Bobrisky: How to Address Emergent Vulgarities in Nigeria’s Popular Culture

By Dele Olowu

Bobrisky, internet personality and famous crossdresser has lately been in the public eye. While his dress preference makes him a sexual neuter, his avowals suggest blatant homosexuality.

Homosexuality is an old sin and has been in evidence in various parts of the Nigerian political space.  However Bobrisky’s variant is startling and exceptional. This variant has sought to give  homosexuality a celebrity status and turned it into a spectator sport. He has celebrated his own  vulgarity so enthusiastically that defenders of the old morality have been compelled to come out in  sheer outrage. One of them has been the culture impresario, Otunba Segun Runsewe.

Bobrisky’s epiphany is an interesting story and perhaps partly underlines  how now and again, elitist experience can produce odd social habits. For Bobrisky, born in Lagos,  also  attended Kings College and then  the university of Lagos.  He then  became fairly successful as dancer, choreographer and make up artist.  But his cross dressing also blossomed and his loud parties and even louder  boasts about his liaisons and patronage from shadowy but powerful sources, made him headline favourite.  His lifestyle has had the effect of making homosexuality a profitable enterprise.

When Otunba Segun Runsewe condemned Bobrisky, he spoke from a sense of duty. But like most people of his era, his outrage was also framed by the traditional disgust with which adults relate to youth fads.  This reaction is natural.

The old era is often romanticized as the golden age.  Our parents condemned our dress preference; our dance patterns and our attitude to work. In much the same way, we, yesterday’s villains sit in magisterial condemnation of the youths of today. However we must not overstate this trend.

The attack on Bobrisky has not been produced by the customary disrespect of youth fads by the old brigade . Bobrisky’s evangelical homosexuality is an existential danger to society.  It does not operate in the closet or in dark corners. His homosexuality is vended and is up and about, seeking converts and companionable spirits.  It is truly gay and potentially rewarding.  It is therefore correct to attack this oddity with all the vigour that can be mustered.

However, the emergence of the Bobrisky type homosexuality ought not be treated as a lone wolf transgressor.  It must be seen as part of the massive  decline in our nation’s youth morality. Bobrisky represents not only himself, but a growing trend in which new vulgarities have not only shattered old pieties but have also destroyed conventional models of relaxation and entertainment.  If we are to succeed in reversing the dysfunctional order represented by Bobrisky, we must seek not merely to attack the icons of the new permissiveness. We.must come to a proper understanding of what the old order was and why the structure has collapsed. Such an enquiry will indicate that even though Bobrisky is an important part of the problem, the conundrum goes far beyond the  virulent exhibitionism of his crossdressing. The dangers are far more serious and widespread.

In earlier times, traditional mores cohabited with the  influence of the emergent Nigerian state system which remained decisive in shaping youth morals. The family determined the direction of youth morals at home and the state instituted youth clubs to usefully engage the youth population.  Festival of the  arts and sports promoted youth creativity around appropriate directions .Cinemas also provided a healthy window for creative relaxation. The Nigerian state has been massively altered. The old order has changed and the huge foreign influence Nigeria is now exposed to, has produced new vulgarities amongst our people and youths. Thus the landscape is populated not merely  by exhibitionist crossdressers such as Bobrisky, but also by a rampaging horde of drug addicts, drug peddlers,  robbers, cultists, pornography mongers, robbers, scam champions and an assortment of miscreants.

This is a challenge to poor as well as rich families.The country is universally undermined by this dysfunction .Otunba Runsewe’s response to the Bobrisky menace has been timely and appropriate.  He however requires  to be assisted to widen the frontiers of his campaign so that  the general decline in morality and culture can also be addressed.