Nigeria Censorship Crisis: Soyinka Slams Eedris Abdulkareem Song Ban
By IDNN Culture Desk | April 14, 2025
The Nigeria censorship crisis is no longer a whispered concern—it’s a thunderous warning from the nation’s conscience, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. His latest broadside against the government’s ban of a politically charged song by Eedris Abdulkareem is more than an artist defending another. It’s a fierce defense of freedom of expression itself.
A Return to the Culture of Censorship
Speaking from New York University, Abu Dhabi, Soyinka condemned the censorship of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song as symptomatic of a broader Nigeria censorship crisis. He likened the decision to a return to military-era tactics where artists were targeted and silenced for speaking inconvenient truths.
“Courtesy of an artist operating in a different genre—the cartoon—I learnt recently of a return to the culture of censorship,” Soyinka lamented, highlighting the irony of punishing art that critiques governance.
Soyinka sarcastically suggested that the state should go further if it truly intends to gag voices: ban the artist, his musical associations, and any affiliated satire or social commentary.
Artistic Repression and the Power of Irony
Although Soyinka admitted he hadn’t even listened to the banned song, he argued that the Nigeria censorship crisis was not about content—it was about principle. “It cannot be flouted. That, surely, is basic,” he declared, warning that repressing artistic expression only emboldens autocratic impulses and endangers democracy.
He wryly observed that such bans often backfire. “The ban is a boost to the artist’s nest egg… Mr. Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him.”
The government’s action has inadvertently amplified the reach and resonance of Abdulkareem’s music, turning a controversial song into a viral anthem.
Censorship and the Rise of State Impunity
Soyinka’s editorial wasn’t just about music. It was a full-throated condemnation of systemic repression and state-enabled violence in Nigeria. Referencing the lynching of 19 youths in Edo State and the 2022 murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, he warned of a “permissive atmosphere of trickle-down power.”
“Identified killers were set free to gloat, and paste their photos on the Social Media… in full daylight glare, in the presence of both citizen voyeurs and security forces,” he noted with disgust.
The real crisis, Soyinka emphasized, is not just censorship—it’s impunity.
Reverse the Petulance or Slide Into the Abyss
Soyinka’s conclusion was not a plea but a directive: reverse the ban and confront the authoritarian reflex that birthed it. “Any government that only tolerates praise-singers has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss,” he said bluntly.
In a democracy, discomfort is a sign that art is doing its job. Nigeria cannot afford to kill the messenger when the message simply holds up a mirror to the state.
IDNN | Journalism for Justice.
