IN the Holy Bible, we were told there are two roads. The narrow and the wide one. The wide one leads to hell while the narrow one takes you to your destination. The one that lead to heaven and the one that leads to destruction. The Christians will describe the wide one as the road that leads to everlasting fire.
I love the Yorubas with their “ shakara” way of doing things, especially when it comes to “ yabis” or fighting.
I once lived in an area known as Empire, very close to Ayilara in Lagos. That place is one of the routes that leads to destruction. It is a place where anything and everything happens. What do you think of a child that is born and bred there?
Worse than that place is Ajegunle, unlike Empire, this place produces stars like musicians and footballers. It is one of the ghettos in Lagos.
The Yorubas will always tell you that it is fun watching a madman but no one would want to have him as a child. From one of those suburb areas emerged one Okikiola, a.k.a Portable. He is an upcoming musician. He is famous, talented but with a stain.
His level of nuisance knows no limit. He worships money and money worships him. He is a true child from the ghettos. The type from Iyara in Warri.
However, his fans, including yours, ignore his personality and dance to his music. His music has no doubt brought him fame, honour and at the same time humiliation. He once jumped fence when the law enforcement agents came for him. He smokes what could be termed weeds publicly yet his fans adore him.
Majority of his fans live in ghettos. There was a time he was brought to play for the learned ones and many kicked against it. They walked out and vowed never to allow such person in their midst.
Recently, in faraway America, he met Davido, a senior man in the music industry. The Osogbo-born artist who is said to be a billionaire welcomed him, entertained and bought him a pair of shoe worth millions.
However, Portable needed a different thing having not been satisfied with just a shoe gift. Prompt, on an Instagram live expressed his dissatisfaction with Davido. It was widely condemned by Nigerians but musicians are known for that. It could be a gimmick to attract more fans. Davido on his own sent a message too but not in the way of Portable. To many people, that route will destroy Portable but time will tell.
While many could tolerate that of Portable, not so with Victor Osimhen, winner of 2023 African Footballer of the year, who just exposed himself that like Portable, he too grew up in the ghetto.
No matter how you bath a pig, take him to anywhere, he will end up behaving like a pig. Osimhen has seen money, fame with thousands of fans adoring him for his skill in the round leather game.
Recently, Osimhen caused a firestorm in Nigeria and beyond after a live video, like Portable, slamming Coach George Finidi. He could not hold his rage back until a friend in the room with him managed to take the phone from him.
Hear Osimhen to Finidi and to an extent, Nigerians.” Ogun kill you there. Eni Ku re. Ti alale ba niko ye yin, ala ro o ni je. Meaning, May God of thunder kill his alleged adversaries. His alleged adversaries shall have disastrous death. If the God of fortune says your success shall endure the night, the joy will never come in the morning “.
He mentioned Coach Finidi’s name many times, forgetting that what Coach Finidi achieved in his playing career, he may not achieve that in his life time.
For the records, Finidi won the Champions League with Ajax, won FA Cup, won the League, played in two World Cups. Not to talk of his Coaching career with Enyimba Football Club ,where he won the league and as an assistant Coach to the National Team. Whether Finidi failed or not, it is on record that he once handled the National team.
Many Football fans, journalists have come out in clear terms to condemn what Osimhen did and admonish him to return to the narrow path,- which lead to heaven. Portable may have done his own and gone away with it but not so in the football world. To them, Osimhen is a role model or should be one to the younger ones in the round leather game. They see him as a star that could help the country win laurels but he can be treated like a leper too.
To worsen the matter, Osimhen did not hear from Finidi before coming out like Portable to express his view. Yes, Osimhen grew up in the Ajegunle area but we have seen many” omoluabi,” good footballers with manner from that ghetto. My candid advice to Osimhen is to apologise to Finidi and Nigerians. He should remember that pride goes before a fall. Many enlightened people are already moving away from Portable for they see him as some form of nuisance. News has it that many of the big clubs who have shown interest in Victor Osimhen have pulled out. His rating has since gone down and if not checked, may dwindle further.
He should employ a PR man to handle issues for him and know when to open his mouth. He for now cannot do away with the Super Eagles while the Super Eagles can do away with him. That will be disastrous for him. He should ask those who have passed through this route before him. The Portable route will destroy his career. A stitch in time saves nine.
