Nigerian Islamic group threatens Falz over ‘This is Nigeria video’
Nigerian music artiste, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz d bad Guy, has been in the eye of the storm following his new music video, This is Nigeria which critics say mocks Nigeria. The video already has about four million views on the YouTube.
Falz, who is son of Nigeria’s frontline lawyer, Femi Falana
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Director, Prof. Is-Haq Akintola, has given Falz, who is son of Nigeria’s frontline lawyer, Femi Falana, a seven-day ultimatum to apologise, bring down the video or face legal action.
Akintola made the demand on the account of some girls featured in the video, dressed in hijab and dancing new-rave “shaku shaku”.
The MURIC leader said the musician’s representatives did not need to speak to the group, but should go to the press and offer an apology or issue a statement.
“It is not a personal thing, it is about Nigeria,” he told a Punch journalist in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
Akintola also said in a statement that the dancers in the video in no way depicted the situation of Chibok Girls which Falz said he was projecting.
Describing the video as “thoughtless, insensitive and highly provocative,” MURIC said it could instigate a religious and ethnic crisis, adding that the video was spiteful and intended to denigrate Islam and Muslims.
“At least, none of the Chibok Girls have been seen dancing like a drunkard. They are always in pensive mood. Do they have any cause to be dancing? Are they happy?” Akintola asked.
The director referred to the video as a “hate video” capable of causing religious crisis of unprecedented dimension.
Responding to criticisms, Falz said the girls were a representation of the abducted Chibok Girls still in Boko Haram’s captivity.
‘’We continue to forget or neglect the innocence of the girl child and because of all the issues we are having – the kidnappings and the killings especially in the Northern part of the country, the Chibok Girls and the Dapchi Girls’ abduction.
The artiste said on Linda Ikeji TV, “It is very disturbing, we don’t often talk about them, and I was a bit surprised to hear people say, ‘Why would you put girls in hijab to dance Shaku Shaku?’ Is there anything wrong with people dancing because they are wearing hijabs? Is there any law against that?”