3 things that celebrity deaths (should) teach us

temitope a

June 21, 2016 7:47 AM

This is a blog post by Chioma Nnani... So, in the month of June, we lost a number of celebrities – Stephen Keshi, OJB Jezreel …

OJB Jezreel

And social media was awash with mostly effusive condolences and verbose commentary. Then, people just as heartily moved on to other things.

The other things are so many, it would take a full-time job to actually keep up.

But here are three things that struck me:

1. Mourning or mobbing someone on social media, is the new definition of cool.

Have you ever seen someone get trolled, mobbed and decimated on social media? Sometimes, you read it and wonder how many of the commentators actually know the subject.

Social media mourning kinda works like that, too. There appears to be something that compels people to join a group … even if the original members of the group aren't doing something sensible or productive.

And you know how the internet has made publishers out of individuals who shouldn't be allowed near a phone/laptop/tab/whatever else?

I saw a tweet in which someone referred to Stephen Keshi as 'the greatest musician of all time' and I knew we were done.

2. This thing about celebrating people after they die.

It is sick. It is abnormal. It is inhumane. Stepehen Keshi was basically demonised some months, prior to his demise.

Many 'industry people' hadn't seen or spoken OJB Jezreel for a while, before he died. But as soon as these men died, people flew out of every crevice, nook and cranny to eulogise.

I'm not a fan of football – I swear, I just don't understand the game – but I couldn't help but notice how mean some people were, before he died. Some of those people were very complimentary … when he couldn't hear or read their comments, any longer.

3. Love is everything.

Being a legend is amazing. But it doesn't matter how much you contribute to your community, nation or even race. Without the people you love, who know and love you for you, life is just not worth living.

Nigeria is a place where the bereaved are forgotten, before their loved one's corpse is warm. If you're lucky, you get to have a street, building or other institution named after you. But those don't feed or really console your loved ones.

Even worse, those things – nice as they may be – will never take away their pain.

temitope a