26th December, 2019
Ahead of his StarBoy Fest show in Lagos on Boxing Day, Wizkid dashed to Ilorin, in central Nigeria, for another gig on Christmas Day, for which he was said to have been paid handsomely.
But it was an experience he would not forget quickly.
On stage at the Kwara Hotel venue of the concert, he was nearly mobbed as a fan jumped over asking for a bear hug. Video of the scene showed the hip-hop star being rough-handled and struggling to extricate himself.
Another shared video shows Wizkid sitting on a plastic chair backstage. In the video, he was seen yawning, appearing flustered about it all.
Na Saidat Rentals they give Wizkid make he sit on sha😂pic.twitter.com/XlsLDNMv3x
— Meez™ (@Meez_Tweets) December 25, 2019
His fans were outraged on Twitter, angry that he was not deservingly treated like a star and that the concert was poorly organised. Some also wrote that Wizkid should never have gone to the city.
Blogger JJ Omojuwa weighed in on the fallout of the treatment: “E go tey before Wizkid go back Ilorin again. It’s crazy. I don’t know how Wiz landed in Ilorin on Christmas Day but the host no try. Not at all. That’s an African icon right there,” he wrote.
But there are some who felt the Ilorin episode was exaggerated and instead read an entirely different meaning to the video showing Wizkid sitting on a plastic chair.
“He’s a Celebrity of high calibre but he wasn’t proud/pompous refusing to sit on a plastic chair..I Respect his humility #ilorin”, wrote @shorlah
Wizkid, in numerous videos posted on his Instastory, did not show any dissatisfaction about his experience in Ilorin.
Watch some of the videos: [videopress FLTuj4qd]
[videopress DJ7Puh8C]