Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has strongly criticised the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation over its decision to ban the song Tell Your Papa by Nigerian rapper Eedris Abdulkareem.
The track, which critiques President Bola Tinubu through references to his son, Seyi Tinubu, was labelled “objectionable” by the NBC, resulting in a prohibition on its broadcast across Nigerian radio and television stations.
The ban has triggered widespread public backlash, with many Nigerians accusing the government of suppressing freedom of speech and resorting to censorship.
Speaking from New York University, Abu Dhabi, on Sunday, Soyinka condemned the NBC’s action as a dangerous regression into authoritarian control of the arts and a direct threat to free expression.
“Courtesy of an artist operating in a different genre – the cartoon – who sent me his recent graphic comment on the event, I learnt recently of a return to the culture of censorship with the banning of the product of a music artist, Eedris Abdulkareem,” Soyinka stated.
The Nobel Laureate, known for his long-standing advocacy for civil liberties, warned that any government that surrounds itself only with praise-singers and refuses to accommodate dissenting voices is bound for failure.
“I have yet to listen to the record, but the principle is inflexibly etched on any democratic template. It cannot be flouted. That, surely, is basic,” Soyinka added, emphasising that freedom of expression must be upheld in all democratic societies, regardless of the content of the message.
In a lighter tone, Soyinka quipped that the NBC’s ban might have inadvertently boosted the rapper’s popularity and financial fortunes.
“The ban is a boost to the artist’s nest egg, thanks to free governmental promotion. Mr. Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him,” he said.
Soyinka highlighted that this is not the first time creative voices have come under governmental suppression, recalling the many instances where artists and critics were similarly targeted in Nigeria’s history.
“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. We know where it all ends,” he remarked.
He also referenced cartoonist Ebun Aleshinloye, who reacted to the controversy with a satirical cartoon that was widely shared. Using sarcasm to underscore the absurdity of the situation, Soyinka said, “Let’s simply go the whole hog! Ban the artist, ban the association, ban the cartoonist too.”
He further stressed, “Any government that is tolerant only of yes-men and women… has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss. Whatever regulating body is responsible… should be compelled to reverse its misstep.”
In a related commentary on the growing climate of lawlessness and impunity in the country, Soyinka also condemned the recent mob killing of 19 people in Edo State. He linked the violence to the broader issue of unpunished crimes, recalling the 2022 lynching of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State, whose suspected killers were never held accountable.
“The horror is not in numbers but in the act itself,” he said.
Calling for justice, Soyinka declared, “The culprits are in plain sight and so are witnesses. There can be no excuses. My heart goes out to friends, colleagues and families of victims and traumatised survivors of this senseless slaughter.”
