It’s true that Innocent Idibia, popularly known as 2face and sometimes being referred to as 2baba has erred in some quarters. Many have chastised the African most popular R$B star and are even ready to attack him with whatever object within their reach. Even as one understands with their criticism as they continue to throw missiles at him, I will not be shilly-shally to agree with an Idoma adage that says” you don’t kill a sheep because it has got a long neck”.
It is true that 2baba has had one, two, three, four concubines with children from each of them, not minding all other secret relationships that have been swept under the “camera”. It is also true that his sixth child just arrived joyfully to the world with a beaming smile; yes, beaming smile- because not many of us were as lucky as the little child and the five others who have fallen into the hands of gold and diamond. Why will such a child cry on arrival? I celebrate with the children, and I can’t hold back my congratulatory message which I will put across to the family immediately after this piece.
I’m not saying this to put up a defense for 2baba, but I’m saying this to defend the culture and tradition of the Idoma people which upholds the values of investment in human lives instead of some mundane investment. I’m saying this also, not to contradict or dispute the general notion that 2face is a brave business man, but to establish a link between what I may term artificial wealth and biological wealth. There is no doubt that the rhymester is a business guru with a lot of investment potential, but he is also reasonable enough to understand his culture which has considered investment on other people as paramount.
The Idoma people believe that no matter how wealthy you are, and we hardly can identify your responsibilities in the lives of your people, then you are as good as a pauper. The purpose of that tradition is to ensure continuous progeny. Imagine that everybody stops giving birth, the world will simply come to an abrupt end, and what will be the essence of life if all that you achieve in life goes down with you as soon as you dust your feet and hands off this world.
In the extant time and even now, the pride of every child is to get a wife and settle down as fast as possible. The emphasis is not for any other purpose, but to simply enjoy the continuity that is the basis of our existence. I have seen many huts in front of people’s houses in different villages in Idoma land, indicating that the first son of the man is now a man, meaning that he is married. Hut is the common house that anybody can build and live in, but the joy of the lad is not the kind of house he lives in, not even the kind of food he eats and the number of bear bottles he is able to consume in a day. His joy is to see his wife and his children all around him.
His joy is to equally have his father see his children and his grand children. They live long because all that they see around them are not mind racking like taking a woman to the theatre for abortion, engaging in very dangerous family planning that can destroy the womb and viz a viz. The joy of most Idoma men is wives and children. The Idoma community imbibes a polygamous culture. You can take a clue from the number three citizen in the country, Senator David Mark. He has not in any way deviated from the culture of his ancestral home in spite of his wealth of political knowledge. My father had three, and had children from all of them; my grandfather had three as well. That was what made them happy and fulfilled. The number of wives and children an individual has in Idoma land determines the level of his responsiveness.
Have you ever asked yourself why kings marry as many as ten to twenty? It is simply that such explains their ability to rule the rest of the community. One of the criteria of becoming a King in Idoma land is the number of wives and children you are able to control and provide for. It goes to explain that your wide knowledge of polygamy can be transferred to the larger community.
From the forgoing, it’s very easy now to imagine the number of souls that would have been lost since 2baba became a star if he had continued to live on contraceptive and carelessly on abortion like other stars. Just imagine that Enenu and Chidera never came. Right now, we have counted six gains for him and not six losses as the case may be.
Who has erred now? 2face and his culture or those who have discarded the African value system for a more superior, yet dehumanizing western culture of abortion? One would simply imagine the much 2face would have lost in the name of abortion and some terrible pregnancy preventive measures? Are you trying to say that other stars are not being surrounded by girls like 2face? So you will ask and I will tell you that it all depends on one’s culture. It was an intentional act. It was one of his most creative and artistic ways to uphold his culture. The only difference between 2face and the rest of the Idoma leaders and custodians of culture is that he is yet to tie the nut with those girls, but who knows what will happen next?
The artiste has utilized his time and energy well. He had emphasized the 2face “waoh” in his song titled “Rain Drop”. He only thought of the waste and finished what he would have settled to achieve in the next twenty years in just five or six years. So, whose life has been wasted now? 2baba has made the most important and awe inspiring investment that cannot be equated in any comparative form. The song master has sent a strong message to his fellow blind artistes to stop fooling around, get creative with what you do even with your foundation as a family man.
Many have also forgotten that most artistes have different approach to realizing a lasting media stunt. I won’t say that 2baba has used his culture to achieve that because he respects the Idoma culture, but why don’t you still look at it from that angle too. I have seen his life style as an impressionable one with different interpretations depending on who you are. Most Artistes live and survive on controversies, but 2baba’s controversy has benefited him and his family. “It’s like rain drop falling from his eyes, and it’s like a blessing- blessing in disguise. He has paid a price of accepting your criticism, just to bring people like you into this world. Think about that!!!
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