Nigeria Broadcasting Commission,(NBC) has slammed a
Not To Be Broadcast (NTBB) warning against a recent song by rapper
Olamide entitled, Science Student.
The notification proscribing the
song from being broadcast was sent to all radio and television stations
across the country during the week.
Also, the Head of Public
Affairs, NBC, Hajia Maimuna Jimada confirmed NBC’s stand on the trending
song on Wednesday, stating that while the regulatory body did not ban
the song outrightly, it considered it unfit for broadcast.
“NBC
does not ban music. Our mandate is on what goes on Radio and TV.
Olamide’s Science Student has been declared ‘Unfit for broadcast,’” she
said.
Asked about the context in which the song was declared
unlawful, Jimada, hinted on the profligate mention and the subtle
promotion of illegal drugs. She also issued standing warning to all
broadcasting corporations within its jurisdiction.
“We have communicated all our licensees for compliance or they will face sanctions,” she said.
Often
called King of the Street, Olamide engages his own indigenous tongue in
what may be considered a subtle and metaphorical description of the
different ways in which drugs and substance are being abused in the
streets of Lagos. He mention the use of prohibited drugs such as
Codeine, Tramadol, illicit substances such as Monkey tail, Skushi,
Shisha, Alomoterming, referring to those who use and mix them as Science
Students. This classical attribution follows what science students do
in the laboratory, which is mixing chemicals.
Though, Olamide
appears to reveal these activities in his song using expressions such as
ashiri eko otituloju ewe, ashiritu, (the revealing of secrets), by
singing about drugs and judging by the general ambience, not to mention
the kind of visuals that would entail this song.