🔥 When the Pen Roars Louder Than the Gavel: Soyinka Unleashes Fury Over Censorship of Abdulkareem’s Protest Anthem
🎤BREAKING: Soyinka Slams NBC’s Ban on Eedris Abdulkareem’s “Tell Your Papa” — Calls It Petulant, Boring, Time-Wasting, Diversionary, and Subversive -
In a world where silence is golden to the powers that be, one man’s voice has risen—not in song, but in a firestorm of words that burn hotter than the midday sun in Abuja. Nobel laureate and global literary lion, Professor Wole Soyinka, has ripped into Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for banning Eedris Abdulkareem’s scorching new track “Tell Your Papa”—a song already rattling the pillars of power.
And Soyinka? He’s not holding back.
With the elegance of a poet and the precision of a scalpel, he carved the ban into five unforgettable adjectives: petulant, boring, time-wasting, diversionary, and subversive.
“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseam,” Soyinka lamented in a statement issued from New York University, Abu Dhabi. “It is boring, time-wasting, diversionary but most essential of all, subversive—of all seizures of the fundamental right of free expression.”
The banned song? A direct hit on the Tinubu administration, with Eedris calling on Seyi Tinubu—the president’s son—to carry home tales of a nation’s anguish. It’s raw. It’s bold. It’s everything that makes the establishment nervous.
Soyinka hadn’t even heard the song—but that didn’t stop him from taking a principled stand. For him, the issue isn’t about lyrics—it’s about liberty.
He delivered a thunderclap of satire:
“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 go under the hammer.”
The sarcasm was razor-sharp, mocking a system allergic to criticism.
But the masterstroke? Soyinka flipped the script.
“The ban is a boost to the artist’s 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.”
And while the government attempts to muzzle songs, Soyinka reminded them that censorship is a megaphone, not a gag. Art, he warns, thrives under pressure—and every ban gives birth to a bolder voice.
Yet, his rage isn’t reserved for the censors. His heart bleeds for Nigeria itself. He tore open the national conscience by condemning the brutal lynching of 19 youths in Edo, and the unresolved murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto. These, he warned, are symptoms of a deadlier disease: impunity.
“Identified killers were set free to gloat… in full daylight glare, in the presence of both citizen voyeurs and security forces.”
And then came the final blow:
“Any government that only tolerates praise-singers has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss.”
This wasn’t just a statement—it was a literary grenade lobbed into the heart of Nigeria’s cultural landscape.
đź’¬ So, what do you think?
Is Soyinka right—has censorship become a government’s favorite shield against accountability?
Did the NBC just turn Eedris Abdulkareem into a legend overnight?
And most importantly—can art still speak truth in a time of fear?
Drop your thoughts. This isn’t just a story—it’s a revolution in the making. 🔥
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