Nigerian music icon, Damini Ogulu, widely known as Burna Boy, recently delivered a candid critique of his home country, Nigeria, during an interview with Tidal.
In his remarks, the Grammy-winning artist reflected on the nation’s socio-political struggles and its diverse cultural composition, which, according to him, have hindered Nigeria’s development.
He attributed many of Nigeria’s challenges to a combination of poor governance and external factors. He also suggested that the nation’s once-celebrated cultural diversity has now become an impediment to its progress.
In the interview, Burna Boy delved into the history of Nigeria’s formation, calling it the product of a flawed business transaction engineered by the British.
He asserted that Nigeria was never meant to exist as a unified nation and described it as “nothing but the result of a bad business enterprise entered into by the British” and “the collateral damage of a business deal gone south.”
Burna Boy went on to explain how the area now recognized as Nigeria was originally referred to as the Niger Area. It was acquired by the Royal Niger Company, which later amalgamated the northern and southern regions without considering the people living in those areas.
“The area called Nigeria was first known as the Niger Area before the Royal Niger Company acquired it. After it was acquired, the Royal Niger Company decided to amalgamate the North and South as against running them as separate entities, and it was at this point that the country Nigeria was birthed,” Burna Boy explained.
According to him, this amalgamation disregarded the indigenous population, treating them as mere “collateral damage” in the process.
“The two entities that sold and bought the Niger Area, the people living there were nothing but collateral damage,” Burna Boy concluded.
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