Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has sharply criticized the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for banning a song by Nigerian musician Eedris Abdulkareem, which criticizes President Bola Tinubu’s administration. In a strongly-worded statement released on Sunday, Soyinka described the move as a troubling regression to authoritarian censorship and a direct threat to the fundamental right of free expression.
Drawing from history and artistic freedom, Soyinka lamented that Nigeria seems to be retracing steps back to an era where dissenting voices and critical art were routinely suppressed. He noted that he only recently became aware of the ban through a cartoonist’s satirical work commenting on the controversy, which he found both humorous and insightful.
With characteristic irony, Soyinka mockingly suggested that the censorship did not go far enough, saying, “It is not only the allegedly offensive record that should be banned — the musician himself should be proscribed. Next, PMAN, or whatever musical association Abdulkareem belongs to, should also be banned.” His sarcasm underlined the absurdity of silencing artistic critique.
Though he admitted he had not personally listened to the song, Soyinka stressed that the core issue was not the song’s content but the undermining of a critical democratic value — the freedom of expression. “It cannot be flouted. That, surely, is basic,” he asserted.
He further observed the ironic outcome that censorship often brings: increased attention and support for the censored artist. “Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank,” Soyinka quipped, implying that the ban might have only boosted the musician’s popularity.
In his closing remarks, Soyinka warned that such actions are not only outdated and wasteful but also harmful to Nigeria’s democratic growth. “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 seizures of the fundamental right of free expression,” he concluded.
