Anger Over Xenophobia Sparks Nigerian Celebrity Campaign To Stop Tyla’s Lagos Concert: “South Africa Thinks We’re Fools.”
Nigerian celebrities and fans have launched a campaign against South African singer Tyla’s planned December concert in Lagos. The movement, tagged “South Africa thinks we’re fools,” started days after the show was announced and comes amid renewed anger over xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa, where several Nigerians have reportedly been killed in recent years.
The backlash is centered on Tyla’s silence. Many Nigerians online say she has not spoken out against the attacks, and they see her decision to perform in Nigeria as disrespectful. Critics also accused South Africa of denying Nigerian artistes entry into the country, which has fueled calls for a reciprocal stance.
On Wednesday, several public figures joined the campaign on social media. Popular OAP Do2dtun posted on X that anyone who attends the concert “is a bastard.” He recalled how Burna Boy was once threatened in South Africa for speaking against xenophobia, and said Nigerians did nothing to defend him at the time. He added that Nigerians are too quick to blame each other instead of holding other countries accountable, calling Nigeria “the republic of docile and complacent people.”
BBNaija star Pere Egbi took a different approach, appealing directly to the Nigeria Immigration Service. He urged the agency to deliberately deny Tyla and her team visas, writing, “They can’t do this to our own and we welcome their own. Madness must match madness.”
Content creator and commentator Solomon Buchi also condemned the planned show in an Instagram video. He said the concert “must not happen” and described it as insulting, given the lack of any statement from Tyla about the xenophobic violence. “Not one word from Tyla and not even performative activism from her,” he said.
Other voices were even harsher. Content creator Sea King said he supports the boycott and called the event organizers “too useless” for not reading the room. Actress and presenter Izzy Ogbeide blamed President Bola Tinubu’s government for the situation, posting in Pidgin that the President’s failure to defend Nigerians gave Tyla the “audacity” to plan a tour here.
Isa Bako, a digital creator and son of the late Colonel Yakubu Bako, went further, telling Nigerians to confront attendees at the venue. In a video, he said people should “go to the venue and wait outside there to beat up anyone that attend the concert” so that “they learn.”
Digital creator D English Alhaji echoed the boycott call, stating that Tyla is “not welcome here” and should perform in her own country instead, since she has refused to condemn attacks against Nigerians and other Africans.
The campaign has quickly gained traction online, with many Nigerians arguing that cultural exchange cannot continue while violence against Nigerians abroad goes unaddressed.
