Nigerian rapper and activist Eedris Abdulkareem has said his new controversial song, Tell Your Papa, is not a personal attack on Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, but a response to the younger Tinubu’s public praise of his father.
In March 2025, at an event in Yola, Seyi Tinubu declared his father “the greatest president in the history of Nigeria.” The comment sparked public reactions and inspired Abdulkareem’s latest track.
Speaking on Rubbin’ Minds on Channels TV on April 13, Abdulkareem said the song was a call to action, urging Seyi to ask his father to address Nigeria’s worsening economic and security situation.
“Nigerian youths are simply asking for basics—electricity, jobs, security—not palliatives,” he said. “I didn’t attack Seyi personally. If he hadn’t made that video, I wouldn’t have made the song. He inspired it.”
Abdulkareem explained that the track was meant to counter what he sees as tone-deaf praise during a time of national hardship. He criticized Seyi for defending his father’s record without acknowledging the realities Nigerians face daily.
“Tinubu may be a great father to Seyi, but not to Nigerian citizens,” he said. “Seyi has opportunities, but the average Nigerian youth doesn’t have a job, food, or safe roads. Let him travel by road without security—maybe then he’ll understand the struggle.”
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) later banned Tell Your Papa, calling it “inappropriate for broadcast.” The move sparked backlash from free speech advocates, including Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who called it censorship and a threat to democracy.
Abdulkareem compared the ban to the government’s reaction to his 2004 hit Nigeria Jaga Jaga, which was also banned under the Obasanjo administration. “Twenty-four years later, Jaga Jaga is still relevant,” he noted.
Known for using music to challenge authority, Abdulkareem has previously released protest songs like Emi Lo Kan in 2024—criticizing both President Tinubu and Pastor Enoch Adeboye—and Letter to Mr. Obasanjo in 2018.
Reacting on Instagram to the latest ban, Abdulkareem wrote: “In Nigeria, speaking the truth is seen as a crime. This administration is proving to be one of the most insensitive and vindictive in our history.”
He ended his message with a quote from Uthman Dan Fodio: “The conscience is an open wound; only the truth can heal it. Aluta continua.”