Nigeria’s democracy is under the weather. To reverse this state of health, medical magic is not needed. What is needed is a handful of practicing democrats to pull it from the throes of ruination. If the nation continues to be trapped in the slough by anti-democratic forces who benefit from its disposition, it might as well deteriorate.
With a degree of certitude, the death of democracy in Nigeria will not shock the rest of the world. Going by the characters of these ‘democrats’, the seeming survival of this system of government in Nigeria’s political theatre should be one of modern-day mysteries which cannot be explained by orthodox political science.
Tell Your Papa, by the ace artiste-cum-social-activist whose name is household in Nigeria’s music space, clearly manifests the symptoms of an ailing system. Eedris Abdulkareem has been consistent in firing his powerful missiles at the most appropriate time and at the most appropriate quarters.
His songs are not replete with obscenities, which make listening to music a no-no for a majority of music lovers. Through his songs, he speaks the minds of all suffering Nigerians. Not that Nigerians have not been speaking, their voices have either not reached those in the corridors of power, or it has been reaching them, but they pretend to be deaf.
Abdulkareem concluded, a long time ago, that Nigerian rulers are not deaf. Anyone who has been listening to the author of Nigeria Jaga Jaga will understand that what Abdulkareem is saying is: “It is not that Nigerian governments do not hear the voices of Nigerian masses as they wail. It is just that they (Nigerian rulers) do not understand both the spoken and written languages the masses have chosen as a medium of communication.”
In his unique manner of speaking truth to power, the Jaga Jaga maestro puts it rightly without mincing a word: “this one don pass jaga jaga.” It is generally agreed that, under Tinubu, what Nigerians are going through is pass jaga jaga. It is thought that every reasonable Nigerian aligned with this incontrovertible fact until the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) flagged the infamous Seyi, Tell Your Papa hit track.
It was then realised that Abdulkareem is right: the government is not deaf. The missiles in Seyi Tell Your Papa lyrics are fired with precision. It hits the target. It sends a strong message to the Nigerian ruling class, who have made torturing the masses a pastime. It is why President Tinubu’s government finds the missiles too poisonous.
But can Seyi Tell Your Papa be the cure to our ailing country? Is Seyi the right guy to tell President Tinubu that the life and the general affairs of Nigerians are in a state of topsy-turvy with his uncharitable economic policies? When was Seyi elected or nominated to act in that capacity? When exactly did Seyi become an arm of government whose function is to checkmate the excesses of his father?
Can he deliver Abdulkareem’s message to his father after declaring him the best president in Nigeria? Does Mr. Lecturer (Eedris Abdulkareem) think Seyi has two mouths? Which mouth exactly would he use to tell his father that Nigerians are suffering when a mouth of Seyi said, and perhaps still says, his father is the best thing that has ever happened to Nigeria and Nigerians?
Yet, Eedris Abdulkareem is not wrong to have sent the right message through the wrong person (Tinubu’s kid). For it is possible, Abdulkareem believes, democracy is completely dead under Tinubu. In that case, he is right to have chosen Seyi for the message. Seyi, please, tell your papa country hard; tell your papa people dey die; tell your papa this one don pass jagajaga. Has what Nigerians are going through actually not passed jaga jaga?
He continues: Seyi, how far? I swear your papa no try; too many empty promises; on behalf of Nigerians, take our message to him; kidnappers dey kill Nigerians. This one too na lie? Just the other Friday, unknown persons kidnapped an official Toyota Hilux that belongs to the office of the National Security Adviser. It is by God’s grace that Nuhu Ribadu wasn’t in the vehicle. Wouldn’t it be a global disgrace that the NSA is kidnapped, not in Sambisa in Borno State, but in Abuja, the nation’s capital? Just imagine that Ribadu was in the vehicle.
Abdulkareem asked Seyi to deliver the message. But before Seyi could telephone his father, who was on a working visit in France, while killings of Nigerians on a large scale were/are ongoing in Benue, Plateau, Borno and other states, he was overtaken by the NBC – as if in a competitive race – to deliver the message.
Also Read: NBC Restricts Media Houses From Playing Song “Seyi Tell Your Papa”
The NBC delivered the message better than Seyi would have by banning the song. Thanks to NBC. The song was banned from being aired, but NBC forgot to ban it from being sung. Someone said the ban was empty. How can you ban a song only to end up popularising it? With the benefit of hindsight, NBC should have known that banning such a song would boomerang with an unintended result.
Except that NBC is working against President Tinubu’s re-election by exposing his government to ridicule, those behind the ban did not think before they leaped. Many are not aware of Eedris Abdulkareem’s 2021 “Jaga Jaga Reloaded” or his “Oti Get E” in the same year. His recent “Emi lokan,” which he sang last year (2024), also seems not to have been noticed by many Nigerians. If not for the ban, many Nigerians might never have heard of the Tell Your Papa lyric or even listened to it.
The ban is like awarding the ace rapper by other means. Or is anything more rewarding to Abdulkareem than seeing his Tell Your Papa go viral? Could he be more fulfilled than seeing how his song discomforted our rulers who are comfortably cocooned in their comfort zone, from the reality of the daily unbearable hardship Nigerians are forced to go through?
If we think democracy is completely dead in Nigeria and has given way to unconstitutional monarchy, Seyi, the heir apparent, should be accorded the respect he deserves. Sending him to his father, as Abdulkareem did, is just the right thing to do. Nigerians may equally wish to send his wife Sen. Remi (whether it is agreed that she is our mama or not) to talk to Kabiyesi on behalf of the suffering and dying Nigerians.
But yours truly believes that democracy in Nigeria is sick (not dead) since the lawmakers at the National Assembly still pretend to be making laws, and the courts have not stopped dispensing selective justice. Unless these two arms of government formally surrender their rights to President Tinubu, there is no hope of getting Nigerian democracy out of ICU.
In conclusion, can anyone tell if what is being witnessed is not one of the clear signs of the end times? Eedris Abdulkareem always speaks for the masses at the risk of his comfort, but religious leaders are becoming government spokespersons to justify whipping the masses, as they are encouraged to turn the other cheek. Let us ask again: is this not the end times?
Yes! There are religious leaders who are yet to be bought and those who are un-buyable. Our religious leaders with untainted integrity should appeal to their colleagues to fear the Almighty. Their ungodly behaviour – forming unholy alliance with rulers against the masses – is turning people away from their faith.
To Eedris Abdulkareem, big thumbs-up!
