The banning by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) of recently released song “Tell Your Papa” by the rapper, Eedris Abdulkareem, from being broadcast on radio and television stations across the country has rightly attracted wide criticism, and is considered to manifest an overarching repressive tendencies of the commission.

Regrettably, this perception of an authoritarian entity has tagged the NBC in the last few years.

Susan Obi, the NBC coordinating director of broadcast monitoring, on April 9, had instructed all broadcast stations to refrain from airing the song. The commission had classified the politically charged song, which criticises the government and highlights social and economic hardship, as “Not To Be Broadcast,” citing its content as inappropriate and in violation of section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

The NBC was set up on August 24, 1992, by Decree 38 of 1992. It was later amended by Act 55 of 1999, and is now known as the National Broadcasting Commission Laws of the Federation 2004, CAP N11. The NBC Act gives the commission authority to regulate and license the broadcast industry in Nigeria.

Its regulatory functions include receiving, processing, and considering applications for the ownership of radio and television stations, including cable TV services, direct satellite broadcast, regulating and controlling the broadcasting industry and receiving, considering and investigating complaints from individuals and bodies regarding content of a broadcast or conduct of a station.

Other functions of NBC are establishing and disseminating a national broadcasting code and setting standards with regards to contents and quality of broadcasting, regulating ethical standard and technical excellence, promoting Nigerian indigenous cultures, moral and community life through broadcasting, determining and applying sanctions, including revocation of licences of defaulting stations, among others.

By some of its actions in recent times, including arbitrary imposition of heavy fines on media organizations accused of violating its code, and banning of songs or broadcasting programmes the NBC has portrayed itself as open or vulnerable to political interference. It is consequently perceived to have abandoned the job of an impartial regulator of the broadcast industry, thereby seen to be tormenting the industry and infringing on press freedom. The commission’s ban of Eedris Abdulkareem’s song is a violation of freedom of expression, which includes the right to receive information.

This is most unfortunate. Democracy begins to die the moment the right to dissent is denied. What Eedris Abdulkareem did in his song can hardly be interpreted as anything other than speaking truth to power. He asked the president’s son to tell his father that Nigerians are dying of hunger. Are Nigerians not hungry? Are people not dying? Eedris Abdulkareem should be appreciated, not punished, for being a voice of the people.

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, while condemning the ban placed on the song, described the development as a return to the culture of censorship and a threat to the right to free expression. The literary icon warned that such censorship was not only counterproductive but also dangerous to democratic development. “We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. It is … subversive … of the fundamental right of free expression,” Soyinka said.

When Ayatollah Khomeini placed a fatwa on Salman Rushdie in 1989 for writing ‘The Satanic Verses’, it made the book a global bestseller. The NBC’s ill-conceived decision to ban “Tell Your Papa “will most probably catapult the song into popularity, thanks to the boundless reach of digital platforms and the social media.

Similarly, non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) throwing their weights behind the musician for the ban to be lifted. While Amnesty International described the ban as “unlawful, arbitrary, and deeply worrying,” asserting that it reflected a dangerous trend of censorship and intolerance by the authorities under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, SERAP took the court option challenging the legality of the ban through a lawsuit, marked FHC/L/CS/797/2025, filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The organisation is seeking an order to reverse the decision, arguing that the ban infringes upon Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom. Also, SERAP contended that the NBC’s actions are an attempt to censor political expression under the guise of maintaining public decency, insisting that public decency is not an excuse to suppress dissenting views, especially when it comes to political commentary.

The NBC should recognise that many Nigerians share the sentiment expressed by the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and the non-government organisations that categorising the song as ‘Not To Be Broadcast’ for solely being critical of the government and people in power is not only tantamount to abuse of power, it is inconsistent and incompatible with the right to access information and media freedom in Nigeria.

The commission should be reminded that both press freedom and the freedom of speech are guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended). Section 22 of the Constitution states the obligation of the mass media. It says: “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times, be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.”

Also, Section 39 (1) of the same Constitution recognises “freedom of speech” and advocates the formation of the media as an instrument of democracy. It says: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference…”

As a government agency, the NBC should not be seen to be violating the Constitution which President Bola Tinubu has sworn to uphold and preserve. The ban is not justifiable. It is therefore in its interest and that of the public that the ban on Eedris Abdulkareem’s song be lifted.