NBC ban "olamide new songs", davido "if remix" and 9ice "living things"

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has banned five songs by major Nigerian musicians — Olamide, Davido and 9ice — having considered them offensive for broadcast.

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 Tuesday, saying it banned the five songs from being aired across the Nigerian airwaves, reported online news medium, Premium Times.
The Federal Ministry of Health had in a tweet on Friday, said the video to Olamide’s “Wo” violated the Tobacco Control Act.

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: the video contravenes the Act. Innocently or otherwise, Tobacco promotion advertising sponsorship is banned in all forms,” the NBC said.

It could not immediately be ascertained 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 bus parks, shopping malls and health care centres.

The Health Ministry, in a communiqué, said according to Section 9 of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Act, 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 handle, the ministry claimed that the video, which features ghetto scenes in which youths are seen smoking, encouraged second-hand smoking.

The National Broadcasting Commission has, however, denied banning the artistes’ songs.

It said the news on the alleged ban came from a fake website linked to the ‘Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.’

Spokesman for the commission, Antia Ekanem, stated this in a text message to one of our correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday night.

“What you saw on that website was fake. It is not from the NBC. What you saw there is ‘Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation’ and not the ‘National Broadcasting Commission,” he said.

Reacting to the alleged ban, Olamide had said that he never intended to cause harm to music fans with the song.

He tweeted on Tuesday, “No intentions of promoting tobacco to get people killed. I love my people, I love my country. One love, one Nigeria.”