Soyinka mocks Nigerian govt’s censorship of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has used biting satire to answer the current ban on musician Eedris Abdulkareem’s tune.

In a press release dripping with irony, Mr Soyinka ‘praised’ the federal government’s “progressive transfer” in banning the tune however argued that it didn’t go far sufficient.

He humorously advised that the musician needs to be proscribed and that motion must also be taken towards Ebun Aleshinloye, a PREMIUM TIMES cartoonist, who had responded to the ban with a cartoon commentary.

“We’ve got been via this earlier than, again and again,” Soyinka wrote. “We all know the place all of it ends. It’s boring, time-wasting, diversionary however most important of all, subversive of all seizure of the elemental proper of free expression.”

Mr Abdulkareem had launched a tune, “Inform Your Papa, ” in response to Seyi Tinubu’s declare that his father, President Bola Tinubu, is Nigeria’s best chief.

Within the tune, Mr Abdulkareem criticises Seyi Tinubu for being out of contact with Nigerians’ struggles. He highlighted points like financial hardship, insecurity, and kidnapping that peculiar Nigerians are grappling with.

President Tinubu’s determination to cease subsidy funds on petrol has led to a hike in the price of residing.Insecurity has additionally been on the rise. In 2024, the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says kidnapping incidence within the nation is estimated at 2,235,954 between Could 2023 and April 2024.

The 50-year-old rapper, who has a historical past of utilizing his music for socio-political commentary, urged the youthful Tinubu to inform his father in regards to the struggling of peculiar Nigerians.

“Seyi, inform your papa, nation laborious. Inform your papa, individuals dey die. Inform your papa this one don move jagajaga.

“Seyi, how far? I swear your papa, no strive—there are too many empty guarantees. On behalf of Nigerians, take our message to him. Kidnappers dey kill Nigerians,” he rapped.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Nationwide Broadcasting Fee (NBS) banned tv and radio stations throughout Nigeria from enjoying Mr Abdulkareem’s tune on their airwaves.

In a memo to broadcast stations, the media regulator stated the content material of the tune was inappropriate for broadcast.

This isn’t the primary time Mr Abdulkareem’s songs could be banned. In 2004, his tune titled, ‘Jaga Jaga’ was banned for criticising former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

The development of Nigerian artists utilizing music to critique societal points and problem authority continues to develop, however the authorities’s response has turn into more and more illiberal. The ban on Eedris Abdulkareem’s tune is a current instance of this intolerance.

Fela’s songs, resembling “Zombie”, “Beasts of No Nation” and “Shuffering and Shmiling” had been banned throughout army regimes for his or her scathing critiques of dictatorship and corruption.

Equally, Falz’s tune, “This Is Nigeria,,” was banned in 2018 for highlighting points like SARS brutality, drug abuse, and extrajudicial killings.

Amnesty Worldwide, a world human rights group, joined its voice to sentence the ban.

Whereas urging President Tinubu to reverse NBC’s newest transfer, the organisation stated the ban violates Nigeria’s worldwide obligations underneath the Worldwide Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Constitution on Human and Peoples’ Rights defending freedom of expression.

Free expression will not be a closet affair – Soyinka

The Nobel laureate criticised President Tinubu’s makes an attempt to control creative content material. He stated suppressing vital voices and impartial ideas of residents will not be solely futile but additionally damaging to the nation’s democratic growth.

He stated governments that prioritise blind loyalty over constructive criticism are on a path to catastrophe.

Mr Soyinka argued that the ban would solely serve to advertise the musician’s work, due to free governmental promotion.

“The basic proper of free expression will not be a closet affair, it’s by no means hidden however echoes as loudly on worldwide fora as in probably the most obscure hamlet,” Soyinka wrote.

“Any authorities that’s tolerant solely of yes-men and girls, which accommodates solely praise-singers and dancers to the official beat, has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss.”

Edo Lynching

Mr Soyinka additionally condemned the lynching incident that occurred on Thursday, 27 March in Uromi, Edo State.

Whereas commiserating with the household of the victims, Mr Soyinka lamented the rising mob mentality sweeping throughout the nation.

A mob had attacked the truck conveying 16 hunters en path to Kano. In line with police experiences, the car was intercepted at Udune Efandion by an area vigilante group, who suspected the travellers of being kidnappers after they discovered domestically made dane weapons of their possession.

Describing the incident as a “soul-searing orgy,” Mr Soyinka drew parallels to the notorious killing of scholar Deborah Samuel, the place recognized killers had been freed to boast about their actions on social media.

“So long as the tradition of impunity is given the sheerest pressure of legitimacy in any given trigger, such ugly assaults on our widespread humanity will proceed to prevail,” he warned.