NIGERIAN SINGER ACCUSES BUHARI OF STEALING ATIKU'S MANDATE- VANGUARD

Nigerian singer, songwriter and actress Yasharahla, also known as Beauty Yahawah has weighed in on the Nigerian presidential elections which held in February this year. She was very active in the campaigns and was a national executive in several Atiku support groups. She is very candid in this interview with vanguard, telling us where she feels things went wrong. 

Question:

Yasharahla, a lot of people call you Beauty Yahawah, which do you prefer? 

Ans: Yasharahla is my first name, and Beauty is a nickname, both are fine but my stage name is Yasharahla. It means “Israel” in ancient Hebrew. 

Quest: You were very involved in the presidential campaigns, and your camp was certain Atiku would win. What went wrong?

ANS: Atiku did win, but he was rigged out. We all knew Buhari wanted a 2nd term by any means, so I was shocked when they were so calm while large amounts of money were exchanging hands behind the scenes, especially during the counting of votes. The Bible tells me there is a time for everything. That definitely was not the time to be calm. Nobody came to play around. I left my home in Lagos in December and was in Abuja all through until the elections were over just to oversee the activities of the various groups in their main location. I was also involved with the main campaign at the headquarters. Many people made many personal sacrifices. I know firsthand that most of those groups were used. They used their own money to print t-shirts and caps, and mobilise people. I have never seen anybody campaign, and branded t-shirts, caps, and posters will be scarce and rare in the main campaign office. These things are meant to be there on standby. Supporters who were once bubbling with energy were spent, tired and fed up by the time the elections came, so nobody did anything to help Atiku. There are some problems money will not solve, but the masses will solve for you. The masses already felt very used by that campaign so they did nothing. 

QUEST: Do you think Atiku knew of the deficit of those basic things, or he was misinformed concerning some of those problems?

ANS: It is God who will have mercy and give us advisers who will tell us the truth. I know Atiku was in the dark about a lot of things, he was told there were fair skies when it was raining seriously, but everyone has part of the blame. When the iron is still hot, that’s when you should strike. Not when everyone has moved on. He’s in the tribunal now, the tribunal Buhari nominated the head?. You are in a boxing ring, someone brought a cannon into the ring, and you still want to use your gloves to box. They will blow you away. It is obviously not a fair playing ground, and he is still sitting, hoping the judiciary will fear God. I expected to see him go and rally international support to recover his mandate while the iron was still hot. I expected to see plenty of dust being raised the moment there were undue delays with the announcement of results. But he just sat and watched. And Buhari very easily rode himself to power again. 

QUEST: You seem not to be mincing words at all concerning the “stolen mandate”. 

ANS: Yes, because it could have been avoided. 

QUEST: What advice would you give Atiku now? 

ANS: Some of those advisers of his should be sacked immediately. And he should get people who will tell him the truth and facts. That is my advice for him. You were a national executive of several support groups during the campaigns. 

QUEST: What has become of those groups now? 

ANS: They all have gone back to their daily lives. The structures are still there, but there is no activity. Most of them would have loved to keep support alive but again, they were used by the campaign organisation. Someone said recently that he would still love to support Atiku’s cause but his group is not being carried along despite their huge sacrifices pre-election and numerous attempts to reach out post-election. Again, there are some problems God will only use the masses to solve. But some people don’t understand that.

QUEST: How has life been for you personally, post-election? 

ANS: I’ve been very busy with my music: studio sessions, photo shoots, magazine interviews, etc. My first single titled “Love Like This” was released on April 30th and is currently available on all platforms. It’s been really fun because this is actually something I enjoy doing. I also enjoy travelling so I was recently out of the country on vacation. I vacate at least once every few months to take a break and just relax. It helps me to be more productive when it’s time to get things done. 

QUEST: Sounds lovely. I catch “Ogwu”, a film you starred in, sometimes on DSTV. Do you plan on acting in another movie soon? 

ANS: Well, I am focusing on my music right now but when I have a bit more free time I will definitely act again. Acting is a breeze for me and I do it very naturally on set. So I will definitely do more of that. Everything I do come naturally to me, and I like it that way because that means I never work because it is not “work” to me. I enjoy it. 

QUEST: So, what else are you involved in besides music and acting? 

ANS: Clothing! I am an ambassador of several US-based designers. I get shipments every other week of clothes they design, some of which are not yet on the shelves. I love looking good, so I make sure I am involved in the things I love one way or another. These ambassadorships though, I did not look for them. The designers just reached out one after the other to my management, and agreements were reached and we got that going. God is very good to me. 

QUEST: What should we expect from Yasharahla in the coming months? 

ANS: Expect more singles and music videos from me. I am working on my album but I will not announce the release date for that til later. I also have a lot of goodies coming up for my fan base which is already international with one single out. Just stay fixed on my social media pages, iamYasharahla on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Come say hi to me on social media. I like connecting with fans, and people who love my music. There are a lot of great times and memories ahead.