Wande Coal and Mo'Hits explode on nude pix

Right now, R'n'B singer, Wande Coal, the ‘Bumper-to-Bumper’ master is devastated over the nude pictures of him in circulation on the social utility site.

At about 8:00 on a Wednesday night, a picture of naked Wande sleeping on a bed in a room was posted on the internet and by 11:00 pm, almost every Nigerian with a Blackberry phone had it on his phone, no thanks to Twitter users, who did not hesitate to transfer the material to all their contacts.

By 7:00 am on Thursday, over 1200 people had seen the pictures on Twitter, with most girls who saw it started leaving funny comments on the page. While some made jokes out of it, using Wande's own song to compose lewd lyrics versions, making reference to his exposed private part, others exclaimed in disgust at the action of whoever carried out the act on Wande.

Considering how much he is loved, the question on the lips of everyone remains: who on earth could have done this to tarnish the image of a young man whose career is at its peak, and what does the person stand to gain?

The general belief is that the dark complexioned award winning artiste may have been set up by people who are very close to him, perhaps a lady. But who the person is remains a mystery. Following the uproar that greeted the scandalous nude pictures, since it was posted on the internet, City People (a Nigerian magazine) put a call across to the management company of the artiste. In their reply, they claimed that the naked pictures are not those of Wande, but may be that of someone who looks like him, or could be computer graphic generated. And 80% of the people who checked the pictures on the internet have since challenged the person who posted the pictures, insisting that it couldn't be Wande Coal.

However to confirm that the picture is truly that of Wande, the person who posted it decided to post another one on Thursday morning, and that was when everyone gave in, that truly, it is Wande in the picture.

Still, the question remains, “who could have done it?” Investigation soon found out that the person allegedly behind the callous act was a particular lady on Twitter called Simisola (surname withheld). She, it was, who posted the picture on the internet. We gathered that she got the pictures from one of her friends. Sources alleged that Wande had gone home drunk on that fateful night with a girl and after some intimate time with her, slept off naked. The lady then took pictures of him naked not for the a purpose of posting on the internet, but to show off to friends that she spent quality and a private time with Wande, and that was how the babe who subsequently posted it on internet got hold of it. The debate is no longer why the lady took the pictures, but why she had to post it on the internet. Some people say the whole episode is a grand set up and intentional on the part of the ladies. The lady who posted it has however defended herself on her Twitter time line, stating that she didn't take the pictures and didn't intend to post them on the internet, even though she has many of such pictures (including those of other artistes) on her phone. Responding to comments on her Twitter page, she categorically stated that she got the picture from someone she didn't disclose and that the pictures were taken by a girl who slept with Wande the night the picture was taken. Initially, she said she didn't want to post them but after some time she decided to post them. But that she didn't know they will spread like wild fire as they have now happened. She said the reason she didn't post them initially was because she has a conscience, but immediately after she posted them, she got 100 views in 10 mins and in 30 minutes, she had 513 views. When asked why she did this to someone on Twitter, she replied that she got the picture on her Blackberry from her friend who wanted her to post them and after a while, she made up her mind to do it.

Wande Coal said in a chat he was surprised about the nude picture saga, insisting that it is just a sabotage and the handiwork of his enemies who are out to destroy him. He further went to say he will not be distracted by whoever wishes to bring him down. "All I heard was that there are some nude pictures of me on the internet. That couldn't have been me and I don't know about the pictures. It is the picture of a black man sleeping naked". Asked if he suspects anybody, he said "I don't suspect anyone. In the past few months, there have been several false rumour about me and few months back, some people said I dey mad. I represent Naija as a singer and my life is about making people happy and I will continue to do that".

How does he intend to correct this image/career destroying saga? Wande, looking bubbly as ever said, "My label, Mo'Hits Record is aware of it and we are looking at it critically and doing our investigation, and as soon as we sort out issues, we will get the person trying to spoil my name and know what to do". D'Banj, who came to the Media briefing with Wande added that, "I was in London when the news reached me. I am not surprised but disappointed, because as a celebrity, people would want to hurt you for no reason. There is a picture of Obasanjo on the internet where someone actually put Obasanjo's hand on my body. That picture was taken while I was performing at the Hip Hop World Awards some years back. Wande is the first African to hit No 1 on Twitter's view list, but in a negative way. In two hours, over one million people all over the world already viewed pictures of a naked black man sleeping. That is not Wande Coal, but I wish people can use this medium in a positive way".

In addition, his management company added that they can't be bothered with someone who's trying to distract Wande. "We might not really want to dwell on the controversy, but the pictures must have been posted by some of his enemies who want to destroy him. That is not Wande, and we stand by it. He remains as focused as ever on his music career, and will not let people distract him. He is not the one in the picture, it is the brilliant work of a graphic artist, and that is one of the reasons we are not really bothered.”

“But let's imagine that it is Wande, why would someone do that to a fellow human being? The picture is that of a young man sleeping in his house, does it mean a man cannot sleep naked in his own house? Tell me now. It's not fair but as far as we are concerned, it is not Wande Coal.”

Asked if they know the lady who posted it, neither Wande nor his management company admitted that they know her, as they have promised to fish her out.