Liberia: Timaya's Ukwu-Music Causes Stir in Monrovia
By Heritage
Timaya's latest music, Ukwu, is said to be causing serious embarrassment in Monrovia for not only young girls, but also elderly women with "big butt".
For Timaya, Ukwu means waist, while for some Liberians, Ukwu means "big and frisky butt". Dem Mama Records presents music video by Timaya, performing 'Ukwu'
Timaya is a popular Nigerian musician who is noted for singing socially conscious music like, "Shake Your Bombo" and now Ukwu. Timaya first major hit was the song, "Dem Mama," an account of the 1999 destruction of Odj, a riverine community in the oil producing Niger Delta.
Accordingly, street kids, including some older people in Monrovia and its environs have made it their habit of provoking women with "big butt" who go to public places, especially entertainment centers, market places and other public gatherings to either amuse themselves or transact businesses.
Since Timay-Ukwu music hit Monrovia, several women with "big butt" had reportedly complained of provocation and harassment against them, particularly by street kids and some older people.
A woman believed to be in her 50s is a latest victim of the provocation and harassment by the street kids, using Ukwu.
In a weekend interview with the Heritage, the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed frustration over what she called the continuous provocation and harassment by street kids against women with "big butt".
The woman, heavily endowed with "butt", said she was publicly provoked by some young people down Waterside
where she had gone to carry out some business transactions.
Waterside is a place in Monrovia where the General Market is located.
The aggrieved woman decried the act of the young men against her.
She said traveling to Waterside these days has become a nightmare for her.
"Every time I come to Waterside, especially by way of Mechlin Street, I think about the public disgrace of kids referring to me as Ukwu," the aggrieved woman further told Heritage.
The woman averred that since the music hit Monrovia, women with "big butt", including her had been constantly harassed with kids far below their children referring to them as Ukwu.
"Any time they see woman with big butt, they always called them Ukwu, and we can born some of them ten times," uttered the woman.
The woman, who is a resident of Monrovia, pointed out that she was speaking out as a means of protesting against what she referred to as "irresponsible and rude" behaviour by not only kids, but also older men who she said had joined the children in disrespecting womanhood with the so called Ukwu music.
Against this back drop, the aggrieved woman called on the government to arrest and prosecute all those who are in the habit of using Ukwu to publicly disgrace women with "big butt" so as to serve as deterrence for others who may want to engage in such an un-called for act.
Like the aggrieved woman in Waterside, others ladies say they find it very difficult to stroll on Randall Street, opposite Abajal where it is reported that petty traders and yander boys usually provoke them with Ukwu music.
Some say walking before Lone Star Cell Office down town Broad Street is a complete trauma for them because the phone sellers, most of whom are boys, intentionally refer to them as Ukwu.
"They will never talk about Ukwu music unless they see you passing," added another lady.
