Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has urged Nigerians not to direct their frustration at South African singer, Tyla, insisting that political leaders, not entertainers, should be held accountable for the country’s challenges and xenophobic attacks.
Sowore made the remarks in a post on X, where he blamed Nigeria’s leadership under President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as well as the South African government, for creating conditions that have left Nigerians vulnerable.
The comments come as some Nigerians have called for the boycott of the Grammy-winning singer’s scheduled performance in Lagos.
Tyla had announced her APOP World Tour, which includes a Lagos concert on December 22, before concluding with performances in Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9.
In his post, Sowore argued that Nigerians should channel their anger towards the real enemies rather than a musician with no responsibility for the actions of political leaders.
“Nigerians should direct their anger at their real enemies, the criminal leaders like President Bola Tinubu and the APC, who destroyed our country, reduced our people to second-class citizens across Africa and the rest of the world, and the irresponsible South African leaders like President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose failures helped create the conditions for xenophobic violence,” he wrote.
Sowore maintained that Tyla should not be held vicariously liable for xenophobic attacks in South Africa, stressing that artistes should not bear responsibility for the failures of politicians unless there is clear evidence that they enabled such actions.
“No one should hold a talented musician like Tyla vicariously liable for the crimes of xenophobia. Artistes are not responsible for the failures of politicians except where there is ample evidence they’re enablers,” he added.
He called for Tyla’s planned concert in Lagos to proceed as scheduled.
“Tyla’s Lagos concert must go on.”