Dear You.

Once upon a time, the comedy industry was viewed as one with the most united members.

As a reporter, I usually thought what I saw each time I was among them, was love and brotherhood. With Bovi, I saw Buchi on a Play Station things, vibing together. At AY’s Ikorodu house, I saw him and his comedy sons. In great numbers, from MC Shakara to Elenu, Akpororo, Ushbebe, and others.

When I was in Seyi Law’s house I discovered Funny Bone was living close by. When I ran stories on Lepacious Bose, Koffee, Owen Gee, and co were all together. I never knew the industry had demons. I always saw love and unity among them.Or maybe I didnt look closer. Or maybe I should have known better.

How could I assume that people will not be people? There must be issues and that’s what makes us human. Besides, since comedians are merrymakers. We tend to not know when they switch to villains and evil-doers. But when at some point we paused and took some notes. We made some allusions. We just talked about it and wondered aloud. One of such time was when a comedian so heavily talented kicked the bucket in the most mysterious ways.

A rising star cut short. We wondered if it was village people. Or if it was darkness amongst jealous colleagues. We may never know for sure. But CD John was gifted and wasted. May his soul continue to Rest In Peace. And those living as well should also find some peace. Charles Inojie, the Nollywood actor, is preaching that same peace and love. He had this to say on the fresh beef between Julius Agwu and AY:

“I wish this could stop already. No matter how much we try to justify ourselves on both sides of the divide, it would ultimately leads to more divisions.I want to appeal to all the mutual friends of the feuding parties to desist from fuelling the embers of hate by taking sides. Rather, they should work toward genuine reconciliation and allow peace and reason to prevail. All men are eternally vulnerable. None is free of the weakness of blameworthiness.Sometimes, a greeting that we inadvertently deny a prompt response, a kind gesture that we did not reciprocate at all or in the manner the benefactor anticipates, a harmless statement that we completely misconstrue, unverified hearsay, etc, could all add up to become what they were never originally intended to be.Things happen, brothers fight, but it should never obliterate the good times they shared yesterday.”

Understandably, there would be competition among these Nigerians. After all, we see that in the music industry. Davido and Burna Boy still don’t see eye to eye. Wizkid has ceased fire since the Timeless crooner lost his son. Perhaps Wizkid has seen how fickle this life is. Understanding Davido’s lost could have been anyone’s loss. A reminder to all everyone, including these comedians. Life is too short for beef. But that’s from a perspective, many could still view it from another perspective. And say, life is too short to keep up with the boring peace and friendliness.

This beef has produced hot podcasts and made money for some media platforms. Provided gist and engagement for many. Maybe we need more. Certainly, all can’t be that cool between Seyi Law and MC Shakara. In that podcast with Ebuka, Basket Mouth talked about Gbenga Adeyinka. He even dragged Opa Williams of the A Night Of A Thousand Laugh fame. Maybe they should reply. We need gist. We need entertainment. Without Will Smith’s slap, there would never have been Chris Rock’s Netflix’ Selective Outrage special.

Thanks to the Beast in Basket Mouth, AY had content in the Easter show. Who knew Julius Agwu was still hosting shows? Thanks to this beef. He is sharing a bite from the trend. The last time dude was worth talking about it was about his marriage. Maybe now his show will catch some fire. And who has noticed, Bovi has been either dry or not really cutting it with his shows. His own chitchat with the same Chude only caused a spark.

The fire wasn’t enough so he had to do a post trolling AY with a pic of AY and Basket Mouth. That raised some smoke. While AY raced home with too much money made from his Easter show. That show was a hit in terms of attendance. Car owners who arrived 5 hours before the show had nowhere to park. What I like about the whole beef is the fact that none of the wrestlers are lonely.

They all have people in their corners. But the smartest ones among them all are those not taking sides. Okey Bakassi is on both stages. He is with Basket Mouth and also with AY. I Go Dye is with Basket Mouth and also with AY. Chude spoke with AY. Ebuka spoke with Basket Mouth. Nedu spoke with Basket Mouth. But only one of the hosts picked a side. We can’t blame the host. He was only servicing the one that butters his bread.

Your Beef spotter Ediale #ForTheCulture

PS: There’s a market for beef.