How artistes smoking Indian hemp on social media, music videos mislead youths

The song ‘Last last’ by Grammy award-winning artiste, Damini Ogulu, is arguably one of the biggest songs on the planet at the moment. Since the release of the song on the music star’s birthday, July 2, 2022, it has been rocking the airwaves and topping charts across the world. Moreso, the song has been streamed […]

The song ‘Last last’ by Grammy award-winning artiste, Damini Ogulu, is arguably one of the biggest songs on the planet at the moment. Since the release of the song on the music star’s birthday, July 2, 2022, it has been rocking the airwaves and topping charts across the world.

Moreso, the song has been streamed six million times on the Spotify streaming platform alone, making it the most-streamed songs in Nigeria currently. 

On Apple Music’s Top 100: Nigeria, the song made it to the number one spot few hours after its release and it sat on the spot for several weeks. The song has equally gained commercial success on other giant streaming platforms like Boom Play music, as well as Audiomack, to mention a few.

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Currently on the popular video streaming platform, YouTube, the visuals of the song have garnered over 62 million views since its release on May 13, 2022.

While the song – ‘Last Last’- is a danceable and groovy, its theme borders on the use, abuse of Indian Hemp and alcohol to douse one’s pain, especially a person going through heartbreak.

In the song, the singer spoke about experiencing heartbreak and the death of a friend, Sobama, who was gunned down on August 24, 2010 in Port Harcourt. Burna Boy noted that he used ‘Igbo and Shayo’ (a local slang for Indian hemp and alcohol) to kill his pain.

In the video of the song, which was the Grammy-award winning singer’s directorial debut, he stated that the house, cars, ‘Igbo and Shayo’ used were all his. Furthermore, the commercially successful video, which has been aired several times on television stations across the world, showed the singer drinking alcohol and smoking Indian hemp excessively. 

Burna Boy is not the only Nigerian superstar to have records solely produced to glorify the use of Indian Hemp, neither is this his first time. In 2011, the singer released the song, Smoke Some Weed, which featured Onos.

Also, in 2013, at the peak of his career, rap artiste, Ice Prince, released the song, Gimme Dat, which its extended version featured Burna Boy, Yung L and Olamide.

In 2010, iconic Nigerian rap artiste Vector released the song ‘Mary Jane’ – a nickname for Indian hemp. Indigenous Nigerian singer 9ice also took to the singing booth in 2007 to release the record ‘Ganja Man’ – a song which features Jah Bless. So far, all these records and others have gained millions of listenership and viewership on streaming service networks.

Asides their musical videos most of these artistes also use social media handles to showcase the use of this illegal substance. A typical example is famous Nigerian singer Naira Marley, who does not only state how much he smokes in the lyrics of his songs, but also tweets about the fact that he gets ‘high’ all the time  smoking Indian hemp. There are occasions where he shares pictures of himself with the illicit substance in his hand.

The likes of Wizkid and Davido are not left out as, on several occasions, they have either taken to their Instagram feed or stories to share pictures of themselves smoking Indian Hemp with millions of their followers.

On Twitter, Davido has 12.2 million followers; Wizkid, 10.7 million; Burna Boy, 7.3 million; Naira Marley, 4.2 million. While on Instagram, Davido has 25 million followers; Wizkid, 15.1 million; Burna Boy, 11.3 million; and Naira Marley, 6.9 million. However, a large portion of these superstars’ followers are known to be youths between the age of 18 and 25.

Cannabis is illegal in Nigeria. Its production, distribution and use are criminalised by local laws but despite this, the use of cannabis in Nigeria is growing fast, especially among youths in the nation. 

According to recent research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published in 2018, in Nigeria, Cannabis is the most commonly used drug. 

Also, the average age of initiation of cannabis use among the general population is 19 years. 

Speaking on the development, a professor at the Department of Psychology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Christian Nwoke, described the use of illicit substances among the youths as worrisome. 

He said, “A lot of youths who were not into the use of drugs now copy these celebrities and they copy them blindly because they see them as role models; they see it as a glamourous behaviour. Also, they may tend to like the euphoria that comes with the usage of these substances. They tend to feel that the drug is making them happy, high. 

“These youths tend to copy most of what the stars display, especially based on what they see in their music video, social media accounts, as well as some movies. It has led to the increase in reports of mental illness. It has a multiplier effect. 

“It is not so easy to stop this trend, I think it will take a while for it to be eradicated. The law enforcement agencies have to be involved. Also, those that have delved into it need to face intensive counselling; those involved have to be professional psychologists and counsellors and mostly people in the correctional profession. This should be set up at all levels, from the grassroots to the federal government.”

Corroborating his colleague’s opinion, Professor Toba Elegbeleye of the Department of Psychology, Obafemi Awolowo University, further stated that there is “fire on the mountain.”

“When you allow a youth who is growing at a very critical impressionist stage of his life — an age of exploration — they would like to explore. They prefer and identify with anything that can create ecstasy. The moment you mention marijuana, drugs, and others, they go along with entertainment. Therefore, if a youth is exposed to that, they would want to try it out, except where there is proper monitoring, particularly parental monitoring. 

“This is the age of technology and they have easy access to the internet and every evil that comes with it. So, definitely they will end up being attracted to drugs; and when that happens, it has very negative outcome. That is what we are experiencing in Nigeria. I do not know the statistics, but all the same, I do not want to downplay the fact that there is fire on the mountain if nothing is done presently. So, the social media does not help the situation.”

Professor Elegbeleye continued, “It is tough to state what can be done to help. So many things can be done, but again, the more you try doing them, the more other issues interfere. For example, if government wants to ban these artistes, it may prove difficult because the government collects revenues from all these entertainment displays. 

“Even if government says it would not expose youths to such entertainment contents, I don’t think it is possible because the internet is not controlled by the Nigerian government. The moment a youth has the money to buy data, they have access to the internet. 

Also in a chat with the spokesperson for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Femi Babafemi, he noted the steps that the agency is taking to curb the abuse of drugs among Nigerian youths. 

He said, “The actions of these stars mislead a lot of youths, especially their followers who see them as role models. These are the people referred to as Generation Z. These are the people that form the bulk of their followers and these celebrities are misleading them by glamourizing these things. So basically, our response has been both law enforcement and advocacy.

“Law enforcement in the sense that for those that are caught with illicit drugs would be arrested. Don’t forget that there are other government agencies responsible for regulating some of these things. But ours have to do with the exhibits if you are caught with it. We try and shift our focus from criminalizing youths. But the law as it stands today still shows that the possession of Indian hemp by anyone is a criminal offence. Even at that, we try and use the carrot and stick approach, if you are caught with this substance you either go through the court system or counselling.”

He further stated that the agency has partnered with some celebrities to change the narrative.

“On the other hand, we try and engage the youth at different levels. We try and engage them through associations. We also have celebrities as ambassadors as well as celebrity drug-free clubs. We have a number of entertainers in the club so that they can create awareness and push out positive contents that will change the narrative of what some of their colleagues are doing,” the spokesman said.