Popular stand-up comedian and Nollywood actor, Ayo Makun also known as AY, says he was taught how to crack jokes by Fela Kuti, late father of Seun Kuti, the Afrobeat singer.
AY was reacting after Seun revealed why he mocked him over the fire outbreak that razed his multimillion-naira mansion in Lagos.
Freelanews had reported how fire gutted the house of the comedian on August 6.
Speaking in a recent live session, the singer said he had joked about the incident because AY “take my trials and tribulations to make a joke”.
Seun, who spoke in pidgin English, claimed that the comedian “portrayed my daughter as a dog for his yeye skit video”.
He said: “They say I dey laugh Ayo Makun (AY) say him house burn. You know follow me often because people wey dey follow me often go tell say the day gangan wey the house burn, I went live.
“As the house dey burn, as dem dey try quench the fire, I was on live. Except you sef when he (AY) dey portray my daughter as dog for his yeye skit video; dey take my trials and tribulations take make joke. He used my trials and tribulations to make joke. Not only that. He called my daughter a dog basically in his useless skit.
“That unfunny modaf**ker. That dry goat with smelly mouth. His mouth dey smell. Ask anybody in the industry except they want to lie to you. My own daughter he portray as dog. That one wey dem beat his wife for house. No woman for his life go ever respect him because I’m sure his children have seen him beating his wife.”
Responding, AY, in a video shared on Wednesday said as someone who looked for a child for 13 years, he is not one to mock a human being, let alone a child.
He said: “I made a decision to respond to this because he mentioned that I addressed his baby as a dog. For me, I love kids. I am one human being who looked for kids for like 13 years. I don’t think I would find myself in a position to mock another living being as a child and refer to that child as a dog.
“I want to categorically say I am a stand-up comedian and as stand-up comedians, we run social commentaries on different activities, especially trending issues but I have come to understand that in Nigeria, people now take comedians seriously and take politicians as the jokers.
“For some reasons, I know that you (Seun) have traveled far and wide. Your sense of humour should be more open to jokes if we say it’s a joke and then you can take it as a joke. You throw shades, Seun. Nobody comes for you.
“Your dad used to do ‘yabbings’ night. Yabbing everybody in politics…. He used to do all of that and people go there to laugh because they know that he is a social commentator. He’s doing his job. We are doing the same thing. So, I don’t see why you take offence on my own. Your father taught us this job.
“As I am here, I take jokes. Whenever the joke is on me, I just laugh because I know that these people don’t mean anything. They are just joking. Jokes are meant to be jokes.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
