In all my years of journalism, this article I am penning down is one of the most delicate I have ever had to write. There’s a thin line between how it will be perceived to make sense and how ‘personal’ some people might take it but the delicate nature of it is not enough justification for letting it slide. For starters, there’s something troubling about anyone who can’t find a space in his or her heart to rejoice with other people in their moment of happiness. That said, in today’s delicate world we live in, it shouldn’t take rocket science to understand the fact that managing how we put out our moments of happiness, the timing and place is critical.

‘Be careful how you put your personal business out there, but most of all, be careful about the number of folks that are showing you they are happy with you’ – Olisa Adibua to Banky W during interview on Beat999Fm, 31th of May 2017.

Early May, when Banky W and Adesua Etomi were both breaking the net with the news of their engagement, out of the blues, the photo of Toolz and her hubby surfaced online. As the photo of friends of the family pointing towards her baby bump went viral, the congratulatory messages flooded in massively. I also rejoiced with them. Reading through the messages on her page, I got concerned. One of the messages reads ‘Congrats to you Maami, now the womb watchers can shut the fuck up.’
On the other hand, Davido was also all out with the name and day his baby will be birthed.

All these made me to raise the question: Are we doing all of these because we are trying to find validation on social media or trying to prove folks wrong on that same platform? Will the delicate nature of life & general great expectations serve as a caution before we go all out with our delicate business? Some celebs that have gone this route, their business have gone sought. I know some might come up with benign excuses like ‘Don’t foreigners like Beyoncé do the same?’ Yes, you are right. Just like in the music industry, most of our sounds are imported but we put our spin on it to make it Nigerian. So I think we can also put our own spin on some of the values imported to make it suit our delicate environment. Only the smart ones can read between the lines.

-Sesan Adeniji

(Culled from the latest unreleased  edition of Mystreetz Magazine)