Young and fast-rising Nigerian Afro sensation, Mofe, has voiced her opinion about the way Nigerian dancers are being treated like a needless appendage by a lot of Nigerian artistes. This opinion resonates with the previous agitations of the dance queen, Kaffy herself.
Mofe, who recently released a single titled “Ololo” – a song which has gathered massive airplay in Nigeria and Africa at large. The song which is a unique blend of the trend of the moment – “Shaku Shaku” and her traditional Afro style, was widely accepted. The wide acceptance prompted her to create a dance competition which was another massive success. It was during this competition that her eyes were intensely opened to the abundance of talented dancers in Nigeria and how much time and money these dancers invest in their craft.
In her words: “I am overwhelmed, first by the success of my song – “Ololo”, secondly by the response of the people to the dance competition and majorly by the amount of time and energy dancers invest into themselves which I recently discovered. They deserve to be highly recognized. Artiste are paid millions of naira not just to have a producer and flex with the rest but to build a team which should consist of dancers too… It is the proper way.
The “Ololo Dance Challenge” which was conducted on Instagram as a dance competition quickly grew into an official dance workshop which was sponsored by Mofe Boyo (One of her many charitable conducts and dance was taught by the eventual winner of the “Ololo Dance Challenge”.
Mofe Boyo said “I want to invest in dancing, I see it as a sector of the entertainment industry that is yet to really grow. Music, Comedy and the likes are growing at a pace that you wonder if dancers exist and we have elite dancers in this country. I know of Kaffy – a previous world record holder, I know she is highly regarded, but in my opinion, very under appreciated. If you take, Linda Ikeji from blogging, Tiwa Savage from singing, Omosexy from acting, Tools from broadcasting, and Kaffy from dancing, you will then notice what I am saying. Is she has highly paid or appreciated like the rest of the people I mentioned? Most probably I’d get a NO! I will play my part in the development of dance in Nigeria.”
The sentiments happen to be have been previously shared by the dance queen, Kaffy few years ago. She said only few Nigerian artistes appreciate dancers, with P-Square and Tiwa Savage being her prime example of those who respect the art and craft of dancing and appreciate the dancers. Most of the others just see them as hobbyists!
I think this is a wakeup call. The stages and music videos where artistes perform will be gloomy and lifeless without these dancers and it is a profession for most of them not just a hobby. They deserve to be highly paid like everybody else in the entertainment sector for their investment in themselves. I am with Mofe Boyo on this one!
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