VeryDarkMan Pledges to Sponsor 'Tell Your Papa' Video After Government Ban
Controversial Nigerian activist VeryDarkMan (VDM) has vowed to sponsor the video shoot for the new protest song, ‘Tell Your Papa,’ by renowned Nigerian artist Eedris Abdulkareem, after it was banned by the Nigerian government on Thursday.
The Federal Government, through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), issued a ban on the song, deeming it “inappropriate and offensive”. The song, which addresses issues of hardship and insecurity in the country, specifically urges Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to convey to his father the struggles faced by Nigerians.
While the ban was intended to silence the song, it has instead sparked a wave of support and brought attention to the track, which had initially flown under the radar.
Reacting to the government's actions, VeryDarkMan criticized the ban, stating that the song's message was a reflection of the truth many Nigerians face. He expressed frustration over the government's attempt to suppress voices of dissent and vowed to back Abdulkareem in re-shooting the video.
In a video message shared on his social media pages, VDM said:
“I went to Eedris Abdulkareem’s page and saw the message NBC sent to him that they have banned his song, ‘Tell Your Papa,’ wherein he asked Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tell his father that there is hardship in the country and people are dying.
So the government doesn’t want to hear it on the stations, and they know he is saying the truth. Isn’t there hardship in the country? Ain’t people dying from insecurity?
This is what we are going to do now. First of all, we don’t even know radio. How many people listen to radio or watch TV? That’s by the way. We are going to take it over by social media.
Dear, Eedris Abdulkareem, we are going to shoot another video. This time, we will sponsor it. I will be in the video. We will also look for Tinubu’s lookalike since we can’t get the President to be in the video. We will remake the video, ‘Tell Your Papa 2.’ Then, we will also highlight other problems.
That [the ban] is to say, these people listen to what is going on in Nigeria but they don’t want to act. Then when you talk, they want to control the media so that you don’t have a voice and this voice doesn’t exceed what they can control.”
Opinion: The Ban May Have Backfired, Giving ‘Tell Your Papa’ New Life
In the age of social media, censorship can often have the opposite effect of what it intends. By banning ‘Tell Your Papa,’ the government may have inadvertently sparked greater interest in the song and its message. VeryDarkMan’s promise to sponsor a re-shoot of the video, along with his plans to leverage the power of social media, shows the resilience of the Nigerian people in the face of adversity.
The government’s attempt to silence criticism only amplifies the voices that challenge its authority. Eedris Abdulkareem’s lyrics were a call to action — one that struck a chord with many Nigerians — and now, thanks to the ban, it has gained even more momentum.
What’s clear is that ‘Tell Your Papa’ has found its voice in the digital age, where control over mainstream media is increasingly difficult to maintain. This battle over media access might just be the spark that fuels even more protest music and pushes the message further into the public consciousness.
By standing behind Abdulkareem, VeryDarkMan has turned what was intended to be a setback into a moment of empowerment, proving that in today’s world, a ban might only make the message louder.
