Content Creators And Pranks Going Wrong

We live in a different world. It is a world where ordinary folks are transiting from penury to prosperity, thanks to TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and the rest of them. All it takes is a content generation that draws likes, comments, and shares in high numbers, and consequently, “Bob’s your uncle”—a healthy trickling of dollars, pounds, and euros, which, when converted to our hobbling naira means successful content creators can afford to buy their homes in the upmarket suburbs of their cities, and of course, ferry themselves from location to location in choice automobiles. 

Trust Nigerians, many have jumped on that bandwagon. Many are now bonafide content creators, or so they tell us, creating good, bad, and downright ugly content. A brand of such content is the scripted pranks that now appear to bestride the social media space like a colossus. 

Content creation and the prospect it generates for many to eke out a decent living is certainly not to be sneezed at. In a clime such as ours, where unemployment is rife, and youths are left wondering why they ever bothered to put themselves through the rigours of academia, only to be left waving their degree certificates with their left hand, while with their right hand, they massage their persistently grumbling stomachs or dusty feet, sore and tired, from traversing the unkind streets of Nigeria in search of opportunities that only the connected seem to be able to access. 

It is incredibly commendable that these social media platforms have placed creativity on the front burner, thus making room for those with the time or craft to create content to bypass the desperate need to kowtow to godfathers, benefactors, rich uncles, or aunts for their economic survival.

However, this interesting evolution is like a rosebush and its attending thorns, especially considering that the internet is as unwieldy as the Amazon rainforest, terribly complex, if not impossible, to monitor or regulate sufficiently.  

A particular brand of content creation that sees unsuspecting victims getting pranked has proved extremely popular in Nigeria, like other climes worldwide. A prank is a practical joke or mischievous act purely for laughs. The pranked should be able to see the funny side of the practical joke and maybe even applaud the ingenuity of the prankster in pulling off such imaginative make-believe.

But only recently, a certain young man known by his fans as “Only One Untouchable,” pulled off a prank against a lady known as Blessing CEO to her followers, and the prank in question has now become subject to possible litigation.

I am neither a fan nor a follower of the parties mentioned, but like many, I happened to see the said prank. It involved stern-looking and gun-toting policemen, a lot of pushing and shoving and forceful bundling into the back of a police pick-up truck, a generous dose of aggression, and, of course, a lot of shouting, for the ultimate traumatic effect, presumably.

I watched with my mouth agape, wondering at what point the madness would end. The unfolding scenario was enough to trigger a cardiac arrest or, at the very least, a stroke. In my view, it had gone beyond the bounds of practical jokes to committing an assault and possibly false imprisonment since the pranked had strenuously resisted being detained and was yet forced into the back of a truck.

Blessing CEO has threatened to take out a lawsuit against Untouchable, which I endorse, by the way. But the somewhat surprising bit of the saga for me has been Untouchable’s rather lame pushback. He claims to have been in the pranking game for many years and has, in the course of those long years, pranked several celebrities.  And to that, I say, so flipping what? What an entitled so and so. The crux of his defense, as I understand it, is if he causes someone severe emotional distress mainly to garner likes and shares, all should be forgiven, since he has pranked a raft of celebrities. Unbelievable!

If Blessing’s CEO does indeed go through with instituting legal action (which I doubt, by the way, considering she just might be in on the silly prank), it might serve to draw a line on what is fitting and appropriate content creation before someone makes an unexpected transition to the afterlife, the hapless victim of a prank gone horribly wrong.

– David Kunle Agunbiade (DKA) founded the DKA Creative Writer’s Network and is CEO of the FictionbyDavid Publishers.

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.