For long, I watched and digested the way Kannywood actresses, skit makers and other social media influencers in Kano desecrate their religion and culture to attract attention for pecuniary gain, and I think it’s is right time to give my piece of advice to Hisbah as some are exploiting Hisbah for fortune making.
According to Siebert, the media as the public image booster is being used by many people to achieve common objectives, and, this is the reality about the things some social media influencers do.
Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratification Theory assert that the media can be used by people to promote religion, culture or destroy them. The media are just like the kitchen knife that can be used to cut onions or attack a life.
People all over the world use the social media to either project their image positively or negatively. People use the social media to get fortunes at their fingertips, and many aren’t concerned with the noise they create at the background even if they step on the religions, cultures, or commit contempt on their values.
To curtail the excessive violation of media laws and orders, Nigeria had many cases of blasphemy, defamation, and obscenity which likely were meant for popularity and worldly gains. The people make the media set agenda on them, and at the end scaled through charges and get good reward for their sins.
The Nigerian movie industry is a fame place and fortunes seeking arena, but very worrisome the entertainment industry is not a lucrative place for the entertainers. This is why many of them hustle for other things.
The women in Kannywood, not all, are accused of illicit affairs behind the cameras. This is not defamation because many of the filmmakers said same, and evidence are reeling on the social media for anyone who cares to watch.
In 2022, popular actor and singer, Abdallah Amdaz, Excellency in the Labarina Series film of Arewa 24 accused the Kannywood Industry of promoting prostitution in the industry.
In 2021, social media blogger, Sadiya Haruna was arrested by the Kano Hisbah for uploading sexual content on her social media handle.
In this year, Hadiza Gabon in an interview on her YouTube talk show advised women to work hard on other things than joining the Kannywood industry.
Nigerians are fully aware of nude pictures and videos that some Kannywood characters post on their social media handles to grab attention and set agenda for the conventional media for their gains.
Researchers of media effect said women have greater opportunities in using the social media to advertise what they want to sell to their consumers; they concluded that some of them use the social media to create agenda for the conventional media and frame attention for personal promotion.
People use the media for many reasons. For many women, mostly that expose nudity, they do it for self-advertising. The social media is garbage of refuse where people can upload anything they want. Some Kannywood actresses benefit from the free service of social media to promote themselves.
In the case of posting on social media, many do it to trigger arrest or suspension to get followers. In the case of Hisbah, they want to provoke the Kano Islamic Police to apprehend them, charge them to court or sanction them to gain prime attention where at the end like-minded people will come to their rescue and give them the upper hand treatment.
Rahama Sadau was known for exposing nude pictures on her social media handles which cost her two consecutive suspensions from the Kannywood Industry, but all proved abortive to serve her punishment and at last the suspension earned her rewards of joining Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood. The suspension only gave her more fame, popularity, more money and connections.
Did Murja Kunya and others serve their punishment of their offenses? Nay! Nothing changes, their fortunes triggered others to emulate them. Murja is now posting as she wishes from Lagos.
Asma’u Wakili popularly known as Asmee is on the reel now. She is posting her contents and people are sharing, while others are calling on Hisbah for her arrest.
Like the Hausa proverb, “There is reward even in committing sin.” Many people who go against the law do it for something, just like the people who show up their body parts.
Kano Hisbah should understand the aftermath of their efforts in tackling obscenity on the social media whereby it’s better to leave everyone do as wishes.
Islam has given people the ultimate freedom of human rights and liberty, the Qur’an says there is no compulsion in religion (Suratul Kafirun), and a Hadith says people can do anything they like if they don’t have shame (Sahib al-Bukhari, 3483). Another Hadith says people can do three things to correct wrongdoers; that is to hate what the person is doing, preach to the person, or to punish the offender (in the aspect of authority).
In what is happening between Hisbah and Kannywood, Hisbah should dislike the act and preach to the wrongdoers because arrest and punishment have proved abortive on the wrongdoers. It is left for the film producer to decide on featuring them in their films like in the case of Safiya Yusuf, of Kwana Casa’in, Arewa 24 drama series.
Indeed, the Kano Hisbah is doing commendable work on safeguarding the culture and the Islamic religion in ensuring a peaceful society within the laws of the land, but not everything should be worried about on social media because many want a word from Hisbah to make them reach their target.
I pray Hisbah and Kannywood will consider my pieces of advice for better not for banter.
Auwal Ahmed Ibrahim (Goronyo) is a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Kaduna Polytechnic, [email protected]
