Wole Soyinka: Why Davido should not apologise over ‘Jaiye Lo’ clip
Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has urged Nigerian music star David ‘Davido’ Adeleke not to apologise over a video clip the music star posted on his Twitter account on July 24, 2023.
The 0.43-minute ‘Jaiye Lo’ clip, which showed people singing and dancing in front of a mosque, sparked outrage, particularly among Muslims who claimed that the scene was provocative and derogatory. While Davido later deleted the video, many demanded that he tender an unreserved apology to the Muslim community.
There have been threats against the life of the 30-year-old, who has helped propel the Nigerian entertainment industry to the global stage, employing hundreds of youths and grooming stars. Pictures of Davido with a red cross mark and with Samuel Deborah, who was burnt alive for alleged blasphemy in 2022, began to circulate online. Later, reportedly in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, an ad billboard of Davido was set ablaze in a bid to make the artist tender his apology for posting the video.
But Prof Wole Soyinka, in a statement, insisted that he does not owe anyone an apology.
“No apology is required. None should be offered. Let us stop battening down our heads in the mush of contrived contrition – we know where contrition, apology, and restitution remain clamorous in the cause of closure and above all – justice. Such apologies have not been forthcoming. In their place, we have the ascendancy of petulant censorship in the dance and music departments. Just where will it end?” he said.
The literary scholar, who was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, said former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, among others, have made religious comments in the past that were regarded as offensive by the Christian community.
“I recall my intervention, several years ago, in an attempt to pillory former Governor of Kaduna State, El Rufai, over some comment he had made that was considered derogatory to followers of Christianity,” he added.
“I forget the reference now, but I do distinctly recall another of a bank manager who, at Easter tide, referred to the risen Christ as a metaphor for the risen dough in the bakeries of Oshodi. Something along those lines. Under obvious pressure, he apologized, and I rebuked him for the gesture.
Nigeria, with Christianity and Islam being the two major religions in the country, struggles with religious intolerance.
In 2002, a provocative article by a Nigerian journalist, Isioma Daniel, shortly after Nigeria was chosen to host the Miss World, sparked a riot in Kano State and led to the death of over 200 people.
The controversial ‘Jaye lo’ clip, with its outrage, is coming just a month after Usman Buda, a butcher at Sokoto Abbatoir in Sokoto State, was stoned to death for blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.
