Veteran Nigerian rapper Eedris Abdulkareem has clarified that his latest song, Tell Your Papa, is not an attack on Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu.
Rather, he said the track was a response to Seyi’s public praise of his father.
Seyi had declared his father Nigeria’s best-ever president during a speech in Yola, Adamawa State, in March 2025.
Abdulkareem, reacting to the statement, said the song was his way of addressing the country’s pressing issues.
“Nigerian youths are just asking for basics: electricity, security, enabling economic environment, job creation and not palliatives,” Abdulkareem said on Channels Television’s Rubbin’ Minds on Sunday.
“So, why should I attack Seyi Tinubu personally? If Seyi Tinubu never talked about it, I wouldn’t have recorded a song like that. So, I am replying to the video that he made. If he had kept quiet, I wouldn’t have said anything. I am inspired by Seyi Tinubu to record that song.”
The song, however, was swiftly banned from airplay by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which deemed it inappropriate.
The ban drew backlash from several Nigerians, including Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, who condemned it as a sign of growing censorship and an assault on free speech.
Reflecting on the state of the nation, Abdulkareem lamented that his 2001 hit song Nigeria Jaga Jaga remains relevant today due to the country’s persistent underdevelopment.
“I was inspired by Seyi Tinubu to record the song. I saw a video where he was campaigning for his father and he was defending his father, saying ‘My father is the best president, my father is the greatest president, they are coming for my father…’”
“He (Seyi) repeated it like six times. But for Seyi, I differ because it looks more perfect when you are silent than when you speak. I would advise Seyi to hand over the microphone to the MC next time.”
“He lacks the charisma and purpose to express himself, telling the truth about the true economic situation in Nigeria under his father’s government.”
Abdulkareem added that while President Tinubu may be an exceptional father to his son, the same cannot be said for his treatment of Nigerian youths.
“He (Tinubu) has empowered Seyi as his son but Nigerian youths don’t have jobs talkless of food to eat. The Nigerian youths can’t travel by road so I ask Seyi Tinubu to travel by road without his security. Let him feel the pains of ordinary citizens,” he said.
