Just recently the newspapers, television stations, radios, all forms of print and electronic media and not to forget the social media was saturated with the #SaveOJB Jezreel campaign. The campaign stemmed from the cry for help of music producer and musician, OJB Jezreel who is suffering from kidney problems. The cry for help sought the assistance of Nigerians to raise $100, 000 (N16 million) for him to undergo kidney transplant surgery in India. The alert for help came as a rude shock to many Nigerians, and you may wonder why. The simple answer is OJB Jezreel wasn’t just your new generation producer; he is a veteran producer who has produced smashing hit songs and club banging songs for major artistes in the country. Why then was he asking for poor Nigerians to help him raise the funds for his treatment? It is a well known fact that United Nation’s report says that many Nigerians live under N150 per day and although we may have rich and affluent people among us, many still struggle to make ends meet.

The media latched onto the news like a dog takes to a bone thrown to it by his master, it was sensationalized by many magazines, TV stations, radio stations and it became a trending topic on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. First came the shock of a perceived well to do celebrity taking to the public to solicit help then it came dawning on us that for him to have taken to such a desperate measure then he must really be in a bad condition. Then came the multitude of questions; didn’t celebs make millions of naira? What was he doing with the money he had been earning? Where were his friends and family? What were the other celebrities doing to help him? Perhaps many of these questions stemmed from ignorance, it still didn’t change the fact that the sore was out there in the open for every eye to look at.

However of all the questions raised above, the most intriguing of all that the public seemed to latch on to was what were the other celebrities doing to help him? I have always argued that when we talk celebrities, celebrity pass celebrity. We have A-List celebrities who are the major headliners and we have the B-List who are famous but not as famous or trendy as the A-listers, we have the C-list which in my opinion are the flash in the pans and the ones that struggle to remain on the radar and then finally we have the D-list who I refer to as the struggling upcoming artistes trying to burst on to the scene.

For the purpose of this write up, we shall excuse the C-list and D-list celebrities who don’t really have much impact anyways. Let’s talk about the A-listers and B-listers, where were they? What where they doing before the situation got so bad that their fellow colleague had to take to the public for help? I am not going to name any names or all that but we know them, the ones that make the headlines. They are the ones that even a sneeze from them gets the attention of the media and has the public at a standstill. They are in the news for the rides they just acquired, the houses they just built, the holidays they are going on or coming back from, the mouth watering endorsement deals they just signed or the extravagant fashion accessory they own or enjoy. This then brings me to the question, where the celebrities obligated to help OJB out during this crisis?

As much as these people are famous and dirty rich, as much as they live fabulous lives and glamorousity (pardon me to use that word) seems to be their middle name, there is no changing the fact that they are humans just like the rest of us. Their mortality hasn’t changed because of the semi-god like behavior that they are treated with or because of all the popularity or money that seems to trail them. Therefore if they are human just like the rest of we mortals then that can only mean one thing; they got flaws and mistakes. They got headaches, worries and problems that the rest of us suffer from. The headaches, problems or worries may be on a different scale, on totally different plane or gravity but still it’s a problem. So when questions and talks started going round about how the celebrities were mean and cruel and could not save one of their own, I wondered to myself, do you really know what they are also going through? Just because you see them on your TV screens or see their pictures in the paper does not mean that they are living all the glam and fab they sell to us. Not everything is real and most of their actions are meant for the attention of the media.

I remember receiving a broadcast message on BlackBerry Messenger about the cruelty of celebrities that could not come out to donate the much needed cash. The BC listed names of celebrities that were living lives of opulence and affluence yet were paying deaf ears to the cry of their colleague. To say I was irritated by this was an understatement, I understand the whole concern citizen role that people were trying to play but this was taken it a bit too far. So what, I acquire a ride, smash it and acquire another, whose business is it really? As long as I work for my money, then it really is nobody’s business how I decide to spend that money. Many people pass beggars on the streets, don’t they turn a blind eye more often than not; does that make them inhumane? With no disrespect whatsoever to OJB Jezreel who I hold in the highest esteem, I mean no insult by having used the beggar example.

It is clear to everybody that it was just a case of trying to smear another person’s name, you see a man drowning in a pool. Under the law, if you walk away without trying to save the man, you haven’t committed any crime as long as you were not the one that pushed him into the pool. But we all know as a thinking man that you should at least try to raise an alarm or jump into the pool to save the drowning man. Although many people will later on tackle you for such an inhumane action if you choose to walk, you are still in your legal right not to have save the man. So when people started mentioning names, it was really bad of them. The people you decided to list their names would have had their personal reasons for not donating to the cause or perhaps they had more pressing need for cash that is not glaring to the public. Whatever the case may be, they worked for their money and reserve the right to do whatever they feel like with it.

In our finger pointing let us always examine ourselves before we go around judging others. If you haven’t walked someone’s path before then it is better you don’t judge their ways. It even amuses me when Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, finally donated the needed sum of $100,000 for the operation; the question on their lips now is what OJB will do with the extra cash he has raised earlier? Isn’t there any thought that he would need money after the operation to support himself and keep in good condition. Rather than be concerned about a successful transplant and well being of the ailing producer, they keep raising up silly issues.

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