The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has prohibited broadcast stations across Nigeria from airing the controversial new single, “Seyi Tell Your Papa,” by veteran rapper Eedris Abdulkareem.
The directive, issued in a memo dated April 9, 2025, and signed by NBC’s Coordinating Director of Broadcast Monitoring, Susan Obi, classified the track as “Not To Be Broadcast” (NTBB), citing Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
According to the Commission, the lyrical content of the song violates its guidelines on responsible broadcasting, describing it as “objectionable in nature.”
The song, a sharp critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, calls on the President’s son, Seyi Tinubu, to convey the frustrations of ordinary Nigerians to his father. Abdulkareem, in characteristic fashion, paints a grim picture of national hardship, insecurity, and government neglect.
Excerpts from the song include: “Seyi, tell your papa country hard. Tell your papa people dey die. Tell your papa this one don pass jagajaga… Seyi, try travel by road without your security, make you feel the pains of fellow Nigerians…”
The ban has sparked backlash, with Eedris Abdulkareem reacting via Instagram.
He accused the Tinubu administration of being intolerant of criticism and branding it “insensitive, vindictive, and grossly maleficent.”
Abdulkareem wrote, “Constructive criticism has now become a crime in Nigeria.
“Just under two years of his presidency, and the results are frighteningly abysmal from all fronts. This is a fact known by all Nigerians, except for the few happy slaves groveling for crumbs from their paymaster’s table.”
Drawing parallels with the past, the rapper recalled the 2004 ban on his hit song “Jaga Jaga” under the Obasanjo government, questioning why Nigeria continues to struggle with the same systemic failures decades later.
