How Olu Maintain destroyed Nigeria’s image – DeeOne

Nigerian comedian and reality TV star, Aderombi Adedayo, popularly known as DeeOne, has accused singer Olu Maintain of contributing to Nigeria’s negative image abroad through his hit track Yahooze.

Speaking on the Echo Room podcast, DeeOne claimed that the 2007 chart-topping song helped glamorize internet fraud, popularly called Yahoo Yahoo, and made it look like a legitimate hustle among Nigerian youths.

According to him, before the release of Yahooze, those engaged in fraud operated in secrecy and were often ashamed of being associated with it.

“Do you know that Olu Maintain, great artiste, I love his work, but he is among the people that put this country in a bad light, gave us a bad name? Many years ago, Yahoo Yahoo was shameful. They could not come out to say, ‘I’m a 419.’ Even though they made money, they were hiding. Then Olu Maintain came with Yahooze. The whole country started celebrating, and it even had a dance,” DeeOne said.

He explained that the song influenced a generation of young Nigerians, normalizing cyber fraud and making it appear fashionable.

“So, Yahoo Yahoo now became an accepted profession in Nigeria. Nigeria has the largest black population, and now this reputation has spread globally. If we are complaining about this country now, Olu Maintain may blame the government, but he contributed to the suffering we face today. When you travel out, people immediately link Nigerians to fraud,” he added.