Portable’s Headies Disqualification Sparks Mixed Reactions

Iyke Bede 

The seeming grass-to-grace story of street-pop artist Habeeb Okikola, popularly known as Portable, is currently facing a downward spiral following a series of controversies. 

Recently, he was disqualified in two coveted categories at this year’s Headies: Best Street Artist, and Rookie of the Year. Both are his first-ever nominations in the award’s history. The exclusion, according to the organisers, stems from a series of threats from the singer including his threats to other nominees should he lose to them in a social media video uploaded on May 25, 2022.

“Those are my awards. Anybody else who wins, I will ask for them to be killed. I will ask them to kill the person. If the organizers give my award to someone else, they will die,” he said. 

To be sure, The Headies has had its fair share of controversial moments that involved awardees and their disgruntled counterparts. In 2016, Olamide and Don Jazzy initiated a prolonged feud over their protégée that were nominated for Next Rated Artist. 

Asides from the disqualification the ‘Zazuu Zeh’ singer suffers, his reckless utterances on July 18, 2022, have landed him under the radar of the Lagos State Police Command which has vowed to proceed with a preliminary investigation following his claims of being the founding members of violent gangs. In a now-deleted video post to his Instagram, Portable claimed to be the founder of notorious gangs — One Million Boys and Ajah Boys — terrorising communities in Lagos state. He later renounced these claims.

While he was quick to distance himself from his claims, his past deeds don’t help his case. Weeks before his braggadocious assertion, a video surfaced on social media in which he was stripped and accused of stealing, hinting at his lifestyle before fame. 

Certainly, his threats are not limited only to these aforementioned events. He has gone as far as threatening colleagues he claimed had infuriated him.  One such person is DJ Chicken. He ordered a gang of youngsters to launch an assault because DJ Chicken acted as his manager after requesting a fee from show promoters before he granted them access to the singer.

In another instance, he entered an altercation with his ex-manager Kogbagidi (Olasunkanmi Quadri), wielding a baseball bat and citing that Kogbagidi ripped him off. 

Recently, he signed a N50 million endorsement deal as one of the faces of Odogwu Bitters, a spirit brand owned by Nigerian socialite Obi Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana. With multiple backlashes, the public image of the singer has been reduced to one of being infamous, a trait that will most certainly repel prospective endorsement deals. 

To avoid such scandals and even worse from happening again, the awarding body is taking preemptive steps to ensure that it is void of any altercations, especially considering that the 15th edition is its first outing in the US. This move however has been deemed unfair to many. In their view, Portable is just playing the card of controversy which many artists have played and worked for them. Again, social status is considered too. Not a few opined that Portable may be taking the heat because he is not from the ‘Ajebo’ part of the town. Moreover, a look at the nominees suggests that some have done worse things than Portable but still enjoy the limelight.

Although he remains popular in the streets with his style of music, he certainly would require an image rebranding if he is to remain relevant in the coming years.