Media personality Ese Eriata took to Instagram to express her regrets about being a celebrity with all it’s attendant difficulties in maintaining such status in Nigeria.
Here’s what she wrote:
“If I was able to see ahead, I wouldn’t have wished to be a public figure; would have continued as a makeup artist or something else, It’s totally a different ball game from what I expected. The passion to exhibit my talent is what’s holding me down. The fact that one have to wake up to negativity once in a while is crazy, even when u try to be on ur lowest key, there’s always that one person who wants to bring ur leg out just cox u are a public figure and you’ll make headline Sometimes letting pple close is like selling out your life, every word that comes out of the mouth has to be calculated, every movement has to be planned, you Automatically become a cctv coz u constantly have to be observant.
You have to constantly put so much effort in making sure you build a reputable image with no sandal; especially when you have shame and wish to live a private life. The worse of all is keeping up with Appearances; where you have to pay photographer/makeup artist to stay relevant every week online, In most case all of this is just for content; not cox there’s really an occasion/event.
The crazy part about all of this public figure thing is when you feel the need to be in a competition, the little you earn; you spend it on painting a picture of your life that isn’t true, when u can actually live a normal life with… no pressure and still be a public figure. What I also find tiring is the fact that pple expect too much from u as a public figure and then you find yourself doing what u are not suppose to do cox u have to meet up to that standard (not me tho). And most times when u work yourself to that level, u end up wanting more or trying to keep up, next thing u start getting depressed and feeling the need to get high on drugs/alcohol when u are alone becoz of the pressure u have put on yourself. Then in all of this, someone is on your timeline or a blog trolling you; without caring or wondering if u are even okay mentally. A large number of celebrities are lonely that’s why most of them are online 24/7. In a nutshell, it’s not an easy life being a public figure, the least u can do is show them love and encouragement. They are human and not above having flaws, most of the things they do is for you cox u made them do it.
