Chike Oti, the Lagos State police command spokesman, has said that Nigerian musicians should stop promoting gangsterism with their songs.
Oti said music had the potency to checkmate crime and other vices in the society, stressing that many musicians in other climes used their brands of music to promote peace and harmony.
According to him, Nigerian musicians should take a cue from the old school musicians who promote unity and build the nation with the use of their songs.
“When you listen to songs from the past, you will realise that musicians then sang to promote unity and engage the youths. An example is Christy Essien Igbokwe.
“Nigerian musicians need to look beyond the present and think of how their music can be utilised positively to better Nigerians.
“Now that most of the trending musicians in Nigeria are youths, it is easier for them to connect with the youth and change the narrative.
“Their songs should be used to condemn drugs, cultism and other criminal acts. It should be engaging and promote unity.
“The concept of fighting crime among the youth in the command through music is capable of curbing the high rate of crime taking place in the state when musicians on their part sing songs with engaging and life changing lyrics,” he said in an interview with NAN on Wednesday, August 28, 2019.
The Nigeria Police Force held a security concert organised by the command in Lagos as a proactive measure in tackling crime in violence prone areas, recently.
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Wednesday, the Police Public Relations Officers in the Zone II of the Nigeria Police Force described the recent security concert organised by the command in Lagos as a proactive measure in tackling crime, stating that it was targeted at youths in secondary schools and tertiary institutions and even beyond, adding that it was designed to dissuade the young ones from criminality.
Commenting on the rationale behind the concert, Dolapo Badmus, the zone II police public relations officer, said the reality is that the nation’s music industry is improving and the youth are the major players in the industry.
According to her, the police will no longer be satisfied with reactive tendencies, stressing that it has resolved to be more proactive in its activities including entertainment events.
Badmus explained that the musical concert put together by her command was designed to interact with the youths in order to sway them from cultism, internet fraud, drug dealings and other related offences which are common among the youths.
