Internet-based encyclopedia, Wikipedia, defined Celebrity as “A person who has a high degree of recognition by the general population for his or her success or accomplishments; a famous person.” The same encyclopedia defined Nudity as “The state of being in which a human is without clothing or specifically not covering the genitals.” The Merriam Webster Dictionary defined Trend as “A general direction of change: a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common.” While the Oxford Languages dictionary defined Current as “Belonging to the present time; happening or being used or done now.”
Yeyebrity is an anglicisation of the Yoruba word Yẹ̀yẹ́ which means ridicule, funny, joke. In Pidgin terms, it means “Useless and senseless: Of a person or a thing (Naijalingo). Yeyebrity is a mock term for a celebrity.
Nudity in the Nigerian entertainment industry or even in showbiz worldwide is not a new trend. But however, anyone who is abreast with trends in the industry will notice that there has been a tremendous and ludicrous increase in the shameless venture recently.
Penultimate week, the mediasphere was awash with the news of Nigerian songstress, Tiwa Savage’s X-rated tape after she broke the news herself during an interview; alleging that a blackmailer is threatening to leak her s*x tape but she won’t pay an undisclosed amount the blackmailer is allegedly demanding.
She claimed that the video was accidentally posted on Snapchat by her lover who deleted it after he realised his error but it had already been downloaded by a stalker.
“I am not going to call it a s*x tape but it’s a tape between me and the person I am dating right now,” Savage told radio host Angie Martinez of Power FM, New York.
“I am that crazy I could put it out myself – you are not making any money off me,” she added.
Few days later, the s*x tape of the 41-year old woman surfaced online – full-frontal nudity.
The fan bases’ bickerings (what social media users called banter), clout chasings, fawnings and the unprecedented rush to see the p0rn video, that ensued further exposed the lewdness and falling moral standard of our society.
While netizens (internet users) were still basking in the euphoria of Savage’s s*x tape, former Big Brother Naija ‘Shine Ya Eye’ housemate, Ikechukwu Sunday, alias Cross, served another round of nudity. And like the former “Marvin first lady”, he claimed he accidentally posted his genitals on Snapchat.
Cross had shared a naked picture of himself on Snapchat and captioned it, “shower time.”
But, defending his action in an interview with TVC E Splash, the former reality star insisted “it was just a simple mistake”.
“It was a simple mistake. It wasn’t a big deal. It was like a mistake. As I said earlier, I’m not really back with my phone. Once in a while, I keep using it. So I didn’t know that Snapchat had changed a lot of features. So it was a mistake,” Cross said.
The viral nude picture was trailed with mixed reactions. Most of which was a broad daylight scarification of morality on the altar of stan culture and obnoxious sentiments.
His fellow former Big Brother Naija ‘Shine Ya Eye’ housemate, Roseline Omokhoa Afije, popularly known as Liquorose, quickly became the center of attention after attended an event almost naked in see-through dress and no bra – Her black panties and her breasts were on display.
As expected, the dress of the reality star-cum-lewdster sparked heavy reactions both online and offline.
The velocity at which her cult-like fanbase, Liquolions defended her nonsense was pathetisad.
Someone even said she forgot her bra at home.
Within the last few months, several celebrities’ nude photos and s*x tapes had surfaced online.
In September, former married Big Brother Naija ‘Shine Ya Eye’ housemate, Tega, and former fellow housemate, Boma, broke the internet after they reportedly had an escapade on live TV – they’re are alleged to have had s*x, especially after Boma was seen reaching for tissue paper while still under the duvet.
This happened contemporaneously with Big Brother Naija ‘Shine Ya Eye’ finalist, Angel Smith flashing her private part and also masturbating on live TV during the show.
Both Boma and Tega denied having s*x on the show.
“I have seen the videos. Boma has sinuses and beside his bed, there are like tiny packs of tissue papers right. So often, I wake him up to blow his nose. We were kissing. So it is not like we did not kiss, we did. We went in hard but we had boundaries. No sex but we needed something for it to look real,” Tega said during her media rounds.
In August, an alleged ‘old s*x tape’ of former Big Brother Naija Lockdown housemate, Nengi, went viral on social media.
Unconfirmed reports had it that the s*x tape was leaked by her ex-boyfriend, “Naughty Kay”.
Nengi didn’t react to the allegations.
These are just a few cases of celebrity public nudity in Nigeria in recent times.
‘Let us bail out the odious water of public nudity championed by ‘yeyebrities’ while it is still ankle deep.’ I paraphrase Chinua Achebe. The rest of Nigeria should learn a thing from Arewa Twitter (known for their zero tolerance of celebrity nudity) before the waters reach our necks.
That the top search on Google in Nigeria for the month of October was not Independence Day or even Endsars memorial, but Tiwa Savage s*x tape does not speak well of us as a nation that is morally reputed.
Whether situational, accidental or promotional, public nudity shouldn’t be celebrated.
(Sunny Green Itodo
A Public Affairs Analyst, Essayist, & Media Consultant can be reached on greenbox247online@gmail.com)
