'Death of seven pipo wey generator fumes kill na one of di dangers artistes dey face for Nigeria'

Di death of seven artistes wey die for one recording studio for Yenagoa, di Bayelsa State capital for Southern Nigeria dey make pipo tink again about developments for di industry.

Police authorities confam di death of seven pesins inside one music studio afta dem allegedly inhale generator fumes, and say dem don begin investigate di mata.

Na one of di victims Braokubo Akpotunimibofa Reuben aka Slim Kelz get di music studio wey dey along Transformer Road for di Amarata axis of Yenagoa.

Tori be say di artistes bin dey work inside di studio on Monday night but dem fall asleep due to exhaustion witout putting off di generator wey come result in di sad incident.

Neighbours discover six deadibodi early Tuesday morning and a seventh one wey bin dey unconscious wey dem rush go hospital but e later give up.

Dis incident don remind pipo di kain challenges wey many upcoming artistes dey face as dem dey try build dia career.

'Proper structure and systems no dey to encourage upcoming artistes'

Di death of dis seven young talented artistes for Bayelsa na one of many instances of di dangers wey artistes and creatives dey face for Nigeria." Na so ogbonge Port Harcourt comedia Jornsen Benjamin Jornsen Aka K.O Baba tok.

E say e bin dey veri sad wen e hear di tori say seven young pipo just die like dat for somtin wey dem for avoid if a good structure dey on ground for such artistes dem.

K.O Baba say in addition to lack of finance wey dey plague di industry anoda strong challenge na lack of proper structure, systems and facilities wia artistes fit go do dia recordings or production.

"Wen I first hear di tori, I wonder how seven pipo fit squeeze inside one small room like dat wey be say dem no get a good place to keep di generator, becos na di situation wey we creatives dey face.

We no get standard studios wia we fit go do our recording or production and even di ones wey dey veri expensive and di reality be say upcoming young artistes no fit afford dem.

Across di Niger Delta, Asu Ekiye just set up a standard studio wey we go say get world class standard. If we get investors like dat wey go invest and set up dat kain studio facilities and make am affordable, e go help. So we no get good studios.

Number two na di lack of affordability. Young pipo no fit afford some of di places wia dem go get beta output onto say di system we dey, goment no dey give us di needed support. Dem no dey give creative industry loans, investors too no dey come into di industry so any time you see any upcoming artiste dey do somtin, e dey come from im pocket.

So lack of facilities, goment support and investors dey worry us and wen we hear say young talented pipo like dis dey struggle to do one recording and die like dat, e dey painful."

K.O Baba add say poor electricity supply and insecurity na oda factors wey also dey affect dem becos for evri kind of tin wey creatives wan do weda na skitmaking, music recording, film production or oda tins, dem must need power.

"Di mata of insecurity no just be mata say dem go thief generator wey dem keep outside as we hear say dem bin dey fear, we get situation wia you organise shows, pipo no dey come out if di place no dey well secured or you gatz close bifor time becos pipo dey fear insecurity. And as you close bifor time, you go lose some of di guests and patronage wey you suppose get.

Last November 2023, we get situation wia jaguda pipo kidpan entertainers wey bin dey return from event. We gatz do crowdfunding to raise moni to secure dia release. So wen odas hear am, e go discourage dem.

So lack of power and insecurity na big challenge becos you no fit do rehearsals witout power, so evri rehearsal you gatz spend extra cost, so count how many times you go rehearse and count how much dat one go cost as 80 percent of di time for rehearsals power no dey.

How to solve dis challenges?

K. O. Baba observe say, "we practically dey helpless becos e dey glaring say pipo dey see wetin we dey face but nobodi dey dey hold di necessary conversation to address dis challenges wey creatives dey face for dis kontri.”

E say, “we no fit solve dis problems witout goment intervention. We get pipo wey build studio and put solar power but dat one dey veri capital intensive and e no dey sustainable becos of heavy maintenance and dem no fit open such places to upcoming artistes".

E emphasise say goment need to take responsibility for dis area as dem observe say tok-tok wey don come out ontop policy for creatives just end for mouth.

"Previous goments say dem get creative industry loans, but some of us wey try to apply for di loans no fit get am becos of di conditions dem put.

We go di banks wey dem tok and find out say na just lip service as di conditions wey di banks put bifor we fit get di loans dey unachievable and all of us for di meeting no fit get am.

To solve dis challenges we need di ministry of culture and tourism, ministry of youth development and ministry of creative economy all to sidon see say our pipo need light, dem need loans, dem need security, facilities and structures and see ways to provide am.

For UK, some of di facilities dem dey use na di Councils build am. Imagine if for Bayelsa dem get dat kain facility, dose seven men for go di studio pay for recording time and dem for still dey alive so goment need to get involved and we need private investors too to support with public-private initiatives wey go put some of dis tins in place.

E no bad if one investor say e go give one good studio ogbonge solar panel, e go help as dem recognise say dis na one industry wey dey employ a large number of young pipo. Make dem no make us feel like say we dey on our own as we dey educate, entertain and enlighten society."

‘Always dey safety conscious all di time'

In di meantime, K.O Baba dey advise artistes to always put dia safety first for any tin dem dey do.

E advise dem to always consider safety, weda na skit dem dey do or na major production.

"Few months back we lose Junior Pope and oda young pipo to drowning becos of similar issues wey get to do wit safety. So I go say make evri artiste take im safety veri serious.

"As creatives, di safety awareness consciousness dey veri low. We need to seriously embrace health, safety and emergency (HSE) for evri production.

"Make one pesin always dey tink of di safety implications - if you dey for river, tink we get life jacket? If di generator dey too close, make sombodi tink 'e dey safe for our health? Tink about di environment - we fit do dis tin for day time wen evriwia dey bright? Ambulance and police dey for emergency? Always ask questions wey dey safety related." E tok.



Di death of Slim Kelz don remind pipo di challenges young artistes dey face to build dia career



K.O. Baba dey advocate public-private initiative investments to support di creative industry