Thursday, October 18, 2012

To My Unborn Child...


To my Unborn Child...


I pray that you go farther
I pray you, or one of your siblings, go to Harvard
I pray me and your Momma found true love
And that we showed by example what it’s made of

I pray that we made you rich
But if we didn’t give you all you want, I pray we gave you all you need
I pray you get the best of me
I pray you’ll strive to be all that you can be

I pray that you find the one
And that you never let her go, don’t be like me son
Or babygirl, yes I pray that you find him,
And that you never let a man treat you like I treated some girlfriends

I pray God makes this clearer:
The only person standing in your way is the one in the mirror
And Most of all, I pray that you win
And that you never ever pay for any one of my sins

... To My Unborn Child.

~ B.W.

PS: This is an excerpt from a poem/song that will appear on my forthcoming "R&BW" album. I'm almost done completing the record; New singles will drop in November 2012, while the album is due to be released on Valentine's day, 2013. Stay tuned please :-)


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

ANOTHER Writer makes a fool of himself...

Hey Folks,

Pls read this link before you read my response below: http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/15780/3/musician-banky-w-makes-a-fool-of-himself.html


This story is almost entirely false. I will never understand why some press people take it upon themselves to unfairly slander and bring down the reputation that someone has worked extremely hard to build. Ladies and gentlemen, PLEASE do not believe everything you read. With this kind of "reporting", it's quite clear that some writers and publications are not worth the paper/website space they use.

This show was organized by Pilot NewsPapers, in December 2011 (not November). The "headliners" were the Legendary Bongus Ikwue, Omawumi, and myself.. as well as a couple of other acts. What actually happened, was that once we saw Mr Ikwue on the bill, I insisted and pleaded (along with Omawumi's Manager Mr Sunday Aare) with the Organizers that in no way will I agree for him to open for us. In my opinion, he was too much of a legend, and it would not be right for him NOT to close the show. Omawumi, myself and our respective bands made our way down to the backstage area to get ready to perform. It was then that it was told to us, that a lot of the dignitaries in the audience would soon have to leave to tend to other matters... in which case, it was important and only fair, that we let Mr Ikwue perform first, so that the dignitaries present, including Mr Vice President, and many of the Governors, and their entourages, would see him perform before they left.

In all honesty, it was BECAUSE Mr Ikwue IS such a legend, and someone we have the utmost respect, love and admiration for, that we insisted on performing FIRST. When it was revealed that a huge number of the most significant/important Guests were going to leave early, we humbly and rightfully stepped down for Mr Ikwue to perform for the full house. Shortly afterwards, a lot of the dignitaries did leave as we had been told; but as professionals, Omawumi and I still performed for those that did not have to leave so early. Infact, Omawumi was the last performer of the night. These facts will be backed up 100% by Omawumi, her manager Mr. Sunday Are, Mr. Bongus Ikwue, and the Organizers of the show, Pilot Newspapers headed by Mr. Daniel Sanni; a man that was extremely kind and courteous to all of us, and who we are all grateful to. I also strongly believe that it doesn’t matter where you are on the bill of a show; wherever you’re put, you should perform like you’re headlining; whether it’s for 5 people or 5 million people.

I'm honestly sick and tired of people being falsely represented by reporters who are too lazy to look for a real story; if this is the best you can do, please be careful of the targets you pick. I'm not the one. I will now proceed to sue this website, the writer, and everyone involved with propagating such nonsense until they delete this poor excuse for an article and post a full apology, or until a court of Law closes this business down; And for the rest of us... don’t believe everything you read. It’s sad that people already assumed this article was true and started posting all kinds of negative comments... what if I never saw it and/or didn’t have the chance to defend myself against allegations that are, infact, 100% false? To make matters worse, other websites (like 247Nigerianewsupdate.com, sturvs.com and other blogs) have rushed to further propagate this rubbish.

Dear Mr. Akinnagbe Akintomide & NigeriaFilms.com ... I will continue to try and do the best I can for myself, my company, and my country regardless of how much you try to spoil my name. I truly, TRULY, have much bigger fish to fry. A word should be enough for the wise. It’s either that or a lawsuit. The choice is yours.

Sincerely,
- Banky W.


PS: I do appreciate the comments, but if it's not asking too much, I'd appreciate comments on the sites that posted the original article; some of the people there may not know that my blog exists, and so may never see my response. Well.. that is.. unless I go through with my lawsuit and then it makes the news everywhere.

Monday, January 30, 2012

The Song That Nigeria Wrote...

"Every Country has the Government that it deserves" - Joseph Marie de Maistre (French Philosopher)

Despite the fact that more than seventy percent of Nigerians live on less than $2 per day; the first thing the Government did in 2012 was to make life harder by almost tripling the price of fuel. Invariably, the cost of food, transportation, etc.. all went up, and yet the basic income/salary of the average Nigerian stayed the same. No matter how you look at it, it's unfair. If the Govt took steps to make life a little better for its citizens; if we had electricity, or Security, etc.. it wouldn't be so bad. If they invested in refineries, so that we could refine/produce our own oil products, we wouldn't be buying our own oil back at exorbitant prices, and there would be no need to subsidize fuel.

For some of us, the Fuel Subsidy Removal was just the straw that broke the camel's back. In a Country already plagued with decades of unresolved problems, the Government, in one fell swoop, made a decision, that at least in the short term, made life harder for the majority of its citizens; most of whom already had it hard to begin with. There's still nothing close to constant electricity for most of Nigeria; nothing close to quality basic education for all, healthcare, clean water, good roads, etc. In a country already dealing with tribal strife and armed robbery raining terror on citizens, we entered a new year now also having to deal with organized Terrorist Groups like Boko Haram claiming the lives of so many innocent citizens on an almost weekly basis, with the Government showing no signs of slowing them down.

But the blame should not go to the government alone. If Nigeria’s leaders are guilty of consistently providing failed, corrupt leadership, the citizens, on their own part, are guilty of consistently supplying apathy. We vote our leaders into power (or we sit at home and let others decide who should lead us). We see them inflating budget numbers, stealing, disrespecting the offices they hold, trampling on the citizens they are supposed to protect, and blatantly refusing to do the jobs we elected them for; yet we respond by saying "God dey" and "its Naija". And every election cycle comes and goes, yet the story remains the same.

We can no longer accept this of ourselves. We are to blame for the leaders we put in office. We are to blame for the state of Nigeria. We owe it to future generations, not to hand them the same Nigeria we are seeing today, or one that has deteriorated further. Change comes when we decide it should. We have two powers as citizens; the power to vote, and the power to protest. I was encouraged by the thousands of Nigerians that FINALLY took to the streets to speak up for what they believe in. This is just the beginning. We must continue to protest, non-violently, in every medium possible, until the Government starts to do a decent job, or until we are angry enough at their actions, that by the next election cycle, we change the Country by voting for the kind of people who actually deserve it, and not the status quo.

It is with this in mind, that I'm teaming up with fellow associates of the October 2011 Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI), to create a song and music video, that will hopefully inspire Nigerians worldwide to be a part of the Change they want to see in the country. The song is supposed to express the expectations we have of our Leaders, as well as what we expect of ourselves; the hope is to create a song that inspires each person to believe in the dream of a brighter future for Nigeria, and to play whatever role necessary to make that dream a reality.

However, instead of just creating a song to preach to Nigerians, we've decided to give every Nigerian a chance to be a part of it, by allowing everyone to contribute lyrics to the song. The idea is for this to be the song created "by Nigerians for Nigerians about Nigeria". We will upload an incomplete draft of the chorus idea for the song, so that everyone gets a feel for where the song is going musically. We'll then open up online mediums (Twitter, Facebook, email etc) to Nigerians all over the world to send in suggestions for lyrics. The lyrics will be collected and vetted by members of the NLI class; the final lyrics will be used to craft the verses and the final chorus for the song... and the hope is that this song, created by Nigerians for Nigeria, will travel far and wide; and the message will be communicated to every leader and citizen of this great country...

We will continue to protest by speaking up; we will continue to stand up for ourselves and for our country. And if our issues continue to be ignored, when the time comes, we will Vote for Change on EVERY level. We must, because Nigeria must change. Nigeria WILL change.

~ B.W.

PS: Step-by-Step Instructions as to how you can submit lyrics to be a part of this project will follow shortly... please join us and be involved. Thanks!!

P.P.S: Special Thanks to Segun Demuren and Tolu Ogunlesi for their guidance, suggestions, and editing in this write up.