Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has criticised the recent ban placed on a song by Nigerian musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, calling for the reversal of the action.
Abdulkareem, who is popular for his song ‘Jaga Jaga’, which was critical of the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, recently released a new song titled ‘Tell Your Papa’ directed at President Bola Tinubu’s son Seyi.
In the song, the singer criticised the President for the worsening economy and hardship in the country.
This moved the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), to release a memo on Wednesday, banning the song from being aired on radio and television, citing its “objectionable nature.” The action has since sparked outrage from Nigerians.
In a statement he issued from New York University, Abu Dhabi, on Sunday, Soyinka described the ban as a return to the culture of censorship and a threat to the right to free expression.
According to him, the action echoed past attempts to stifle artistic and socio-political commentary in Nigeria.
The Nobel Laureate noted that any government that is only tolerant for praise-singers and dancers to the official beat has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss.
“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.
“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. Next, PMAN, or whatever musical association of which Abdulkareem is member, should also go under the hammer. Nor should we ignore the cartoonist, Ebun Aleshinloye, who not only etched out his trenchant response to the ban but disseminated it all the way to Abu Dhabi. Let’s simply go the whole hog!
“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. This is why I feel that we should look on the bright side of any picture.”
Credit: channelstv.com
