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| KSB…’There is no different between Music and Politics |
In this
concluding part of our exclusive encounter with Gospel music act, Kenny St Best
inside her Lagos home, the music act turn politician shared her new idea on how
to tackle the challenge of prostitution on the street of Lagos which has become
a major social menace in recent times. KSB who has made her mark in the
Nigerian gospel music industry shared her formula with asabeafrika. Enjoy the
excerpts.
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| The GDA and KSB |
How I will tackle prostitution in
Lagos
prostitution in the society before she offered her strategy “The Lagos system
in its efforts to boost an active night life allowed the menace of prostitution
to go on. I can remember there was a point in time that police were getting sex
workers off the street but because night life must work, the system partly
allowed it. I did my own private investigation and I asked why is this thing
(Prostitution) growing and every eyes are closed to it as if nothing is
happening and I learnt that the system realized that to make Lagos active in
the night the girls must be on the street or else there is no night life for
Lagos. You call them sex-workers, but I will remove “sex” out of it and you
realize that they are “workers”. It is their economic independence that has
only driven them to that level of life. The story goes like this; if it
requires that there are no jobs after I have graduated from school, if it
requires that while on campus and I need to make ends meet then I must make
some runs. Yes, they call it “runs”, so it starts like that. They say ‘oh, I
have this idea and there is no platform for me to turn it around to earn a
decent living, for instance ‘I have a beautiful body, I can be a model but if I
don’t have a platform then that body can be converted into a pleasure-object I
can display on the street. It might please somebody that is ready to use that
body to pay me for the night, so be it’.
“Is the voice of Lagos state women loud in the house? Do the women of Lagos state have sufficient representation? Significant representation and representatives; is it gender biased or gender favored? So, on that note I KSB I am standing strong, I am standing tall against all my male contenders that want to go and get the ticket. And by the special favor and the special grace of God I know the ticket is coming to me because I hear the voices of the women of Ikeja in my soul and voice of those girls on the street in my soul”.
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| KSB talks about her youth innitiative with the GDA |
But
our own role as representatives of the people is to make such person know the
truth that ‘look, you are working against nature, you are working against
yourself, this does not give you economic independence in the long run, this
devalues you and devalues the values attached to your womanhood. I am not even
bringing Christianity or any form of religion into it now; it is just about
mindset. It takes peer pressure and other form of inducement to get someone
into such menace. The first night may look difficult, the first week might look
impossible but when you advance for two weeks you are almost becoming a pro because
the money is flowing in. But if government put a kind of self-developing
measures that can attract them off the trade of selling their bodies off to
sex, you will discover that the menace will reduce. Lagos can create a platform
for beautiful girls in the city, the state can create a modeling agency in the
mold of LAWMA that will source for girls on the street of Lagos; the agency
will appeal to their beauty and other feature of their body and brain. This
agency will attend to the need of these pretty girls and their beauty can be
re-channeled into event modeling and other inter-governmental activities. For
instance when the first lady of the state is having a program or any of the
government agencies is carrying out a function these pretty girls can be used
for ushers or brand girls. There are magazines, brochures or almanac they
publish at both the governor and deputy governor or government agencies level
that they can use theses girls as models. These will get them engaged as we
gradually work on their psyche. We will
tell them that ‘look, you are throwing away values and your life is in danger,
your health is in danger; if they have been brainwashed into it then we
brainwash them out of it.
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| KSB….’Even though i am in politics, i will continue to sing’ |
course, I am not saying all of them will get out of the street but right now,
it is so pathetic because “Stomach infrastructure” is involved. So, you call
them “workers” indeed they are “workers”, indeed they are “night workers”,
indeed they get patronized, indeed the market for their bodies is there. But we
can change it. As a government person, are you going to keep looking until the
day you pick one and she turns out to be your sister, cousin or daughter and
God saves her if you are not using her for rituals. So, the dangers are
enormous but because the needs are insatiable, every one want to meet needs and
if dad, mum, aunties, brothers cannot meet my needs, then I will use what I
have to get what I need. Another way to
do it is to find out what talent they have and we can take it from there. Most
of them see me on a daily basis and say “Aunty KSB, do you know I can sing” and
when you listen to them, you see that indeed they have the talent. But where do
we get the funds to run your talent? So, if it is music, if it is modeling, if
it is fashion, if it is acting, directing and even making shoe bags, we can
help them and ensure that we create a sustainable small medium scale scheme
that will lift them off prostitution into real development. There should be a
ministry with a specific agency that will handle the street-to-strength
development of these girls”.
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| KSB….’I have a deal for Lagos prostitutess’ |
would not disagree that I have strong contenders because Ikeja Constituency 1
is an elitist constituency” KSB noted with a smile around her face before she
continues “Of course you don’t expect other people to just fold their hands and
say “Hee, KSB o, ma’a jo lo mo n weyin
re’ like hey, go take it. Like somebody actually warned me that “KSB, if
you think you have come to win the ticket and you don’t see anybody contesting
it with you, run. There must be a danger there, there must be a problem there;
that you wants a ticket and nobody else wants it, ‘aah, o je sa, koo mere’ (Run) And so of course, I have other
contenders but I am not going to be intimidated. Number one, I am a woman, and
at this time around the 35% women affirmation act is working in Lagos; they
want women participation in political leadership. I made a visit to the Lagos
state house of assembly during my political consultation a week ago and I was
able to find out that there are just seven women in the cabinet out of forty
members of the Lagos state House of Assembly. I counted, just seven out of
forty and you have a whole 33 men and I asked ‘who speak for us?’. Is our voice
loud in the house? Is the voice of Lagos state women loud in the house? Do the
women of Lagos state have sufficient representation?
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| KSB and The GDA in a rare pose |
representation and representatives; is it gender biased or gender favored? So,
on that note I KSB I am standing strong, I am standing tall against all my male
contenders that want to go and get the ticket. And by the special favor and the
special grace of God I know the ticket is coming to me because I hear the
voices of the women of Ikeja in my soul and voice of those girls on the street
in my soul. It is not that they are happy doing what they are doing, I hear the
voices of the Nigerian youths at parties, at events even at restaurants;
sometime they wait for me at the door as I go into the rest room of eateries.
As I am coming out, they wait for me with their CDs; I am not going to let any
other person intimidate me. I am going to make it a call of duty to give
answers to Nigerian youths of today; they deserve to have their own ministry.
Let there be a ministry for the Nigerian youth not an attaché ministry. We have passed the time of General Yakubu
Gowon, we are in the 21st century where we have more young people in
Nigeria; so they deserve to have their own ministry, they deserve to have their
own constituency”.
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| Kenny St Best….’I have the best deal for our street sisters’ |
a politician
We
asked the diva what it feels like to swing from music to politics and this is
how she responded “It is interesting because I think being an entertainer which
has made me a public servant for 16 years has prepared me for the journey of
politics. The two jobs are somehow interrelated; entertainment is people
oriented, politics is people oriented. Entertainment is service oriented,
politics is service oriented. It is even a minus to call it politics, it is
called governance. It should be
governance but because of our mentality here we call it politics, the right
words is governance. It is public service. When we release an album as artistes
we go from radio station to radio station promoting the album, this one too, I
go from ward to ward; ward A to ward C promoting the ideal of my party and
selling my intention, promoting my legacy saying this is my legacy today, it is
going to benefit your children and you will never forget me.
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| KSB….’K1 De-Ultimate & Abike Dabiri said my politics must be local and that is what I am doing in Ikeja’ |
Nothing has
changed from my transformation from musician to politician. I love this job
because it is more people oriented; the only thing is that I am canvassing for
their conscience and discretion to know that it is time for us to come out and
chose a public servant as leader because people are asking ‘why are entertainers
now coming out for politics? But they don’t see it from the point that we are
the foremost public servants, we are even the most influential public servants
even when politicians want to get the support of the people, they pay
entertainers to woo them and now we want to woo our own people because our
people know us and we know them and they know that what we are coming to do is
to make life more better for them”.
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| KSB |
Ultimate told KSB
for her colleagues who are equally dropping the stage for the soap box “I will
say that they should not be intimidated. I will also say they should also let
people know the other side of them which is articulate, the other side of them
which is sound, the other side of them which is people oriented. Because this
same people are asking you ‘are you not a joker? Because you give comedy,
because you sing or act or dance, are you not an entertainer? Are you not just
doing shaky-shaky? They don’t see the other side of you that is skilful, that
is cute, and that is intelligent. That is educated, that hears the yearning and
the cry of the people because you heard their yearnings and you are now trying
to put a balm on their sorrowful hands.
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| KSB….’I hear the soul of Ikeja women and youth in my soul’ |
So, I say to them don’t get intimidated
and don’t even listen to what people say of you. One more thing is that you
should align yourself with your ward that is what King Wasiu Ayinde (K1 De
Ultimate) told me, he said ‘Kenny, don’t even bother. Let the people of your
ward know you, be relevant at home’. He gave me a lot of advice including Abike
Dabiri.
He will say ‘Kenny stay at home, where is home? Your ward, your immediate
environment that is your political community; make impact there, influence
their lives, make a change in their lives and let them be able to say ‘this is
the person we want’. Even when they want to impose somebody, they will fight
for you and be your voice. Don’t go there and be doing celebrity, don’t go and
be speaking English, speak their local language, identify with them. Don’t even
go there in jeans and t-shirt, wear wrapper or buba and shokoto. Let
them see that you are part of them and before you know it the news of your good
works and significance at your ward level or local government level will go up”.
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| An award in honor of KSB’s achievement in child development |
A word for my fans
The
artiste turn politician will not forget her fans of over one decade and she
used our platform to express gratitude to them all “I want to thank my fans for
encouraging me this far because if you are beating a drum and there is nobody
dancing to the beat that means you are not accepted. The Yoruba will say “Ilu e o dun ni ona ton mu inu dun” (The
rhythm of your drum beat does not instigate a danceable step) which means that
they didn’t choose you but you impose yourself on them as a musician. There
must be a song or a drum beat you will render that will align with their soul
and their soul will bless you and say “God bless the soul that wrote this
song”. Somebody sang “Gongo Aso, Kutupu a hu” and truly, Ojo
kan Gongo de ma’a so. When I sang “Baba Loke turn me around” I sang it for
those people who needed a turn around in their lives and they now enjoy the
turn around galore. My slogan is “KSB:
Turn around Galore” KSB gave a new assurance to her fans “They should now
expect more of the turn around.
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| Some of KSB’s award plaque on her various achievements in the last 16 years of her music career |
I
am not going stop singing, I am still going to be singing but they should just
expect that there are more other ways that KSB can function for the development
of humanity. I call it “the regeneration of my generation”. Because some people
degenerate our generation with their governance but God has given me the good
opportunity to regenerate my generation, creating regenerative music and
releasing regenerative power unto them through my songs. I am still going to be singing as an assembly
woman, music has become me and it is amazing how music will not let me go. I am
still going to be doing music till I pass away because there are so many lawyers, when they become cabinet members it
didn’t mean they could not practice law. There are so many doctors, when they
became cabinet members it didn’t mean they stopped being health practitioners;
it is only that they slowed down on one and paid attention to the other”.
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| KSB….’We can divert the energy of our street sisters into creative energy for government’ |
