As a citizen of Nigeria, 2Baba’s right to protest is protected in the Constitution. As an artist, he has the creative license to lend his voice to any cause he wishes and as a musical icon, who is also politically-aware, he has earned the right for that protest to be taken seriously. What 2Baba, however, hasn’t earned is the right to have his positions go unchallenged. No one does.

The legendary singer recently announced a ‘massive’ nationwide protest scheduled for February 5, 2017. The protest is being organized by the group Nigeria First Partners. Among other things, the protest’s agenda is to push for good governance at all levels and ask for an urgent explanation of the recent economic downturn in the country. Few will disagree with these objectives, to say that the vast majority of Nigerians are deeply worried about the direction of the country will be an understatement. However, while we can all agree with the broader objectives of the protest, we should never be afraid to question the actual motive of the players. Who are the Nigeria First Partners? Who are its founders? Who are the other partners, silent or otherwise? Is there a political undertone to the movement? We need to know.

Yes, Nigerians are suffering but the growth of this protest feels inorganic and its movement feels slightly detached from the people it claims to want to stand up for. A lot can change in the next few days but so far, the march hasn’t gathered a broad enough coalition from members of the public, labor, the opposition and civil society for it to be truly effective. There is simply no great clamor for the masses to take to the streets – even though, with all that has gone wrong in the last year and a half, there ought to be!

The protests will be held in conjunction with the group Enough is Enough who have a clearer track record of citizen engagement of this nature. At this point, it’s probably in the best interest of any other interest groups involved to emerge out of the singer’s considerable shadow and make an intellectual case for the protest. There’s also a gap in how this protest will produce actionable points, so that it doesn’t become an exercise in futility or worst still, get hijacked by ill-meaning politicians like most other protests in our part of the world. As long as he remains the solitary leader of the movement, Nigeria First stakes its entirely credibility on the shoulder’s of just one man.

However, if there is one celebrity that has the ears of the masses, it’s 2Baba. Mr. Idibia is one of the most politically astute artist of his generation, so much so that he constantly gets quizzed about whether he sees himself running for office some day. The legendary singer hasn’t fully embraced the idea, you do get the sense that there are parts of politics that he detests strongly. There are several moments in his catalogue where 2Baba admonished politicians, in general, for bad governance. Songs like “For Instance” (2006) and “E Be Like Say” (2006) helped the singer build the political cache over time that he’s expending on this protest.

See why do you keep on deceiving the people, my brother… my sister?

See why do you make all these people to dey fight one another?

Oh no, only God can judge you now

 

Other songs like “Vote Not Fight” (2015) are more direct and politically-charged. That song in particular was part of Enough is Enough’s R.S.V.P (Register, Select, Vote and Protect) campaign for the 2015 election. RSVP was largely a non-partisan movement, especially in its early stages, but there are also moments in his personal life and in the music that 2Baba hasn’t always been politically neutral. On the song “I Dey Feel Like” (2006), the singer practically handpicked half a dozen politicians of the time and eulogizes them in a sycophantic praise-singer fashion.

I dey feel like Obasanjo because you love me

I dey feel like Tinubu because you care for me

I dey feel like Jolly Nyame because you dey burn my heart

I dey feel like Akume because you dey feel me

I dey feel like Atiku, because you want me

I dey feel like Donald Duke, because you dey buy things for me

But perhaps his most damning political affiliation was at his 2013 traditional wedding where the singer and his wife Annie received lavish gifts from Godwin Akpabio, the sitting governor of Akwa Ibom state and Senator David Mark, the Senate President at the time. Sen. Akpabio presented the couple a gift of two brand new Toyota Prado SUV’s, he also reportedly promised to bankroll an all-expense paid trip for 29 delegates from the state to attend their white wedding in Dubai and to rehabilitate the Eket-Ibeno Road ahead of the dedication of the couple’s next child.

Annie Idibia receiving the keys to the SUV from the State Commissioner for Information Aniekan Umanah

At the equally lavish Dubai wedding, the couple was also gifted with a brand new 2013 Chevy Corvette sports car worth almost $50,000, which Senator Mark vehemently denied came from him, despite his name being boldly written on the gift card.

The Chevrolet Corvette reportedly gifted to the couple

Perhaps Sen. Mark feared the backlash from his constituency for such a show of ostentation but 2Baba is no public servant, so by all means, it’s his prerogative to accept gifts from whomever he pleases. However, you cannot discount these extravagant gifts and gestures when trying to piece together the singer’s actual political stance – 2Baba cannot have his cake and eat it too. Annie is from Akwa Ibom while he and Sen. Mark come from Benue state, so at least you understand the context for the gifts, but did the money come from the state’s coffers or from the leader’s own pockets?

As fate would have it, a number of the politicians 2Baba cozied up with are no longer in power and have been fingered in a number of international and local corruption investigations after their tenures ended. It is not a good look for 2Baba’s legacy as a political activist for him to have affiliations to government officials, never mind those with dodgy reputations. 2Baba idolizes Fela and Bob Marley, two music icons who earned their stripes as social activists by using their influence and celebrity to criticize the actions of all bad politicians all of the time. While he adopts this same approach most of the time, 2Baba simply hasn’t done it all of the time. His past affiliations have therefore compromised 2Baba’s position and there are genuine question marks about his objectivity. The question for the singer now is – has Nigeria been bad all these years, even when you were the darling of those in power, or are you simply protesting when the country became bad for you?

He who comes into equity must come with clean hands. Some of the issues 2Baba enumerated that the protest seeks to address such as youth unemployment, inequality and corruption did not start today, the timing therefore seems politically convenient. Perhaps if he had lent his voice to speak about the menace of Fulani herdsmen in his state the same way he did with the Jostified campaign a few years ago, at least he would have drummed up grassroots support from people in his state that would have given him a platform for a broader national cause. Although, having said that, the decision of what to protest and how to protest it rests squarely with him.

2Baba has received a lot of backlash for his decision to spearhead the Nigeria First protest and I have read a few of those remarks. While I am not opposed to a protest in principle, questions need to be asked of him and the organizers over the the next couple of days. The counter argument that we ought to ignore the messenger and focus on his message is a sensible argument, but the notion that Nigerians ought to swallow 2Baba’s advocacy hook, line and sinker because it comes from a place of altruism – and that being a man of great wealth, he might as well have kept quiet and watched the rest of us suffer – is incredibly insulting.

A lot of the attacks against 2Baba have been personal and insulting as well, I think he need not dignify remarks from his eternally scorned former band mate Blackface and Prof. Akindele Akintoye with responses; the professor has since apologized for his comments. While I disagree with their methodology, I do understand the premise of their comments. We need to hold celebrity’s feet to the fire when they choose to delve into the murky waters of politics and social activism because of the enormous influence they wield in the public space, lest they lead us further astray. Our politicians have let us down enough, the last thing we need is for our music icons to do the same and compound the problem.

Besides, just as 2Baba’s colleagues like MI, Burna Boy and Davido have the right to stand beside him as he marches on February 5th, as many as want to sit on the fence (respectfully) also have the right to do so, that is, until we have a clearer idea of where the 2Baba-led Nigeria First march is actually headed.