By David-Chyddy Eleke
A video of Amaju Pinnick, former President of Nigeria Football Federal (NFF) has surfaced on the internet, where he claimed that he as a member of Warri Day festival organizing committee paid afro beat star, Davido, the sum of $94,600, and booked him a private jet of $18,000 to perform for them, but the star never showed up.
The other time, it was Kizz Daniel in Tanzania. He received a whooping $60,000, and was flown to the country to perform. He’d actually fly into the country, and while the atmosphere was charged, and fun seekers expressing happiness that the Buga cronner was already around – boom! He told his host that he forgot a certain necklace which he planned to wear on stage, in one of his luggage in Nigeria.
Not even the plea that he already had two other necklaces around his neck could make him bulge. At the end, he didn’t perform.
This is not the first time things like these are happening. I have read of poor university students contributing money and paying into the account of popular music acts, hoping to be entertained, and on the D day, the acts fail to show up. Worst is that they will never find it worthy to explain to their clients why they didn’t honour the agreement.
What beats me most is that in most cases, these acts never get to return the monies they were paid. Pray, is there an unwritten rule somewhere that you can’t return money paid to you, for services you failed to rendered? Each time I hear stories like this, I just shudder and start imagining what poverty has done to my psyche.
You pay $94,600 to a man who has just one head, and he bluffed you and all you can do is stand on stage and yab him, no court action, no itu alusi (suing him to a deity), nothing. You just yab him on stage and that ends it? Amaju, you no try.
For the avoidance of doubt, the money we are talking about here is $94,600 is roughly N72 million. That is what an association of persons who were seeking good entertainment paid to a certain ‘boy’ of a music star, and he ignored them, and even wasted the $18,000 private jet that was to convey him to venue (that is additional N20m).
It is for the sake of poverty that I see small issues like $94,600 as a big matters.
I remember drinking a bottle of water in a mechanic workshop one day, and paying N200, and forgetting to collect my N50 balance. The last time I was there, I took another bottle, and when the man asked for money, I gave him N100. He insisted, and I reminded him he owed me N50 and that settled the matter. That is what poverty can do to a man. Not to talk of when I deposit a princely N72million in your account and you fail to deliver. I will take a mat and sleep Infront of your gate, until you pay. That’s how poor folks like me think. Small money dey always big for our eyes.
Meanwhile, Davido has defended himself by stating that he told organisers of the show that he would not be around to perform. Taking to his Instagram story on Sunday, Davido clarified that he had notified the event organisers in advance that he wouldn’t be able to attend. Nevertheless, they persisted in promoting the show using his name.
He said, “To my lovely fans in Warri that spent their hard-earned money to come out apologies that you had to experience this. I was not going to be physically able to make it and this had been communicated to ‘them’ for a longgggg while now I mean MONTHS ago but for reasons best known to them, they continued to promote the show using my name. It’s a shame. But especially for my fans out there, don’t worry, you know I gotta bring Timeless to Delta State. We will do it proper, bigger and better!
Proper, bigger and better? What does that mean? Did you give them your account number of not? When you notified them you weren’t going to make it, did you refund them or not?
About another time, to do it proper, bigger and better – may I ask, is it for another N72million? Will the organizers of Warri Day have to hold two event in one year, for an event that was supposed to be annual just because ‘Lord Davido’ talked about a proper, bigger and better time? These stars just take far more than they can chew, and it’s appalling. That is how boycott starts. Naira Marley has become humble these few days and no longer brandishing weed in our faces.
As for Amaju Pinnick and his committee, my poverty mentality is telling me that losing close to N100million on just one musician is unacceptable. They can use the Arthur Eze versus Andy Uba style to recover their money. Approach a court, obtain a garnishee order, take tow vans and move straight to Davido’s mansion in Banana Island Lagos, and make away with as many as possible of those wonders on wheels he serenades use with on Instagram, until he pays. Until this happen, stars will continue to assume they can breach contracts and get away with it. He should be made the bear the cost of the jet booked in his name and also pay compensation for breaching the contract.
We love Davido, no be say dem go make us yeye ontop our money.
Enough said!
