Nigeria bans Davido's "Fall", "If", three others

The National Broadcasting Corporation has banned five Nigerian songs having tagged them as “Not to be Broadcasted.”

The banned songs are Davido’s “Fall” and “If (Remix)”; Olamide‘s “Wo” and “Wavy Level“; 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 ministry revealed that ‘Wo’ which featured a line where Olamide mentions cigarettes, contravenes Nigeria’s laws on Tobacco advertising, promotion & sponsorship. The risks from this include cancers, respiratory & cardiovascular diseases.

“The public is informed of the dangerous public health content & violation of Tobacco Ctrl Act 2015 in “Wo” by @olamide YBNL #ClearTheAir,” they tweeted.

In June this year, the federal government, through Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, launched a campaign to ban smoking in public places including motor parks, shopping malls and health care centres.

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.