The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has announced that it will no
longer approach the court to seek the ban of ‘This is Nigeria’ video by
Folarin Falana, aka Falz the Bahd Guy.
MURIC had threatened to sue Falz over some “offensive” scenes in the video.
But in a statement on Sunday, MURIC Director, Prof Ishaq Akintola,
said in deference to pleas made by well-meaning Nigerians, it resolved
to drag the artiste to government agencies saddled with the
responsibility of censoring films and videos.
“It is not a U-turn but a sudden change in tactics”, the body said,
adding that, “This will have a more enduring impact not only on Falz but
the entire entertainment industry. It will also make the agencies sit
up to their responsibilities and inject a huge dose of discipline in the
music and film industries in general.
“Although he stopped short of apologizing, the artiste has tried to
clear himself in published interviews made available to us. According to
him, he did not intend to ridicule Muslims. He said his intention was
to call attention to the plight of the Chibok girls although we think he
has done that the wrong way.
“A scene in the video in which the ‘Chibok girls’ are in pensive mood
would have been more representative of the reality on ground because
kidnapped girls cannot be dancing like people under the influence of
drug. They are in captivity and so they have no cause under the sun for
jubilating.
“Again, the Fulanis (Muslims) were painted as killers while Benue
militias (Christians) who rustle Fulani cattles and slaughter their
wives and children were not featured. This is grossly unfair. Falz
should find a way of balancing his video. The kidnappers of the South
East (also Christians) were spared while the oil saboteurs of the Niger
Delta (Christians too) were ignored. Falz video is loaded with
Islamophobia. That video should be titled ‘This is not Nigeria’. It is
Islam-bashing. Nigeria’s video regulatory agency should therefore ban
the video or ask the artist to edit it properly.
“With this latest development and even before the seven-day ultimatum
expires, MURIC is no longer contemplating court action against Falz,
neither are we demanding any apology from him or his management. The
likely pecuniary gain in the event of a court validation of our claims
does not interest us. We are no longer looking at Falz but at a larger
picture.
“The courts will only be interested in legalities, judiciability and
technicalities but the video board will look beyond all that. Is it
professional? Is it balanced? Is it truly representative of our country?
Is it morally justifiable? These are what will interest the board and
they are in tandem with our thinking. We appreciate artists and our aim
is not to punish Falz. He is not a lazy Nigerian youth.
“The matter will now go to those government agencies who are supposed
to do their jobs in the first place. Instead of creating media tension
and granting cheap popularity, this matter will now be handled by
professionals who know what to do.”