{"id":117322,"date":"2025-04-13T12:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T11:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=117322"},"modified":"2025-04-13T12:50:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T11:50:06","slug":"soyinka-faults-fgs-ban-of-protest-song-tell-your-papa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/soyinka-faults-fgs-ban-of-protest-song-tell-your-papa\/","title":{"rendered":"Soyinka Faults FG\u2019s Ban of Protest Song \u2018Tell Your Papa&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1829287736611706079\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Bayo Davids<\/div>\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1829287736611706079-content\" class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, is the latest eminent personality to slam the President Bola Tinubu-led government over its ban placed on the song \u2018Tell Your Papa\u2019 by veteran rapper, Eedris Abdulkareem.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Professor of Comparative Literature, known for his rights activism, liked the development to the return to the culture of censorship and a threat to the right to free expression.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In a statement issued from New York University, Abu Dhabi, on Sunday, Soyinka jibed the National Broadcasting Commission, stressing that its action is a shameful reminder of past attempts to stifle free speech and artistic creation.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cCourtesy of an artist operating in a different genre \u2013 the cartoon \u2013 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,\u201d Soyinka said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He expressed irony in suggesting that the ban did not go far enough, stating, \u201cIt is not only the allegedly offensive record that should be banned \u2013 the musician himself should be proscribed. Next, PMAN, or whatever musical association of which Abdulkareem is a member, should also go under the hammer.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>While noting that he\u2019s yet to listen to the banned song, Soyinka added that the issue transcends content and concerns a fundamental democratic principle.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIt cannot be flouted. That, surely is basic. This is why I feel that we should look on the bright side of any picture and thus recommend the Aleshinloye cartoon \u2013 and others in allied vein \u2013 as an easy-to-apprehend, easy-to-digest summation of the wisdom of attempting to stifle unpalatable works of art or socio-political commentary,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div>He continued, \u201cThe ban is a boost to the artist\u2019s nest egg, thanks to free governmental promotion. Mr. Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The dramatist cum cultural icon warned that such censorship was not only counterproductive but also dangerous to democratic development.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. 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,\u201d Soyinka said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He warned that it creates \u201cA permissive atmosphere of trickle-down power,\u201d where state authorities feel emboldened to clamp down on dissent.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Soyinka\u2019s statement also touched on broader issues of impunity and mob violence in Nigeria, lamenting the recent lynching of 16 persons in Edo State.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cMy heart goes out to friends, colleagues and families of victims and traumatized survivors of this senseless slaughter. Our thirst for justice must remain unslaked,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Citing the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, Soyinka decried the culture of impunity, saying, \u201cIdentified killers were set free to gloat, and paste their photos on social media\u2026 in full daylight glare, in the presence of both citizen voyeurs and security forces.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The author warned that \u201cAs long as the culture of impunity is given the sheerest strain of legitimacy in any given cause, such gruesome assaults on our common humanity will continue to prevail.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He further urged relevant regulatory bodies to reverse what he described as a \u201cPetulant irrationality,\u201d warning that any government that only tolerates praise singers has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss.\u201d<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_5287127844373235271ymail_android_signature\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-footer spacer collapsible\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bayo Davids Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, is the latest eminent personality to slam the President Bola Tinubu-led government over its ban placed on the song \u2018Tell Your Papa\u2019&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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