Ace comedian and filmmaker, Ayodeji Richard Makun, also known by his stage name AY has opened up about the challenges he and other celebrities face when giving to the needy.
The popular comedian took to his social media page to bare his mind about giving amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. He said when celebrities give in private, they are usually called out on social media for being stingy and not joining their fellow celebrities to help the poor. When they decide to take photos and videos of their giving and share publicly, they are accused of showing off.
He added that when companies give back to society and announce it, it’s called “Corporate Social Responsibility”, but when individual celebrities so it, they are shamed for showing off their acts of charity.
He wrote:
The major problem we have concerning the act of giving in Nigeria, are people who lace good thoughts with insults to the detriment of the givers. When celebrities give to people in need without letting you know anything about it, you say to them “All you Yeyebrities are busy posting pictures of your houses when your mates are doing a lot to help people who are hungry out there”. When we respond by letting you know how we have been doing a whole lot to help, some of you ask for proofs by saying ” Please don’t come here and tell us how you’ve been helping people with what we can’t see or confirm”. When we now give and let you in our business, you come to us again and call it ‘showoff’.
When companies operating within our environments gives to the people and announce it to the public with bigger events and unveilings, you applaud them and accept the ideas as good acts of Corporate Social Responsibility. But when celebrities with brand names do exactly same,You will still sneak in on them with your negative comments, and call them ‘Audio Givers or Showoff Kings/Queens. You even sometimes attack them by saying ” Do it quietly, we don’t have to know on social media”. It is actually okay to make constructive suggestions or share better ideas on how to give to those in need, without trying to indict the people that are at least making some efforts.
Let’s make it our responsibility to do the best we can in changing the things we don’t like by encouraging each other respectfully.
Rather than have a picture of someone ‘showing off’ in your head, celebrate the individual who is doing what the government is not doing for its citizens in need. Social responsibility is what everybody is entitled to do in their own ways.
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