A Canadian based Nigerian ideator known as Femi Shine has responded to Simi’s post on Yahoo boys in a long rant on Instagram.
If you may remember, Simi had posted a video on her instagram story where she ranted about the lifestyle of Yahoo Boys and how the world reacts to Nigerians based on this. She had said in the video:
“They are laughing at us. They are laughing at us. I am repeating it because I have seen it. Do you know how many Nigerians going to business meetings or just get the smallest opportunity for themselves to make it and they leave with nothing because they are Nigerian. That’s the only excuse they get. ‘Sorry, we can’t work with Nigerians.’ ”
She continued on by saying that one did not have to like her or her music to really see the truth in what she was saying. She said:
“Common guys. You don’t have to like my music, You don’t have to send me, but you see, I am not the enemy. I can easily sit down and pretend that nothing is wrong and just make money, smile, cheers blah blah, but the thing is, I care too much. It’s just the way I’m wired. I don’t know how to be a passive person.”
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“Take your sermon to the slums of #Bariga,” Canada-based Nigerian Ideator tells #Simi. [Swipe]
Well, she got a lot of mixed responses to her video with some like M.I. Abaga calling her “courageous” for it and some not necessarily agreeing with her delivery. One of those is Femi Shine, an ideator whose thoughts are shared usually via @lagoscitystories on Instagram. He believed that Simi was being an elitist and he did not hesitate to share his opinion via his instagram. He wrote:
“ I hesitated to address your recent pep talk because I’d sound hypocritical and my stand will be morally selective which is not my intent. Simi, I’m glad you’ve made headway in this treacherous industry even though I’m not a fan of your music. Your voice annoys me. You remind me of a CAC chorister back in my uni hostel who would wake the whole hostel up singing Tope Alabi’s songs whilst doing her laundry by the well. I’ve never bought your album/songs and I hurriedly skip them when they pop up in my streams. I’m not a hater, just absolutely not a fan. I pray you continue to be successful in your career.”
He continued on to criticise her for “her lack of exposure” by writing:
“On your recent tirade. Simi, you behaved like an out of touch elitist and showed that you lacked exposure and empathy to the plight of people who live on the unsavoury side. From what I deduced, you went to aa private school and from the known fees, I guess your parents are possibly middle class or well off. Therefore your rose petaled path through life has clouded your idea of what the reality of life on the streets of Nigeria is.”
After sharing some of the horrible conditions he had witnessed including a sad situation where a friend of his had died due to lack of care of his sickle cell condition and how his father had to dump his body in the lagoon because they couldn’t afford to bury him, he criticised the government on it’s lack of care for citizens by writing:
“Our government is committing capital murder in the way our citizens are being treated. I call it capital murder because there is no reason why any Nigerian should die from malaria in 2019! But it’s happening. As you’re reading this, some young girls are braving the perils of the desert and high seas which include rape, kidnapping and death to get to Europe just to get there and go through the unimaginable to raise funds for their families back home. Simi, you can’t walk in their sand filled shoes! You’d say they have a choice and there are jobs. That’s easily said on paper. There are no jobs!!! There’s absolutely nothing and penury is the order of the day. A lot of people are burying their conscience in a bid to survive in Nigeria. Do you think the ladies of the night when asked as kids said ‘I’d like to stand y the road all night and offer my body to be plowed by different phalluses till the break of dawn and beyond’. The government has failed them, the church that is supposed to be the bedrock of morality in the community is ripping the people off their hard earned sweat in exchange for placebo hopes. Don’t attack the dejected and rejected Simi. You were beating your chest saying you care. Alright, take your sermon to the slums of Bariga and I pray you come back unscathed.”
Simi is yet to respond.