It is not uncommon to hear Ghanaian musicians and celebrities publicly seek financial help in one way or the other from the government and individuals in their old age. Most people have associated this trend to bad financial decisions they made in their prime.
Veteran Ghanaian highlife musician, Obiba Sly Collins has asserted that pride developed by musicians in the moments they taste success and get to their prime is what causes most of them to be poor even after having a successful career.
According to him, some artistes never expected to even taste success and that is where the problem is. “They want to spend and enjoy more because they feel they’ve suffered enough and that leads to them losing their money.”
Speaking in an interview on Happy 98.9 FM’s ‘Showbix Xtra’ with Doctar Cann he said, “It is pride that makes our musicians go broke and it’s not their fault.”
He noted that when the musicians get to their peak and start earning and meeting other prominent people, they don’t care and respect anyone. To him this is wrong and he advised musicians to rather seek and talk business with all the ‘big’ people they meet.
He advised management teams of musicians to regard their artistes as their kids and put in place sound investment structures for them.
The veteran musician indicated that he did not suffer the same fate as other artistes because he invested more and focused on making himself better. ” I witnessed other musicians go broke in the past and I advised myself and decided to invest in businesses and myself.”
Obiba Sly reiterated that musicians should not only spend on cars and mansions but should invest and create jobs for people and earn more.
Global Media Alliance Broadcasting Company (Happy FM, YFM Accra, YFM Kumasi, YFM Takoradi and e.TV Ghana) as part of its themed month celebration has set aside the month of June to promote finanacial literacy.
By: Joel Sanco