Is Your Son A Marlian?

Is your son a Marlian?

There is an emerging tribe of millennials in Nigeria called Marlians- and it is important all concerned parents become aware.

Simply put, Marlians are followers and fans of Afeez Fashola popularly known as Naira Marley. In recent times, more than any other artiste, Naira Marley has got a huge following especially since he came back from the grip of EFCC. His music brand called AfroBaashment, almost on a regular basis, releases musical hits which reasonates well with the millenials.

Many young boys and men now, consciously and unconsciously, identify themselves as Marlians. Even when they do not say it consciously, some act the characteristics of Marlians. This is the more reasons parents should understand the characteristics and proactively learn to engage their boys.

Some of the predominant characteristics of the Marlians groups are:

No-belt gang
Naira Marley himself gave this rule for admission into the Marlians group. In the lyrics of his song PUTA (PXTA on YouTube), he mentioned folks should adhere by “Zero belt, thousand trousers”. So when you see young boys who doesn’t want to use belts, they may be Marlians.

Alcohol and Drug consumer
Almost all his videos glorify alcohol, hemp and drug. Naira Marley called himself ‘Igbolabi’ meaning ‘Hemp was born’- a kind of explanation to say he was born to smoke weed. In case you don’t know, many young boys who want to feel among the Marlians are now into smoking of weed, SK, Shisha, Tramadol or Loud. Many also drink the very intoxicating drink to show their membership of the Marlians group.

Hairstyles
Naira Marley wears long dreads and most of his followers long to have such too. For those who can’t wear dreads or other weird hairstyles because of parental restrictions, they, lowkey, envy those who do.

Zero Manners
According to Naira Marley, in the lyrics of PUTA says Marlians don’t have manners. They are meant to defy all manners taught initially and disobey constituted authorities. During the Marlians festival which was held on 30th December, 2019 at the prestigious Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos, the young boys that attended validated this rule. Most jumped the fence because they didn’t want to pay the entrance fee. Isn’t that what Marlians are encouraged to do? On a larger scale, Marlians are permitted to talk to elders or any other authority figure anyhow since they have #nomannerz.

Little Regard
44 minus 4 is what? Forty! Naira Marley coined this 40 as “o fo ti” meaning folks should not be afraid of anything whatsoever. So, you can actually hear young boys saying MAFO, meaning, they have little regard or fear for anything or anyone.

Glorifying internet fraud
Most of Naira Marley’s songs talks about the need to accept folks that are into internet fraud. They simply think making money from dishonest means can be justified. Such money, when made, should be spent on drugs, alcohol and sex.

Academic Drop-out
One of the very important rule of Marlians is, “Marlians don’t graduate, they drop-out”. A lady, in December who shared she just graduated was called names by other Marlians online. They called her a fake Marlian because Marlians dont graduate, As a matter of fact, Poco Lee, the popular dancer celebrated his graduated with a t-shirt inscription that reads “Marlians wey no drop-out”. Late last year, Naira Marley sparked discussion when he said, “Having Big Booty Is Better Than Having A Masters Degree”.

Having worked with teenagers for more than 10 years, identity crisis is one issue most young boys grapple with. I mean the desire for acceptance by colleagues, by all means. If your son lives in a neighbourhood where everyone wants to be seen to be in vogue, it is important you watch out for some of these characterisitcs. If you notice any of these, don’t shout your way into discussing the issues. Simply discuss the lyrics with your boys and ask them what they feel about it. Help your boys develop healthy self esteem by allowing them make informed decisions. Oh yes, we can parent from a position of knowledge.

#Lalekan