Jidenna goes hard for his people, even the ones who are known for scamming. In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, the Nigerian-American singer said “ … the reason why Nigerians are known for scamming is not because we are bad people. It’s because we’re smarter than a lot of people,” reported The Guardian.
After everyone in the room erupted in laughter, Jidenna continued, saying Nigerians excel in everything they do. “As criminals … we gon’ be top athletes, we’re gon’ be the best … yeah so we gon’ be the best at hacking. It is what it is,” he laughed.
Popular Nigerian media personality Deji Faremi called Jidenna out on Twitter for “condoning Yahoo Yahoo,” which is the name Nigerians call illegitimate online businesses. Some people agreed with him.
Others came to Jidenna’s defense saying he was simply saying no matter what Nigerians do, they will excel because they are smart and gifted people.
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The “Classic Man” singer was on the show to talk about his new album “85 to Africa,” which features Seun Kuti and Mr. Eazi. He also spoke about African history, policies, practices and more.
After sharing the president of Ghana’s announcement that its government would grant voting rights to Black people who come to the country to live, Jidenna encouraged those within the global African Diaspora to return to the continent and invest in the Motherland.
“To me we have to start thinking like citizens and immigrants at the same time. We have to think like anywhere there’s Black people, that’s yours. Especially Black Americans. When you feel landless, when you feel flagless you can take it one way and be like we have no home or you can be like everywhere is home,” Jidenna said.
According to his website, Jidenna will begin a nationwide tour in the U.S. for “85 to Africa” on Oct. 2.
