(A RESPONSE TO THE VAGABONDS IN POWER WHO BANNED THE SONG)

“Many years ago when Eedris sang ‘NIGERIA JAGA JAGA’, Obasanjo said it was his father’s house that was ‘jaga jaga.’ Today, if you check between him and Obasanjo who was right, you will see that he was indeed right, for Nigeria has finally ‘jaga jaga’ finish.”

— Anonymous

I learnt from social media news outlets that the Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has banned the song TELL YOUR PAPA released by the Nigeria Jaga Jaga crooner, Eedris Abdulkareem, from being played on radio and TV stations.

Although it was the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who said, “Books and all forms of writing are threats to those who seek to suppress the truth,” I would like to extend that view by saying that books, music, and all forms of art aimed at exposing the truth are threats to those who seek to suppress it.

If the truth must be told, would the NBC have banned a song that praises the current administration, despite its abysmal failures?

How come the NBC, rather than banning TV shows like the repackaged pornography called BB Naija, or songs that glorify women as sex objects and promote materialism without hard work, would be quick to ban a song that speaks truth to power?

Can the administrative head and members of staff of the commission, with all sincerity, say that what Eedris sang about is not true?

Can they, in good conscience, claim they are not affected by the problems highlighted in the song, problems afflicting the mass of the Nigerian people?

This is not the first time, nor would it be the last, that Nigerian ruling elites would attempt to control the way people think, express themselves, and act.

In fact, every successive government has made several attempts to shrink the democratic space — to violate the rights of Nigerians to exercise their fundamental human rights through censorship, clampdowns on protesters, arrests and detentions, and even state-sponsored assassinations of those who dared to stand up to power.

Music is a medium of expression protected by the right to free speech. Every musician has the right to convey a message to society in the way he deems fit.

Thus, the latest action by the NBC, acting on the orders of the powers that be, is a violation of that inalienable right, especially when the song produced by Eedris does not undermine the peace and security of the country.

What does the Bola Ahmed Tinubu government expect from a people who have been dispossessed by its poor governance?

Do you beat a child and forbid him from crying?

I have played and listened to the song EMILOKAN by the same artist. What that song and TELL YOUR PAPA have achieved is to expose the sufferings of the Nigerian people to the President and his cohorts, who might otherwise feign ignorance of the country’s deplorable state.

Some years ago, a President proudly and foolishly declared he did not read newspapers — a clear reflection of the disconnection between the government and the governed.

Given the state of affairs in my dear country, where life is short, nasty, and brutish, Nigerians cannot help but cry out through any means they deem necessary and appropriate.

Mr. Eedris Abdulkareem, as a citizen, has cried out through the medium he knows best, and he should not be persecuted for doing so.

What I expect the government to do is to sit up and do what is necessary to alleviate the sufferings of the people.

Yes, some persons in the government would want to know why the singer directed the song at the President’s son, Mr. Seyi Tinubu.

It is not far-fetched. In the annals of this country, no child of a President has ever carried himself the way Seyi does.

Even though he is not an elected or appointed government official, he has arrogated to himself powers that the laws of the land do not confer on him.

Aside from the crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly, which has been attributed to him over his whispering ambition to govern the state, there is the unverifiable claim — rife on social media — that Vice President Shettima reportedly said that the President’s son has taken over his role.

Recently, Mr. Seyi, in blatant disregard for the sensibilities of Nigerians, asserted that his father is the greatest President Nigeria has ever had.

Like many others, I asked myself: by what parameters and indices did he arrive at such a conclusion?

I guess the many Nigerians weighed down by the heavy yoke his father placed on them would disagree and would love to trade places with him.

In other words, because of the affinity he has with the President, Seyi is not the best person to make such a declaration. The people who feel the impact of his father’s rule should be the ones to decide — and that is what Eedris Abdulkareem has done.

Any keen observer and discerning mind would agree that despite the public gestures by the President to curb his son’s excesses, there is a surreptitious grand plan by the “Lion of Bourdillon” to turn Nigeria’s seat of power into a family affair — just like despots such as Assad, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Robert Mugabe, Omar Bongo, and others did.

Time shall tell.

But I only hope and pray that our people — who often adjust to whatever inanities are thrown at them by the political class — will rise up to resist such an evil plan.

Coming at a time when the Nigerian music industry has lost its critical voice in the mould of Fela Anikulapo Kuti; when many human rights activists are scheming to get invited to the corridors of power to “come and chop”; when members of the clergy — like Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo, and others — are competing among themselves to become the richest pastors through the sweat and tears of tithe- and offering-paying congregants; when there is no viable opposition party to engage the ruling party; and when the National Assembly is enmeshed in sexual scandals, rendering it impotent to checkmate the excesses of the Executive — there couldn’t have been a better time than now for Eedris to speak truth to power.

The music artist deserves commendation for using his artistry to amplify the sufferings of a people who have not only been pauperized but vanquished.

The ban placed on the song — just like the similar ban on Dele Farotimi’s NIGERIA’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM — will only generate renewed interest in the song.

Indeed, I would not be surprised if the masses adopt the song as a protest anthem to vent their disenchantment with the system.

This is the kind of music we need — songs that capture the essence of our daily struggle against bad governance and raise our collective consciousness — not songs that merely glorify “yansh and breast” and demean our women.

As a lover of good music who values lyrical content, I will continue to play this song aloud — alongside EMILOKAN — through my ZEALOT S98 music box, so that others can hear it and understand why the government is so desperate to erase it.

But trust the ingenuity of our people: while Mr. Tinubu might succeed in banning the song from conventional media platforms, he cannot stop the song from being played in the streets.

For as long as suffering persists in our fatherland, the song will live — and it will be played by any means necessary until things change for good.

Postscript:

Would the NBC have banned the song if it had praised the non-performing President and advocated for his second term? Thank God Eedris does not belong to that category of musicians who see an invitation to entertain the ruling elites as an achievement. We have not forgotten how the likes of Onyeka Onwenu sang that General Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s maximum dictator, was the best thing to happen to the country — claiming he was “the one the cap fits.”

Also, we must not forget how revered traditional rulers went to Aso Rock to sing the same song for the dark-goggled General.

History repeated itself recently when the esteemed Oba of Benin asserted that the man who is a beneficiary of a stolen mandate was sent by the ancestors to restore Edo State’s glory.

I doubt it seems so, for our Governor is more concerned with ensuring Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu secures a second term — two years away — rather than concentrating on the business of governance.

Hmm. God help us.

This is a clear case of misplaced priorities, when politicians like Senator Monday Okpebholo think more about the next election rather than the next generation.

Well, the Edo people never suffer fools gladly. He should ask his predecessor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who — despite being PDP and APC Governors respectively — could not secure victory for their presidential candidates in their own states.

The songs EMILOKAN and TELL YOUR PAPA are the best campaign songs that any serious opposition should adopt if they are truly serious about ousting the ruling party.

Signed:

Okhilua Osadebamen Spartacus

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