I’m genuinely confused about this whole Afrobeats to the world narrative when Burna Boy had to cancel his Abuja show last month because of logistics costs, and Davido was complaining about transportation expenses for his band. With fuel at 847 naira per liter and inflation choking everyone, how sustainable is this “global domination” when the foundation at home is cracking? Are we just deceiving ourselves with international awards while our own entertainment industry suffers?
Abdullahi MusaFresher
Why are we still celebrating Afrobeats global success when our artists can’t even afford fuel to their own shows?
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My brother, you've touched the real matter. I remember when Fela used to struggle to power his Afrika Shrine with generator fuel in the 80s, and here we are in 2024 with the same wahala. Na the same story since Babangida time - we celebrate our stars abroad while the home front dey crumble. I watcheRead more
My brother, you’ve touched the real matter. I remember when Fela used to struggle to power his Afrika Shrine with generator fuel in the 80s, and here we are in 2024 with the same wahala.
Na the same story since Babangida time – we celebrate our stars abroad while the home front dey crumble. I watched how our musicians in the 90s like Onyeka Onwenu and Majek Fashek had to relocate abroad because the infrastructure here no gree them prosper. Now Burna Boy fit sell out Madison Square Garden but can’t guarantee he go reach Abuja show because of fuel cost – wetin be this na?
The truth be say we dey celebrate symptoms while ignoring the disease. These boys blow for outside because oyinbo countries get the infrastructure wey we no get – steady light, good roads, reliable fuel supply. But make we no lie ourselves, if Davido dey complain about moving his band around Nigeria, then something fundamentally wrong with our priorities as a nation.
See lessMy friend, I've seen this movie before - during Fela's time, we were conquering the world with Afrobeat while NEPA was busy doing "up NEPA, down NEPA" and fuel queues stretched from Obalende to Tafawa Balewa Square. The irony sweet me die - our artists dey collect Grammy nominations while they can'tRead more
My friend, I’ve seen this movie before – during Fela’s time, we were conquering the world with Afrobeat while NEPA was busy doing “up NEPA, down NEPA” and fuel queues stretched from Obalende to Tafawa Balewa Square.
The irony sweet me die – our artists dey collect Grammy nominations while they can’t afford to fuel generator for their own studios! Na the same way we been dey celebrate Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka internationally while our universities were on strike for months.
Make we no lie ourselves – this global success na real thing, but if Burna Boy wey dey sell out Madison Square Garden cannot comfortably move his equipment from Lagos to Abuja because of fuel cost, then something fundamental don spoil.
E be like say we dey export our best while the foundation wey supposed support am dey crumble. I remember when Sunny Ade was touring America in the 80s during military rule – same pattern, global recognition but home base suffering. History just dey repeat itself with better camera angles and social media hype.
See lessMy brother, I work at Access Bank and I have to respectfully disagree with you here. Yes, fuel is expensive and logistics costs are biting hard - we see it in our corporate banking portfolio daily when event companies come for facilities. But make we no lie, these same artists are making serious forRead more
My brother, I work at Access Bank and I have to respectfully disagree with you here. Yes, fuel is expensive and logistics costs are biting hard – we see it in our corporate banking portfolio daily when event companies come for facilities. But make we no lie, these same artists are making serious foreign exchange from international shows and streaming platforms that’s actually helping our economy. When Burna Boy performs at Madison Square Garden or Davido sells out O2 Arena, that’s dollars flowing back home even if local shows are struggling. The real issue isn’t celebrating their global success – na the policy environment wey we need to fix so the benefits can trickle down properly to support local infrastructure.
See lessMy brother, I hear you but make we think am well. Yes, fuel don cost and logistics na wahala, but you think say international success no dey help these artists handle the home front? When Burna Boy dey collect millions of dollars from overseas shows, that money still dey enter Nigerian economy - heRead more
My brother, I hear you but make we think am well. Yes, fuel don cost and logistics na wahala, but you think say international success no dey help these artists handle the home front? When Burna Boy dey collect millions of dollars from overseas shows, that money still dey enter Nigerian economy – he go pay his band, his crew, rent studios for Lagos. The problem no be say Afrobeats no dey successful globally, na say our government no fit provide basic infrastructure wey go make the local shows cheaper to organize. Instead of canceling the global celebration, make we use that international leverage to pressure government – if Davido fit sell out O2 Arena, why Eko Atlantic no fit get proper power supply for his Lagos show?
See lessMehn, you've touched on something that's been bothering me since I started seeing artists tweet about show cancellations. As someone who's watched startups here struggle with basic logistics - I remember when Jumia was burning cash just to move packages around Lagos because of fuel costs - the enterRead more
Mehn, you’ve touched on something that’s been bothering me since I started seeing artists tweet about show cancellations. As someone who’s watched startups here struggle with basic logistics – I remember when Jumia was burning cash just to move packages around Lagos because of fuel costs – the entertainment industry is facing the exact same infrastructure wahala.
The thing is, Afrobeats global success is real, but it’s built on international streaming revenue and foreign shows where the economics actually work. When Burna performs at Coachella, he’s getting paid in dollars and the logistics are handled by people who have reliable power and fuel supply chains. But bring that same artist back to Nigeria where diesel generators cost 1.5k per liter to run sound equipment, and fuel to move equipment from Lagos to Abuja costs more than some people’s annual salary – the math just doesn’t add up.
I’ve seen this pattern in tech too. Nigerian developers building world-class products for international clients while struggling to afford decent internet at home. We’re exporting our talent and creativity because the local infrastructure can’t support the value we’re creating. It’s not that we’re deceiving ourselves about the success – Wizkid really is selling out O2 Arena – but we’re celebrating the symptom while ignoring the disease.
The real question is: how do we build an entertainment industry that works domestically? Because right now, our biggest artists are essentially international acts who happen to be from Nigeria, not Nigerian acts who’ve gone international.
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