Nkem Owoh’s ‘I go chop your dollar’

It's no longer news that many Nollywood actors have taken up singing. I'm sure also you've seen the video of this song by Nkem Owoh, a.k.a Osuofia, Ukwa, etc. It's a nice piece of music with enough rhythm to get anyone on the dance floor. However, the lyrics worry me. As the title shows, it's a song that talks or rather eulogises what in legal terms is Obtaining By Tricks, OBT a.k.a 419. At the level of comedy, it's funny. When Owoh sings 'National Stadium, na me build am…' you can laugh. Except that it's this very trade that has left a black stain on every Nigerian who is presumed to be a crook outside our shores.

More significantly, this is not a good time to sing a song like 'Oyinbo man, I go chop your dollar'. A time when government and non-governmental organisations are trying to clean up Nigeria's image. Worse still, there's nowhere in the song 419 is condemned. This could have been easy to do. After showing that the white man is the 'mugu' and the 419er the 'master', some space should have been created to show some of the kingpins currently enjoying the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC's hospitality. At least then, anyone interested in 'chopping oyinbo man's dollar' would have a complete picture and decide whether he wants to 'chop the dollar' until diagnosed with morbid obesity or something.