EFCC have made Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile future legends – Nigerian filmmaker Ayo Shonaiya

Nigerian filmmaker, Ayo Shonaiya has said that the arrest of Naira Marley and Zlatan Ibile by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has only served to make them future legends.

According to filmmaker, when he saw photos of the “arrest” of Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile and other persons, he had mixed emotions. 

Ayo Shonaiya said that just like world famous celebrities who have at some point in their lives (often during their youth) run afoul of the Law, their mugshots become famous even to the point of people printing it on T-shirts.

He wrote:

When I saw the picture posted today by @officialefcc about the “arrest” of Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile and other persons, I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I liked it because this is “that picture”. Just like world famous celebrities who have at some point in their lives (often during their youth) run afoul of the Law, and their mugshots become famous, even to the point of people printing it on T-shirts. 

Lil’ Wayne, James Brown, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Frank Sinatra, the Kray Twins, Hugh Grant, and of course notorious drug lord & the ultimate baddest outlaw, Pablo Escobar!

Remember Pablo Escobar used drug money to “help” the Colombian economy? And loads of Colombians prayed for him. You know in the Nigerian music industry we have Bad, Baddo, Baddest, & Young Pablo. I myself even appeared in a short film recently called “Narcos Lagos”! 😎 😉 It’s all creativity and Art. Believe it or not, they have just made Naira Marley & Zlatan future legends!!! And I promise you I love all these guys.

The ones that know me personally know this. Bad ass creative minds! 🙌🏾 But, on the other hand, the infamous mugshots of the other “legends” were for what I call “personal” crimes. Even though every crime is bad, they were not crimes that labelled their countrymen & women with a negative identity, & also didn’t adversely affect the reputations of millions of their fellow citizens (maybe Colombia with the drugs, but you get my point). The crime in question in the EFCC pic is FRAUD! Let’s stop saying “Yahoo Yahoo” because it has obviously become cool to a lot of youths now. We desperately need to re-strategise the war against crime in our country, from the “top” to the bottom.

So, while the other mugshots are for personal crimes that only themselves got punished for, our own future legends pic is about glamourising a crime that 180 MILLION Nigerians pay for everyday, in all ramifications & all over the world, as we are ALL seen as fraudsters and thieves. This is the painful difference between the other infamous pictures & our own. And this is why, on the real, I am also sad about this picture.

Ayo Shonaiya – The Documentary on Afrobeats is loading…

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READ: Ruggedman reveals he was happy to see Naira Marley arrested by EFCC(video)