There have been instances in recent history where trendy vices were used as tools to promote equally trendy subcultures in music . Arguably the longest and most destructive of these relationships began over a decade ago , between internet fraud and a very popular dance move that reportedly started on Lagos Island .
Olu Maintain released his monster hit Yahoozey in 2007 . The song was the most blatant and over -the -top celebration of internet crime in pop culture up to that point.There had been references to ‘Yahoo - Yahoo ’ floating around for years , such as Nkem Owoh ’s satirical Chop Your Dollar for the Osuofia movie series ( 2003 ) , but it was the former Maintain singer that truly put a cool stamp on internet fraud.
Olu shared the open secret of the Nigerian underworld with the rest of the country , and made the dance so popular that former US Secretary of State , Colin Powell , made the ill -advised move to perform it with him on stage . In the years that followed , other artists like Kelly Hansome went on to turn internet fraud- inspired music from a moment into a subculture and the recent success of 9 ice ’s Living Things — where the singer showered praises on alleged internet fraudsters — is proof that it’ s still alive today .
In some ways , Shaku Shaku is to 2017/ 18 what Yahoozey was in 2007 / 08 ; a dance movement so popular that, in only a few months, it has broken new artistes , given older artistes new life and created an entire subculture out of thin air . But the Agege-born dance movement is in danger of having one more characteristic with its tainted predecessor, and that’ s being tethered to another stubborn societal vice : this time, its drug abuse.
Nigeria has a drug problem ; the twin challenges of availability and abuse are decades old , but recently seem to have been exacerbated among millennials . With marijuana and its variants becoming increasingly more socially acceptable and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin heavily stigmatized and out of the reach of the common man , the drugs at the heart of the recent surge are low - priced prescription medicines , particularly Codeine and Tramadol .
Codeine and Tramadol are both opiates prescribed for pain relief. In drug culture, they are considered ‘downers ’ because they have a sedating effect on the user . Codeine is also a cough suppressant and is the chief component of many types of cough syrups . It is natural and derived from the poppy plant, tramadol , on the other hand , is synthetic .
Both drugs are called opiates because , when taken, they bind to the brain ’s opioid receptors – the part responsible for controlling pain, reward and addictive behaviors. That ’s the reason why users of either drug could easily become addicted. Besides being addictive , when overdosed or taken in combination with other drugs , codeine and tramadol could cause seizures with brain damage , kidney damage , breathing difficulties, coma and, in some cases , death.
There ’ s a nationwide black market for the drugs. According to government reports , millions of bottles of codeine are consumed illegally every day , and the NDLEA routinely busts tramadol trafficking rings worth millions of dollars. Loose regulation means a bottle of cough syrup with codeine can be purchased on the street, or at a pharmacy without a proper prescription , for ₦1000 , and a 10 - tablet strip of 100 mg tramadol can be gotten for as little as ₦100 .
Early this week , the BBC released a documentary titled “ Sweet Sweet Codeine ” to highlight the codeine epidemic in Nigeria . Embarrassed , the FG reacted hastily by announcing a ban on the production of cough syrups containing the drug. But I ’m hopeful for a more holistic approach that would include discussions around complex topics like mental health , addiction and unemployment , and the promotion of drug use in pop culture.
By some accounts , shaku shaku ’s very history is rooted in drug use . According to DJ Real - the DJ widely credited for the rise of Small Doctor - shaku shaku was named after the way street urchins ( awawa boys ) danced after smoking large amounts of marijuana ( among other things ) . The ubiquitous dance then spread from the grimier parts of Agege to other parts of Lagos through uninhibited street parties.
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https://www.nigerialog.com/random-thoughts/the-complicated-relationship-between-shaku-shaku-and-drug-abuse

Music is supposed to drive positivity,but lately it's been done ng the opposite, because we have allowed mediocres to be come our role model

Op you are on point!