Why has Nigeria banned Afrobeats song Tell Your Papa?
09:38 Share

Tell Your Papa. It's an Afro-Brit song in Nigeria that lots of people are talking about. Idris Abdel Karim released the song recently, but authorities quickly banned it, saying it was inappropriate and violated the country's broadcast code. So in this episode, we'll tell you all about the song that has caused a storm and what it says about Nigeria's political situation. I'm Mimi Swaby, and this is What In The World from the BBC World Service.

Makoachi Okofor is our reporter in Lagos. Hi Makoachi, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you, thank you for having me here. Firstly, please could you just tell me a little bit about Idris Abdul Karim? How big is he in Nigeria? Okay, so Idris Abdul Karim is one of the

few musicians who started the current day big wave of Afrobeat in Nigeria. He's pretty big, he's respected and he's quite popular, particularly because of the role he played in advancing Afrobeat in Nigeria. And he recently released a tune called Tell Your Papa. Can you tell us about it and give us an idea of some of the lyrics?

Okay, so Tell Your Papa is speech in English. It means tell your father or tell your dad. And he said he was inspired to do the song after he saw a video by Shea Tinibu, that's the son of the president, where he said repeatedly that his dad was the best president ever. And he felt it was necessary to address that.

that claim, according to him, through a song. In the song he's talked about how the state of the country is, the cost of living crisis, how insecure Nigeria has been. Nigeria has been dealing with lots of insecurity

you know, over the years. And there seems to have been a rise of these attacks lately in the country. And he also talked about how, you know, there's corruption in the country. He alleged those. So the lyrics of the song did tell Che Itinibu, that's the son of the president, to tell his dad how, you know, things are on ground, that he feels he's so distant, you know. Talked about he doesn't have to, if he feels that Nigeria is safe or good, he should try taking public transport away

as opposed to flying private jets just to see how the state of the roads are and how unsafe it is to travel by road. So those were sort of the lines that he mentioned or that he sang about in the song. But that song is now banned. Who banned it and why? The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, popularly called the NBC, did ban the song. And they banned it because they said it's inappropriate to

So the role of this agency, that is the NBC, is regulating content that goes out on Nigerian airways, that's TV and radio, any broadcasting or local broadcasting station in the country. So they see the content are clean, they are appropriate, they uphold what they've called the code of conduct. They abide by ethics, they are moral and practically just,

overseeing the quality of content that go out to the Nigerian public through the broadcasting lines, be it TV or radio. But now this song has been banned, particularly because the NBC says it is quite inappropriate. That was a line they used and that was a reason for banning the song. And who appoints the NBC? What is it made of? Is it a government appointed body or is it completely independent?

They are under the federal government. So that means that their decisions are just as good as the decision of the federal government because they were appointed by the federal government and their role is just to oversee the content that go out. It's important to note that this is not the first time a song is being banned in Nigeria. There have been many reasons for songs or content to be banned. It could be banned based on profanity, vulgarity. It could be said that some of the songs may be

problematic to national interest. So there have been many reasons why songs have been banned and this is not the first time this has happened, but this is the most recent and it quite hasn't happened in a long time. And most of the songs that have been banned in the past have been mostly off the basis of vulgarity or profanity or things around that.

OK, so the NBC aren't happy with Tell Your Papa. However, does this reflect life, day-to-day life for Nigerians at the moment? You mentioned insecurity, you mentioned high prices. Is this a reality for Nigerians? Over the months from last year through just about last week in the first week of April, we saw people constantly pushing for, you

you know, just trying to get their voices heard about their discontent with how things have been in Nigeria. There was a protest that was staged which the police really cracked down with tear gas, but it was staged on the first week of April. And young people were saying they weren't happy with the state of things, the high cost of living, the insecurity that was beginning to spike, the corruption, and even the high level of employment. So they had lots of demands. So it seems like the voices on the streets

are quite in line with what Idris Abdukarim is saying, saying that these protests have lingered from last year, they keep coming up. And even beyond the protests on the streets, there has been lots and lots of hashtags, for example, 30 Days of Rage, which was spiking through last month. Just people trying to say, we're not happy with how things are going.

It's really expensive for us to afford little things like eggs or just tomatoes or just a few things that we need to live and survive. So what you see online seems to be very in line with what Idris Adhokari has sung about. And it's no surprise that the song has been trending online, even regardless of the ban. So how did people respond to this song? Was it popular before the ban or has that ban really pushed its popularity and given it more awareness, given it more airtime?

I think that the band actually brought it more to the front lines, you know, giving more awareness. Idris Adukar is an older musician. Most young people may not even know his name. People are more familiar with the newer acts like Davido, Wizkid, Rema, Brunner Boy. So he's someone that most people have forgotten about. So I was surprised.

when I heard he had a song and now the song has been banned. So I think the ban brought lots of attention to the song. In fact, one of Nigeria's very respected voices, which is also a Nobel Prize winner, that's Wole Shoinka, has criticised the ban. And many other people also have criticised the ban, saying that they feel it's a muscle on free speech and freedom of expression, especially for artists in the country.

So I feel like the band actually did make it a lot more popular than it would have been. But what has the artist Idris Abdul Karim said himself? In a recent interview, he defended the song and he said he felt he needed to respond to the son of the president. He clearly stands by what he has said and he knows, according to him, that even regardless of the band, the song would still exist online.

streaming platforms and online platforms still have the liberty to air the songs. While they can't be played in any Nigerian radio or TV station, people are still free to play it in their homes and people are still free to play it online. The NBC doesn't have jurisdiction over what happens online. It's practically on local stations, TV and radio. So I think he feels okay because it feels like his voice is being heard. He

has over the years used his music and his voice for sort of activism. This is not the first time his song is being banned. In 2004, he did a song called Jaga Jaga. The song was very critical of the former president's administration, that is Olusegun Obasanjo. Now, the lyrics of the song, which means Jaga Jaga, Nigeria Jaga Jaga, was saying that Nigeria has spelt

that things have degraded and he wasn't happy with the state of things in the country. And you mentioned earlier protests against the government. The government has been facing growing opposition, particularly discontent from younger people. What are those current demands? What are younger people asking for? Most of the protests and their demands have been listed to include the level of economic difficulty happening in the country. In fact, they have termed it the hunger protests.

which is it's been difficult for most people to afford meals. Lots of people have had to cut back on how much they eat a day, even instead of eating maybe three times a day, they now eat once a day. Lots of people can't afford to eat. And lots of young people have complained that they feel like they need a sort of cushion. To be fair, the government has given allocation of funds

little funds to people and families, especially those who have been mostly affected, low-income homes. But people are saying that that hasn't been enough because even the middle class and even the upper class are feeling the pains of how things are or have been in Nigeria since the new government took seat. Thanks so much, Makoachi. Thank you, Mimi. Thank you.

That's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening. We've done episodes before on life in Nigeria. One's called Why Are So Many Young People Leaving Nigeria? And we've also talked a lot about music. It's called Will Nigeria Leave Afrobeats Behind? You can find these wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is What In The World from the BBC World Service. I'm Mimi Swaby. Bye.