Mohammed Shosanya
Nigerian actor, Yomi Fabiyi, has faulted a post by his colleague Jaiyeola Kuti, slamming veteran Yoruba colleagues who beg Nigerians for financial assistance on social media in difficult times.
Jaiye had in a viral Instagram criticized the veterans for their poor financial decisions over the years, adding that their action is bringing disrepute to the Theatre Arts And Motion Pictures Practitioners Association Of Nigeria (TAMPAN) body and its members.
She said: “We have the Yoruba and English sectors and those in the English sector have members who face hard times but seek help amongst themselves. Our members, on the other hand, have ridiculed us with their need to publicly beg for help, to the point that many now see Yoruba actors as wretched all because some people did not prepare for their future.”
Acknowledging the power of social media,Jaiye punched Yoruba actors who use these platforms to seek help constantly, adding that it is making people believe that the entertainment industry isn’t profitable.”
But Fabiyi, in a post on his Instagram page, slammed the actress calling her “arrogant” and asking that she let these people breathe if she has no help to offer.
He said: “If anybody needs help and indeed comes public with his or her brand, name, and face only, I don’t see why it should bother anyone. If you cannot find the means to recover all these veterans’ losses via piracy and exploitation by capitalists, then let them breathe. We, new millennium actors, are a little luckier but not better.
“We must learn to respect people’s decisions, choices, and actions. All man for himself. Comparison is proof of nothing. I prefer these veterans’ stars to seek charity than go into drug Trafficking, Fraud, Rituals, etc just to survive their present hardship. Maybe this charity should be in a more packaged means because truth be told, many old actors are suffering in silence and likely to die disgracefully if they don’t seek help
“Let it be clear, no matter how uncomfortable and displeased you are with someone’s actions or decisions, if it is not against the law of the land and falls within the rights of the person, it is an outright arrogance, crime, and grandeur of delusion to attempt to rubbish such person. Caveat!”
