We received the untimely passing of rising Afrobeat Star, Promise Olamidimeji Aloba (Mohbad) in suspicious circumstances with heavy hearts. We commiserate with his family, especially his parents, wife, and son. Whilst, we wait for the conclusion of the investigation by the Nigerian Police. We implore the Police to conduct its investigations transparently, and expeditiously, and publish them due to the public interest nature of the matter.
Sadly, we note and condemn the reports of a strong culture of violence in the Nigerian music industry. The news media consistently reports violent incidents involving artistes. We are inundated with numerous and frequent accounts of feuds between record labels and young musicians. This shows a lack of acceptable dispute resolution mechanisms in the industry. Moreso, the deployment of intimidation on fans and fellow musicians is seen in various cases. This needs to be addressed frontally and transparently by the regulatory authorities and the music industry to save lives and also the image of the industry. The music industry in the US lost some of its leading lights, Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (B.I.G.) in 1996/97 due to violence in the industry. This needs to be prevented.
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