A United Kingdom based Nigerian Artiste, Busayo Osakuade, has appealed to the Federal Government to invest hugely in entertainment industry to wean Nigerians from criminal engagements in internet fraud.

The Ekiti born Nigerian afrobeat star said many of the youth engaging in internet fraud and other criminal activities could have been gainfully engaged in entertainment, if government had made the sector attractive.

Apart from checkmating ICT fraud, Osakuade added that entertainment industry had the proclivity to propel the country’s foreign earnings that can help in turning around the nosediving fortunes of the country’s economy.

The Artiste said this in Ado Ekiti on Monday while interacting with the newsmen on how best to develop Nigeria’s entertainment industry to develop talents.

He said:

Nigerian government should find a platform to bring out more artists especially upcoming artists. Music is fast becoming one of our best exports and with the online streaming avenue, Nigerians can actually earn money in dollars and export their music.

Internet fraud shouldn’t be an alternative to our youth. We should create enabling environment for them in music, because many of our youth are greatly gifted and government should encourage them through sponsorship and tackling of piracy to boost the industry,

he said.

Speaking about the decadence in the sector, Osakuade expressed displeasure about how some artistes were not honouring their contracts with record labels.

He stated that the judicial system is also causing indulgence in breach of contracts, as it takes an awful long time to entertain cases emanating from such criminal act.

The Artiste said he was making good exploits in music in UK despite his degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ekiti State University and Post Graduate degree in Renewable Energy from the University of Reading, United Kingdom.

I have been singing all my life, but I took it up as a career about four years ago . Financial incapability and inability to secure a record deal caused the delay in going into full time Music career.

I listened to dancehall as a kid Shakademus and Pliers, Shaba Ranks, Buju Banton among others was inspiring to me.Then in Nigeria, the likes of 2face & Remedies hit the stage, hence, the Nigerian version of dancehall gave birth to the current afrobeats. So basically afrobeats became my favourite type of music.

Music-wise, Michael Jackson, The Lighthouse Family, Seal and a few others are my role models.

Osakuade, who revealed that he had released seven singles musical albums, said he made a breakthrough in November 2018 with his first album titled “Because I can” , which he said contained 12 tracks.

He said afrobeat was taking over the world at the moment and it’s here to stay, saying

However, I’m not happy with the attitude of most upcoming artistes I have met. They refuse to see the benefit of working together. They will rather do it all alone because of pride and ego and they end up losing out.

Osakuade said he was presently making big collaborations with some entertainment promoters on how best to develop local talents wasting away in the country, saying he conceptualised this to rescue some youth and the entire industry from collapse.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.