Soyinka Urges Reversal of Ban on Eedris Abdulkareem’s Song, Citing Free Speech

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka issued a scathing rebuke of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on April 13, 2025, urging the immediate reversal of its ban on rapper Eedris Abdulkareem’s protest song Tell Your Papa, which he called a “petulant attack” on free expression.

Speaking from New York University, Abu Dhabi, Soyinka labeled the April 10 NBC memo, barring the song from radio and TV for its “objectionable” critique of Nigeria’s economic woes, as a throwback to authoritarian censorship, echoing his own 1980s exile for dissent. “Any government that tolerates only praise-singers slides into the abyss,” he warned, citing Nigeria’s history of silencing artists like Fela Kuti, whose Zombie was banned in 1977.

Abdulkareem’s Tell Your Papa, released in March 2025, targets President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi, urging him to relay public anguish over 35% inflation and 41% unemployment, per 2024 NBS data. The song, amassing 2 million streams despite the ban, reignites the rapper’s legacy of defiance, his 2004 Nigeria Jaga Jaga faced similar restrictions yet became a protest anthem.

Abdulkareem, 50, vowed to fight the ban legally, stating, “Truth is my crime,” while the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria warned of a chilling effect on 10,000 registered artists. The NBC justified its move, claiming the song’s lyrics risked “public unrest,” but Amnesty Nigeria, citing 250 censored works since 2015, argued it violates the 1999 Constitution’s free speech protections.

Soyinka’s irony-laced statement, mocking that Abdulkareem, his union, and even cartoonist Ebun Aleshinloye, who satirized the ban, should all be “proscribed”, drew global attention, with 15,000 petition signatures backing the song’s revival. He noted censorship’s paradox: “Abdulkareem’s warbling to the bank, thanks to free government promotion.” The row, sparking debates at Lagos’ Freedom Park, recalls 2023’s clampdown on Falz’s Yakubu, with 60% of polled musicians reporting self-censorship fears, per a 2024 arts survey.