Falz reacts to This Is Nigeria ban

Following news of the recent ban of a number of songs from the Nigerian airwaves, including 'This Is Nigeria' by Falz, the rapper has said he would consider writing the regulatory body, which labelled some of the lyrics from the song as “vulgar”.

“There is absolutely nothing vulgar about the song and I think it is ridiculous that the NBC singled out the least vulgar line in the song and ascribed it to be the reason they banned the song,” he told local media.

“It is a very simple and clean song. The only thing is that I was very blunt about the way I talk about things. I do not know, maybe some messages in the song hit them and that is the real reason they banned the song. The line was, ‘This is Nigeria, look how we living now. Everybody be criminal.’ If they ban this song, then I do not understand them because that song is definitely not a vulgar song.”

Falz’s song, which is a version of ‘This Is America’ by US rapper Childish Gambino, has been dogged by controversy since its release. Prior to the ban, an Islamic body demanded that Falz withdraw the video from the Internet because of a perceived offence to Islam.

Falz called the body’s bluff and the body later relented. Now he is unsure if the NBC's move is related to pressure from such groups.

“I do not know if the fact that some group wanted me to retract the song is linked with this new development but I know that there were a lot of messages in the song and it is hitting a lot of people in the wrong places and that is what is making them react in that manner,” he said.

“However, there was absolutely no basis for the NBC to ban that song. I am going to have to write to them through my lawyers to find out what is really going on. When I find out the reason behind the ban, I could ask them to lift it if need be and if they do not adhere to my request, I might have to seek legal redress.”

The other songs affected by the ban are 'See Mary, See Jesus' by Olamide and 'Iskaba' by Wande Coal. Neither Olamide nor Coal have reacted to the ban.