Music journalist, Joey Akan has alleged that Naira Marley’s concert which was scheduled to hold in Cameroon yesterday, February 14th, was disrupted by the country’s Special Forces Soldiers.
According to the journalist, tickets to the special Valentine’s Day concert which was initially scheduled to hold in Buea, the capital of the Southwest region were sold out before Cameroonian entertainers appealed to their government to ban the event.
He also alleged that the show was banned on grounds of Naira Marley being a bad influence on Cameroonian youths.
Taking to Twitter, Akan wrote,
“Yesterday, a Naira Marley concert scheduled to hold in Cameroon, didn’t happen. Special Forces Soldiers flooded the venue, scattered it, and chased everyone away, despite Marley being in the country, and ready to hit the stage. Why? Hate and beef from Cameroonian artists.
For months, there has been a growing anti-Nigerian movement, with many disgruntled entertainers calling for a ban on Nigerian music. This movement is led by a struggling comedian named CY International. A promoter named Prince Enobi, organized a special Valentine’s Day concert.
Naira Marley was booked, to perform in Buea, the capital of the Southwest region. The heart of Anglophone Cameroon. Expensive tickets were sold out, and event was set. But the show did not hold. Cameroon entertainers kicked. They went to Yaounde to ask government to ban it.
They banded, went to the minister of Arts and Culture to ban the concert. Their excuse; Naira Marley is a bad influence on Cameroonian youth, who smokes Igbeaux, and has a sex tape. The minister cancelled the show in Buea. But the Promoter was adamant. He’s invested heavily.
He moved the show from Buea to Limbe. These entertainers still went to call the special forces arm of the military. They showed up and scattered the stage and venue. Promoter still moved show to Douala, the entertainers still showed up there and scattered the venue.
Naira Marley didn’t perform, but he’s been paid. He lands Nigeria today. What this means is that the Cameroonians have declared war on the Nigerian music industry, and have acted on it due to hate and inferiority complex. They blame us for everything. Pan Africanism in the mud.
In the past 5 years, Anglophone Cameroon has not seen a major concert due to the crisis. And the first show they were meant to have, they called the same oppressive military to help chase their fellow Africans away and frustrate their local businesses looking to benefit.
This won’t end well. It’s a slippery slope, leading to a lot of dangerous events for the art, and the industry. If we begin cultural xenophobia, it’s their industry that will bear the brunt. Either they nip this in the bud, or it’ll become a full war with no real winners.
