Despite what is considered as Nigeria’s many drawbacks, the nation remains yet a destination point to several international personages, including entertainment celebrities, music stars and exponents. The latest to visit Nigeria is 32-year-old Kim Kardashian, the world’s most famous American reality show celebrity.
She arrived in Lagos on Saturday at 8:20pm aboard an Air France flight and by Sunday, her fans were excited that Kardashian was indeed in Nigeria. She had offered to co-host Africa’s king of R&B, Darey Art Alade’s “Love like a Movie”, at the Convention Centre of Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.
Kardashian had seemed eager to be in Nigeria. It is her first time. In response to enquiries from her fans to confirm if it was true that she was coming to Nigeria, she had tweeted: “Yes it is. I can’t wait!” To further establish her excitement, on arrival, she had pronto tweeted: “Just landed in Lagos! 1st time in Nigeria, yay! Catch me 2mrw as I co-host the red carpet with @Darey at #LLAM 6PM at EKO Hotel!!’”
The young folks, who are the bulk of her fans, were electrified with the news that she was in town. Many struggled to have a glimpse of her, right from when she landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Many sought to either touch her or have a chance photo shot with her.
The Lagos audience must have been doubly charged by the array of stars that starred at the show last night. With a star-studded line-up featuring the likes of Darey, 2Face, 9ice, Flavour, Ice Prince, Timi Dakolo, Praiz, Waje, Jozi and other African stars, the exhilaration of the guests must have brimmed over with the coming of Kardashian.
She left last night shortly after the red-carpet ceremonies.
Mid last month, she had visited Cote d’ Ivoire, a neighbouring West African country, where she toured several places, including orphanage homes, prompting many to ask if she was planning to adopt an African child.
Many had expected her to come with her boyfriend (?) Kanye West, a top-rated rap artist who had impregnated her. But Kanye was not in the team that came Saturday night. Kardashian is due to have her first baby in July.
Rich, controversial and influential, Kardashian’s rating on the entertainment scale seems to be enjoying regular “top-up,” especially among the younger female folks. But many families are not exactly comfortable with her lifestyle, as she hardly cuts the image of a role model to a generation in need of a moral dress up. Many families believe Kardashian is outright “vacuous”, as she is believed to have nothing virtuous to pass on to the younger ones. The American First Lady, Mrs Michelle Obama, was, for instance, quoted to have said she does not allow her two daughters — Malia and Sasha — to watch “Keeping up with the Kardashians”, which is believed to have a bad influence on growing minds.
Those who so believe, point to the name of her blog “Wetpoint”, which they say, is suggestive of a lewd nuance. Many families drew their conclusions of Kardashian’s moral rating after she produced the controversial sex tape which was considered a promotion of loose moral fibre. The unacceptability of the content of the sex tape, had earlier led to her breakup with Nick Cannon, an earlier boyfriend.
Kardashian had a fleeting marriage with Kris Humphries that lasted for just 72 days. She filed for divorce.
Declaring her determination to quickly get done with the divorce process, she noted that, “I do not want to be married to Humphries when I have my baby,” in a declaration in support of her motion to set the case for trial or bifurcate her marital status, filed last month in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“Immediately upon it becoming known to the public that I was pregnant…I began to see articles in the media with quotes attributed to [Humphries] stating that now that I am pregnant he has ‘got all the power’, ‘that he is in control of my misery’ and that he is not going ‘to allow’ me to be divorced by the time I have my baby,” she continued in the filing.
Her younger brother, Rob, had also had a very brief relationship with Rita Ora, shortly after the duo had made public their swirling love affairs. Their parents, Robert and Kristen Mary Kardeshian, did not also have a very long marriage. Their marriage lasted for 11 years.
Perhaps more than their immediate acts, the family background of the Kardashians may have also launched them into controversy and all that comes with it. Their father, Robert, a lawyer, was visibly involved in the defence of his erstwhile business partner, O.J Simpson, when the latter was undergoing trial for the murder of his wife, Nicole, in the 90s.
All said, Kardashian’s visit to Nigeria has been a source of great excitement to herself, her hosts, her Nigerian fans and all those who see in her the beam of success, fame and importance.
-Thisday