VeryDarkMan Vows to Sponsor New Video for Banned Eedris Abdulkareem Song

Nigerian social media critic and activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has pledged to fund a new video shoot for veteran rapper Eedris Abdulkareem’s controversial song “Tell Your Papa,” which was recently banned by the Nigerian government.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had earlier declared the song unfit for broadcast, labeling it “inappropriate and offensive” due to its critical take on Nigeria’s leadership, particularly its direct message to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu.

Ironically, the ban sparked widespread interest in the song, which had initially received little attention.

Reacting to the ban, VeryDarkMan slammed the federal government for censoring the song, insisting that Abdulkareem only spoke the truth. He further announced his commitment to sponsor a fresh music video for the track to help amplify its message.

VeryDarkMan 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, this 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.”