The National Broadcasting Corporation has banned five Nigerian songs having tagged them as “Not to be Broadcasted.”
The banned songs are Olamide‘s “Wo” and “Wavy Level“; Davido‘s “Fall” and “If (Remix)“; and 9ice’s “Living Things.”
The corporation released the list on Tuesday, saying it has banned the 5 songs from being aired across the Nigerian airwaves.
The Federal Ministry of Health had in a tweet on Friday said that the video to Olamide’s “Wo” violated the Tobacco Control Act 2015.
The 28-year-old rapper, who is signed to his own record label, YBNL, had returned to Ladi Lak in Bariga where he was raised to shoot the video of his latest single.
“This is our position: video contravenes the act. Innocently or otherwise Tobacco Promotion Advertising Sponsorship is banned in all forms.”
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately ascertain why the songs of the two other musicians were banned.
In June this year, the federal government, through the Ministry of Health, had launched a campaign to ban smoking in public places including motor parks, shopping malls and health care centres.
The Health Ministry, in a communiqué, said according to Section 9 of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Act 2015, once convicted, offenders are liable to a fine of at least N50, 000 and/or six months’ imprisonment.
Tweeting the information via its official Twitter page, the Ministry of Health claimed that the video, which features ghetto scenes in which youth are seen smoking, encourages second-hand smoking.
This is not the first time that an Olamide song will be banned by the Nigerian regulatory body.
In 2016, just a few months after the ban of one of his songs ‘Shakiti Bobo’, NBC also banned, ‘Don’t Stop’ which is a track off Olamide’s 5th studio album, Eyan Mayweather, for its vulgar lyrics.
Defending the decision at the time, the NBC said the song was banned from being played on the airwaves for its ‘obscenity, being indecent, vulgar languages, lewd and profane expressions like ‘wa gba ponron’, ‘I just want to hit you now’, ‘je kin wo be…”
Rapper Falz had also in June criticized Nigerian musicians who glamourise fraud with their lyrics, a criticism fans took to be directed at 9ice for “Living Things.”
The actor and rapper stated that the recent trend of hailing Internet fraudsters in music is not helping future generations as the young ones are beginning to see this as a normal way of life.
He recounted the personal experience of challenges faced by Nigerians in other countries as a result of cyber crime.
According to the 2015 Tobacco Control Act, it is prohibited to promote or advertise tobacco or tobacco products except between a manufacturer, retailer and consenting persons above 18 years of age.
“No person shall promote or advertise tobacco or tobacco products in any form.
“No person shall engage or participate in any tobacco advertising, promotion or sponsorship as a media or event organizer, celebrity or other participant,” it read.
According to the 2015 law, anyone who violates the law faces the risk of a fine and jail term of not more than one year.
Persons that produce or publish advertising, promotion or sponsorship content shall attract a fine of not less than N3,000,000 and a term of imprisonment of not more than one year.
If the tenets of the tobacco-control act are followed to the latter, then the rapper is at risk of N3 million fine, one-year jail term over ‘Wo’ video.
