Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has condemned the recent ban imposed on Nigerian rapper Eedris Abdulkareem’s latest song Tell Your Papa, describing the move by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as a dangerous return to censorship and a violation of free expression.
The NBC, in a memo issued last Wednesday, declared the song unfit for broadcast on radio and television, citing its “objectionable nature.”
The track, which criticises igeria’s worsening economic conditions and insecurity under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, was a direct response to a viral video in which the president’s son, Seyi Tinubu, proclaimed his father as “the best president” the country has ever had.
Reacting to the development in a statement from New York University, Abu Dhabi, on Sunday, Soyinka argued that the ban reflects a larger systemic intolerance for dissent and critical art in Nigeria. He warned that any government that accommodates only praise-singers and suppresses opposing views risks sliding into authoritarianism.
“My position is that such a progressive move by the government and its agencies does not go far enough. It is not only the allegedly offensive record that should be banned – the musician himself should be proscribed,” Soyinka remarked sarcastically.
“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. It is boring, diversionary, and subversive of the fundamental right of free expression.”
He also commended cartoonist Ebun Aleshinloye for using satire to highlight the implications of the ban, stating that government attempts to silence voices of dissent only amplify their message and draw more attention to the issues raised.
Eedris Abdulkareem clarified that his song was not a personal attack on Seyi Tinubu, but a call for accountability. He stated that the president’s son triggered the song with his public praise of his father, despite the current economic hardship and insecurity plaguing the country.
“Nigerian youths are just asking for the basics: electricity, security, an enabling environment, and jobs—not palliatives,” Abdulkareem said. “If Seyi Tinubu had kept quiet, I wouldn’t have recorded that song. He inspired me.”
The rapper further criticised he Tinubu administration for failing to address the challenges confronting Nigerians, asserting that while the president may have empowered his own son, millions of Nigerian youths remain unemployed and impoverished.
“He has empowered Seyi, but Nigerian youths don’t have jobs, talk less of food. Let Seyi travel by road without security and feel the pain of the common man,” Abdulkareem added.
The controversy has reignited conversations about the role of music and art in Nigerian politics. It also mirrors Abdulkareem’s earlier clash with authorities in 2004 when his song Jaga Jaga was banned under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration for its blunt portrayal of the nation’s decay, an anthem he says remains relevant 24 years later.
Soyinka’s statement also touched on the recent mob killing of 19 people in Edo State, likening the act to the gruesome 2022 murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto. He warned that the culture of impunity and unchecked power would continue to undermine Nigeria’s humanity and justice system if not decisively addressed.
“The culprits are in plain sight and so are the witnesses. There can be no excuses,” Soyinka said, calling for justice and an end to the dangerous trend of silencing dissent.
The NBC is yet to respond to the public backlash, but the incident continues to fuel national debate over the limits of government regulation and the state of Nigeria’s democratic freedoms.
