The Cameroon social media space has for the past weeks been flooded by messages bearing the ‘e go tey’ tag. The lines were culled from an Equinoxe TV interview at a demolition site with a man later identified as Kong Oscar.
He was expressing his worry over the sustainability of government’s decision to demolish homes, and its plan to relocate occupants of the said area. It soon became a sound, blowing up on Tik Tok, and reverberating on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
Like many others, hardly had anyone thought the trend was going to be around in the next couple of weeks, let alone be used as a source of revenue. The unsaid belief of many was that it would like many others that had come and gone, die down in due time, giving way for the next.
This was until Roy Mamah of the Roy Mamah Show stepped in, giving Kong Oscar a run for his money.
The public figure, through the Sister’s Corner Foundation fished out the author of the trend, in a bid to support him build a brand from the trend. She made available the sum of 500,000 FCFA for the purpose, as well as obtained permission to commercialise his statement.
As per the agreement, she revealed, the statement would be printed in different forms (including merch, advertisements and promotions) and the proceeds distributed, with Kong Oscar getting 50%.
The rest will be donated to charity institutions of his choosing. What better way to give back to society.
T-shirts bearing the ‘E go tey’ phrase are already being brandished and are expected to go on sale anytime soon. It is likely that other merch or items bearing the phrase will follow suite.
While monetising trends does not take a one-fits-all format, Roy Mamah’s involvement and the gentrification of Oscar Kong’s case is a lesson to Cameroonian trend setters and influential personalities.
It is a call to financial wokeness, and could be the new gold in a clime where many have their heads buried in the sand, fighting over likes and visual recognition.
Many today dream to go viral and be seen and known by millions but when they do, the financial sustainability appears to be lacking.
It is safe to say the lesson has sunk in. Na beta akcion, but e go tey? That is the question.
By Giyo Ndzi