The National Association of Emerging Artists (NAEA) has expressed its discontent with the ‘Gangs of Lagos’ film’s promoters, glamsquad reports
The NAEA expressed dissatisfaction with the portrayal of artists as “criminals” by producers and directors Kemi Akindoju and Jade Osiberu.
Unadey Jones, the group’s spokesman, announced this in a recent statement.
According to the statement, “casting artists as criminals has harmed Nigeria’s pop cultural fabric and upheld harmful musician stereotypes.”
The film’s director cast singers Chike, Pasuma, and Zlatan Ibile in gangster roles.
Chike, in instance, portrayed Ify, aka Panamo, a rising artist embroiled in gangsterism who was eventually assassinated by his gang mates to conceal a secret.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has called the film “Gangs of Lagos” a “cultural misrepresentation.”
Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, the State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, chastised the film’s promoters for portraying the Eyo Masquerade as a gun-wielding villain while dressed in full traditional garb.
Earlier, the Apesinla y ba Alakt Pupa kalaba kun, a cultural group, urged the promoters of ‘Gangs of Lagos’ to withdraw the film immediately, calling it “ethnic profiling, sacrilegious, and outrageous trash.”