by Gabriel Ola’

I wondered if Genevieve Nnaji had to sleep with all the powerful men to be this big…

I attended the Obafemi Awolowo University where I studied Dramatic Arts; the art department is obviously the place where you find a lot of celebrity ‘wannabes’. Apologies to all great thespians out there but this is where you find the most beautiful women with no brains, the most handsome men with no clear cut direction for life, the most stylish young men and women who have no clue as regards adding positive value to the society, they are only interested in one thing and that thing only, fame.

they want to be a superstar, they want to make money, they adore Wizkid, they worship D’banj, Genevieve is their role model, Omotola is their mentor, all they want is to attain the same status as these guys and most of them will do just about anything to make it happen.

I couldn’t believe it was the same Janet, my classmate that I saw on a TV commercial, I was happy for her because I thought at last her hope of making money and getting famous is already gaining momentum but I was shocked when we met and she opened up to me all she had to give to get that- she had done three abortions in the space of six month already and several uncouth things all in a bid to satisfy the desires of the powers that be in the industry; I was truly sorry for her. She might eventually get famous by the day as she has featured in two movies already but as a side kick, she’s not making money as she will want to but the fact that she is on TV is good enough for her I suppose.

What will a young man not do for fame and money? After attending a couple of auditions and failing to make the cut, Kenny decided to get involved in internet fraud; he did without getting caught successfully but that wasn’t good enough, he wants to be famous like Ramsey Nouah, Desmond Elliot and more recently Joseph Benjamin and he has decided to bribe his way to the top.

I looked at all these characters with amazement and wondered if this was how 2face made it, I wondered if this was how P-Square made it, I wondered if Genevieve Nnaji had to sleep with all the powerful men to be this big; if there is one thing I know about all these people it is the fact that they put a lot of effort (hardwork) and time (patience) into what they do.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be rich and famous when you truly have a set of skills that can that can give you that but there is something wrong with a lazy man who thinks all he needs is an opportunity to ‘blow’.

To be a truly famous and wealthy celebrity is to be consistently busy with the set of skill that you have decided to practice so much so that when fame and fortune beckons you will not be able to attribute it to a particular thing in your mind, it will be a result of hardwork and probably a stroke of luck.

Those who can do just anything to be famous and rich only end up irrelevant in the history books in the long run.

*The names and characters in this write-up are fictitious and are in no way referring to anyone.

*Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.