ABU DHABI, UAE – Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has strongly criticized the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) over its recent decision to ban Eedris Abdulkareem’s protest song Tell Your Papa.
The song, released on Monday, April 7, 2025, addresses the widespread economic hardship facing Nigerians and has sparked significant public debate.
The NBC, on Thursday, April 10, 2025, ordered radio and television stations to refrain from airing the song, labelling it “objectionable” for its content.
In a statement issued from New York University, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday, April 12, 2025, Soyinka condemned the NBC’s action as “petulant irrationality” and an attack on the constitutional right to free expression.
He likened the ban to a growing trend of intolerance for dissent and warned that such actions risk pushing the government toward authoritarianism.
“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseam. We know where it all ends. It is boring, time-wasting, diversionary, but most essential of all, subversive of all seizure of the fundamental right of free expression,” Soyinka said in his statement.
“The fundamental right of free expression, as already touched upon, is not a closet affair; it is never hidden but echoes as loudly on international fora as in the most obscure hamlet.”
Soyinka also pointed to the dangers of a government that stifles opposing voices, highlighting that any regime that tolerates only praise-singers and sycophants is inevitably heading towards a crisis.
He called on those responsible for the ban to reverse their decision, stating, “Whatever regulating body is responsible for this petulant irrationality should be compelled to reverse its misstep.”
The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) also condemned the NBC’s decision, calling it an “abuse of power.”
The MRA expressed concern about the increasing restrictions on freedom of expression in the country and stood in solidarity with Abdulkareem in his right to speak freely through his music.
Abdulkareem, meanwhile, has alleged that individuals attempted to bribe him with N200 million following the ban, suggesting that the move to silence his protest song was not merely about content but also linked to attempts to suppress his activism.
