Popular stand-up comedian, Basketmouth
(real name is Bright Okpocha) ,was at the receiving end of flak from
fans on Wednesday after he announced plans to host a live concert, which
will feature appearances by Patoranking, Wizkid, Olamide and comedians
from South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria, at the Apollo in London on
February 14.
In an open invitation posted on
Instagram on Wednesday, the comedian indicated that he has made an offer
of free entry to only students who register for the show at a specified
online address.
But some Nigerians reacted to the offer
with mixed feelings. While some kicked against the timing of the
concert, which coincides with the date of the scheduled 2015
presidential election in Nigeria, and accused the comedian of planning
to distract his fans from the poll, others rose quickly in his defence.
Wondering if Basketmouth’s real
intention was to avoid casting his vote on that day, a respondent
commented, “It’s so sad to see people who are role models do this.
Why
must you have a show on the day the Federal Government has declared
elections? It is Valentine’s Day, but we need to respect the authorities
and our country.”
Reacting to the information, one
Trevonatoe said Basketmouth would not dare host a concert on Election
Day if he were a citizen of the USA. But he advised the comedian to “get
wise” and show some respect to his country.
But, reacting to calls to Basketmouth to
postpone the concert and stay put in Nigeria till the end of the
general elections, Ashagangagali appealed to other respondents to
consider the trouble that the comedian had to go through to organise the
event.
He wrote, “Basketmouth started planning
his Valentine’s Day event since last year, I trust, as a professional.
Who would have thought that the Federal Government would choose that day
to host an election and at a very short notice? Now the question is;
should the comedian cancel his own show, after spending a lot of money
and resources, because of the election? Who will pay his children’s
school fees, if he does that?”
Source: PUNCH
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