
Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, was also infamous as one of many
young musicians who died from a drug overdose. Jim Morrison had a long history
of alcohol and substance abuse, which was a lead cause of his death at the age of
27.
Jimi Hendrix was a heavy drug user and especially abused LSD i.e., Lysergic Acid
Diethylamide, a powerful substance that changes the way users sense the world
around them. For some days prior to his death, Hendrix had been in poor health

due to fatigue from overwork, an influenza-related illness, and a chronic lack of
sleep. On his final night, he had been out partying and consumed amphetamines.
When he arrived back home, he took 18 times the recommended amount of
sleeping pills. The next morning, he was found unresponsive and covered in
vomit. On September 18, 1970, Hendrix passed away due to barbiturate-related
asphyxia from his vomit at age 27.
Janis Joplin’s life was also tragically cut short at the age of 27 from a drug
overdose. In what appears to be a ‘club’ of famous musicians, actors, and artists
who died at that age, usually from a drug overdose, Joplin struggled with heroin
addiction and tried to get sober several times. Unfortunately, on October 4, 1970,
her road manager found her dead in her hotel room from an accidental heroin
overdose.
Billie Holiday, one of the most influential jazz singers in American history, had life
plagued with drug and alcohol abuse. As a child and teenager, she had been raped
multiple times and used alcohol and drugs to self-medicate the pain from trauma.
Her first husband introduced her to opium, which developed into a heroin
problem. She attempted rehab a few times, but her sobriety never lasted long. In
1959, she collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with
very advanced liver cancer and also went into heroin withdrawals. She died
shortly after as a result of alcohol and drug-related complications.
Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, battled with drug addiction for most of his
life. According to a family member, Cobain had been diagnosed with bipolar
disorder and had a painful digestive disorder, and he used heroin to relieve the
pain. He went to drug rehab in 1992, but relapsed and survived several heroin
overdoses over the next few years, when he began having suicidal thoughts and
tendencies. Right before his death, he left a detox center and flew back to Seattle.
Cobain was found dead in his home from a shotgun wound and an autopsy found
heroin and valium in his system. He was also only 27 years old.
Back home, our own Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, better known as Mohbad, has
sadly, joined the league of Club 27. The sad news of his untimely death has been
trending on social media, with his fans calling for justice under the hashtag: #justiceformohbad# over what they believed to be a murder by industry rivals. Was he

he a drug user? Yes. He openly took drugs in some of his music videos. Was drug
usage responsible for his death? An autopsy done last week will reveal the cause

of death when it is eventually made public. What is however sure is that he fell
into the hands of a deadly gangster by the name of Akeeb Fashola, popularly
known as Naira Marley in his bid to become a superstar. Mohbad, a young boy
from a poor family, was passionate making music, but without the needed funds,
had to look for a record label that would promote his music and turn his dream
into reality. His journey in search of fame led him to Naira Marley and marked a
turning point in his career.
Ordinarily, Naira Marley should have been a person of interest to the Nigerian
authorities the day he left the United Kingdom to relocate back to the country. He
is a known gangster and he did not hide it. He uses drugs and facts are now
emerging that he is also into drug sales and distribution in Nigeria. Although he
was arrested and charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crime
Commission (EFCC) on May 20, 2019, it was on charges bordering on money
laundering and credit card fraud.
Born in Agege, Lagos, on May 10, 1991, he relocated to the United Kingdom along
with his parents at the age of 11 but found himself in one of the deadliest
communities in the U.K. He grew up in Peckham, a deadly community known for
drug, crime, and gangsterism and it is on record that he was arrested and
detained by the UK Police on 124 different occasions. When the heat was too
much on him, he came back to the country only to establish a record label while
his rapidly expanded followers called themselves ‘Marlians’.
Unfortunately, Mohbad was signed on by Naira Marley’s record label, and it is
alleged that he wanted to pull out when he realized that there were underhand
secret tasks that he had to do that did not sit well with his conscience. But the
group won’t let him go, as they feared that he would reveal their secrets. Many
have alleged that he was hounded, harassed, and threatened until his death,
prompting Nigerians to call for investigation into the cause of his death, and
justice for the late crooner. In an ironic twist of fate, what Mohbad wanted, he
got after his demise.
It is time for the government to take a closer look at the music industry,
particularly the master-servant relationship between record labels and upcoming
music stars. Many have complained that most of the young musicians
unknowingly signed themselves into slavery and are exploited by record labels
and promoters. Even decades-old music superstar, King Sunny Ade, went through

hell and back as a young boy playing music in the early 70s in the hands of his
promoter, Chief Bolarinwa Abioro.
Music and drugs are like 5 and 6 the world over. The likes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti
and Ayinla Omowura are known names in the music industry in the 70s and 80s
that gave their best while under the influence of Marijuana and hot drinks. They
loved women too. But when musicians now transit from habitual drug users to
sellers and distributors, it is time for the government to look closely into the
industry that promotes vice under the guise of entertainment. Many youths look
to these musicians as role models, not seeing the whole true picture. On top of all
the problems bedeviling our dear country, we can’t afford to have drug peddlers
as role models for our young ones.
Rest in peace Mohbad.
See you next week.