MY 2 CENTS ON OMARION “AIRPORT” DRAMA
I think Omarion, the USA artist missed an opportunity to earn respect from Zambians.
Normally and professionally, the journalist from Mwebantu would have made a prior arrangement to talk to Omarion upon arrival at the airport.
It’s normal practice in journalism to do that to prepare the guest especially those who are not media friendly.
So we assume “the Omarion” of the “Supposed to be” fame is not media friendly hence his attitude, because we can’t blame the security that much because we know these guys even during presidential assignments. They are so strict.
Nga Ni Rupiah Banda, former head of state, could have said, ” weo aleke ma journalist anikonshe”.
I had a similar situation in Eastern province, during one of the Ncwala traditional ceremonies. We made an arrangement to interview the then president but the senior induna at Laweni thought it was not wise to interview the president in presence of Inkosi ya makhosi Mpezeni.
We spoke to the then presidential spokesperson who allowed us to talk to the president but he was also surprised about the decision to stop us when we had already asked the first question.
But on the other side, Omarion being a celebrity and a visitor in an African country, should have been informed that once he reaches the airport, he would find journalists who would want to tell Zambians what they expect from him during the Stanbic Festival, just like many other artistes who have headlined the same show, and the fact that he is not very popular among Zambians especially ba 2000 aka ba Gen Z.
The artist missed his opportunity to sell himself, instead of using our own Yo Maps to produce that song in a hurry to market him.
Omarion could have simply emulated RB and tell the security person that I need to talk to the journalist.
On the other hand, the handlers of Omarion are a disappointment, despite ba Mwebanthu not making prior arrangement, they could have seen that as an opportunity to market the so not popular Omarion in Zambia.
The security man should also know that Zambia is generally a peaceful nation. But we can’t blame him anyway.
My opinion!
The author is a Journalist, Public Relations Consultant and Communications Expert
