How Burna Boy’s No Sign of Weakness Actually Showed Us His Weakness
Burna Boy is 34, but his face sometimes looks like 45…life happens. What concerns me is not his age or even his talent. I don’t think he is more gifted than Tuface, and his songs will never age as gracefully as Tuface’s. What gave Burna his rise was how loudly he announced himself as “the best thing to ever happen to Africa.”
Pride is not all the time bad, especially when you know your worth. But when pride marries arrogance, the child they give birth to is what I call “pridrogance.”
And this pridrogance is not just Burna Boy’s problem. It is a Nigerian problem.
I have been to Denver, Colorado. The people there are courteous, respectful, and calm. Their default setting is to treat others with dignity. If you walk toward a door with a Coloradan or an American, they will likely open it for you. They will talk to you nicely. If they mistakenly beat a traffic light, they feel guilty, as though they endangered someone else’s life. They may even go for confession just for that or for driving above the speed limit.
Now compare that to Nigeria.
Drive on the streets of Lagos or Abuja and see how insults fly around like Wi-Fi. One day, I stopped because the light turned red. The driver behind me insulted me: “Idiot! Move now. Be smart.” In Nigeria, obeying traffic rules makes you the foolish one.
Come to Facebook and read comment sections. Many Nigerians don’t know how to disagree without throwing insults. Some of you talk to your maids, apprentices, and junior staff like they are subhuman. With small money and small fame, we become mini-dictators. We want security guards, we want to bark orders, we want people to bow.
And sadly, this attitude is even worse among some church ministers.
This is why the Burna Boy incident matters. He kicked someone during his show in Nigeria and we laughed.
If that happened in America, he would have been sued without hesitation.
We tolerate nonsense from ourselves, so our government also treats us anyhow since we are anyhow people. Leadership mirrors the people.
So before you drag Burna Boy, use this moment to check yourself. Because the weakness we see in him is the same weakness living comfortably in many of us. The sign of weakness is everywhere. E dey cry!
#PurestPurity
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