By Olawale Olaleye
Gaanu si, from rudimentary Yoruba knowledge, is at best a slang expression. There is no exclusivity to its meaning. For such a word, definitions are often derived from personalisation and could be swung in any direction as the user so pleases.
But, if you excused that word from the edited video, you could tell that K1 didn’t mean to demean the Alfas or denigrate them. That conversation was essentially about properly situating some aspects of the burial plans. Just listen, again, to his conclusion.
While noting that the main Alfas had clearly taken a position and chosen where they would be, he still wanted to give relevance to his father’s side in the arrangement and therefore pushed for some activities to be extended to the place.
Indeed, the word “Gaanu si” was not only misplaced but also abused in the context of the discussion by K1. It’s one of those street lingos that flung out of his mouth without caution and failed to sit well within the frames of the conversation.
How do we now say a man of K1’s age and standing didn’t understand the appropriate use of such a word? It’s a tad too difficult to sell. He not only sings in Yoruba, he invokes all manners of slang words, too, for great lyrical uses.
This was where his “enemies” waited for him and latched onto it heavily. While it may take a lot away from the debate to blame whoever made the video and released it since it is becoming a habit around celebrities and public figures to put everything out, many times unvetted, that culture around K1 in particular must have encouraged the making of the video and its subsequent release.
There’s a terrible growing poor phone culture, particularly around celebrities and public figures, which someone of K1’s status must be determined to contain as a matter of management policy.
Last night at the THISDAY 30th commemoration awards, the handlers of Diana Ross made the Chairman of THISDAY, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, to announce that no unauthorised taking of pictures or making of videos was allowed.
The 80-year-old American star had reached a point in her career and life that such distasteful excitements no longer count. Stars like K1 must take a critical note of that and review activities around them. Everything cannot be for the glam. To what end, exactly?
That said, nothing has been more disappointing than the reactions of many of the Alfas, who felt slighted by the use of gaanu si in a conversation for them. While it is within their right to react, it aches the heart to see their impulsive responses, cursing and throwing tantrums.
Their reactions further question what makes them really better? If anything, their responses almost validated the “gaanu si” expression. One would have thought that as “men of God”, even though they are human, their reaction would be corrective and an attempt at educating an errant K1. Unfortunately, all that they had so far dished out had not been consistent with the character of Prophet Mohammed (SWT).
Perhaps, they should go back to the video, pay attention to the content and be more analytical and deeper in their thought process, as against just focusing on “gaanu si”, which was, of course, wrongly used. But seeing supposed men of God kicking around curses leaves much to be desired.
If K1 had exhibited his imperfection by wrongly using gaanu si, they had consciously (and out of anger) rubbished their own right of place by failing to be like one of the “Anobis” of Allah. If they could be overwhelmed by the flesh in their reaction as is evident in their pushback, why then did they think K1 should have been perfect?
Either way, K1 still needs to do a proper apologia with contextual explanations to that incident. If not for anything, to honour the memory of his late mother. Otherwise, these unending bashings might be the only takeaway for many and could obliterate the beauty of that burial.
