Nigeria: authorities ban song deemed critical of President Tinubu
Nigerian authorities have banned the broadcast of the song Tell Your Papa by rapper Eedris Abdulkareem, deeming it too harsh toward President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has ordered the country’s broadcast media to stop airing the track, calling its content “unacceptable,” according to The Punch newspaper.
SUMMARY
The decision is based on a provision of the Broadcasting Code that prohibits content considered “inappropriate, offensive, or contrary to public decency.” However, it is primarily the political charge of the song that appears to have sparked concern.
In Tell Your Papa, Eedris Abdulkareem addresses President Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, after the latter referred to his father as “the greatest president in Nigeria’s history.” The rapper offers a far less flattering depiction, highlighting the country’s deteriorating living conditions and urging Seyi to confront his father about the suffering of Nigerians: poverty, insecurity, shortages. “People are dying,” he raps in a mix of Yoruba, English, and Pidgin.
Outburst or communication misstep?
On social media, Abdulkareem condemned the move as an attempt to silence dissent: “In Nigeria, telling the truth is still considered a serious crime.” He urged citizens to listen to the track online, thereby bypassing the censorship.
A counterproductive move? For Pretty Okafor, president of the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN), the NBC’s decision is a “major mistake”: “Those who had never heard of the song will now go looking for it and share it. It’s going to go viral.”
This isn’t the first time Eedris Abdulkareem has clashed with the authorities. In 2003, his song Jaga jaga, which denounced corruption and state failure, was banned by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo. Yet the track went on to become a popular anthem in the streets of Nigeria.
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