Why I Was Honest With Osinbajo- Maintain

Weeks ago, popular singer, Olu Maintain, was pictured and even videoed discussing with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; and this made some Nigerians curious. In a recent interview with the singer, he disclosed some of the things he was discussing with the VP.

He said he told the vice president the reasons why the current administration was unpopular among Nigerians. “When I met with the Vice President last year, I told him specifically that one of the reasons their government was unpopular was because they had put anti-corruption at the forefront of their agenda. I told him that you cannot position yourself as a single-policy government. President Buhari is not the minister for corruption, instead he is the President of the nation, so education, finance, power, among other things, must be put in place and people have to see a measurable reflection of growth in the country, which has not been the case.

“Their excuse might be that the situation has degenerated to a level whereby before they can enact any form of policy, they have to clean the house but nobody said that it was going to be easy for them to fulfil the promises that they made during their campaign. When I was talking to the Vice President, he was looking at me strangely and said that we should have more of this kind of discussion often. I was just telling him about the way I felt,” he said.

While putting his two cents in the current state of the Nigerian music industry, the singer who has been in the game for over a decade, gave reasons why he would never criticise the new generation of singers. He said not all singers could be like Fela. “We have to understand that music is art and the definition of art is very subjective. Fela positioned himself to be known as an artiste that sang purely about the social ills in the society. That is not just what music is about; it is just a part of music.

“I am one of the very few artistes that would not criticise anybody that decides not to do that because you have to understand that entertainment makes you conscious about what is going wrong in the society. Also, it creates a temporary relief for you to be able to deal with what is going on and still live a fulfilled life. Any artiste that decides not to be positioned as a socially conscious singer should not be criticised,” Olu Maintain said.