Image Credit: Tekedia
By: Zainab Yusuf
“Society practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself.” —J.S. Mill
Wikipedia defines cancel culture as a cultural phenomenon in which an individual thought to have acted or spoken unacceptably is ostracized, boycotted, shunned, or fired, often aided by social media. The Nigerian cancel culture is a labyrinth of contradictions, the perfect example of a paradox. Stemming from the failing Nigerian moral and justice system, it seeks to provide accountability from celebrities and other public figures. However, this newfound culture aimed towards justice and accountability has since backslid (that is, if it was ever on the right path). In its defence, justice is subjective, and the tool for its subjectivity, in this case, is selective call-outs.
As Bari Weiss noted, the cancel culture system uses “cancellation the way ancient societies used witch burnings: to strike fear into the heart of everyone watching.” In Nigeria, cancel culture has become a double-edged sword, serving as the perfect tool for a comeback or a total defeat. What matters? Your ability to strategize. You might ask, “Has cancel culture now turned into a game of chess?”
Let’s watch how it unfolds. This article will delve deep into cancel culture in the Nigerian entertainment industry while paying particular attention to the accused, the moral evildoers, the moral cheaters, and how beauty and gender serve as a determining factor in Nigerian cancel culture.”
The Accused
In Nigeria, there are two justice systems: the netizens and the legal system. Before the slow wheels of the legal system start their rickety journey, the mighty netizens have already used their swift sense of reasoning to determine what is just. They are swift to take their seats on the high throne of judgment to decide who exactly is guilty. Various celebrities have since been subject to this two-justice system. The name Naira Marley might first come to mind. However, he was preceded by others, including Ibinabo Fiberesima, Taiwo Akinwande, and Omiyinka Olanrewaju ( Baba Ijesha).
Azeez Fashola (Naira Marley): Mood Swings?
Naira Marley’s case unfurled like a dramatic soap opera of a wicked stepmother, but the twist was the death of one of his artists under his record label, Aloba Ilerioluwa, popularly known as Mohbad. What started as a battle over royalties quickly spiralled into bullying. Upon Mohbad’s death, his widow, parents, and “concerned netizens” rose. To them, Naira Marley, the wicked label boss, had terminated the life of their idol. Naira Marley and Sam Larry, his associate, discovered by the investigative netizens, were believed to have bullied Mohbad to death. A video had surfaced of Naira Marley chasing Mohbad away from a video shoot. The netizens were enraged. Like the warriors they’ve always been, their blood surged, and their souls cried at this huge level of injustice. Naira Marley was evil, and the way out was simple, Cancel Him!!! Their modus operandi? Boycott his songs, swarm his comment sections with curses and insults, massively unfollow him, and curse everyone who still dared to associate with him. While the injustice boiled in their hearts, this plan worked.
However, when Naira Marley dropped his hit single, Pxy Drip, in December 2024, the song skyrocketed to the top of the charts. Who streamed this music? Of course, the netizens are seated on the high throne of justice. It seemed the fire at the sight of injustice had since been transferred into vibing to Naira Marley’s new hit single. As of press time, this song has since generated over 11 million streams on Spotify, and the music video has garnered 6.5 million views on YouTube. When an X user commented under his post, “Stop appealing; you have been cancelled permanently,” various dissenting opinions rose to challenge his statement. With this ongoing fiasco, can we now say the netizens’ justice system has mood swings? Guilty one moment and acquitted another time? Is the bandwagon curse at play? Are the netizens qualified to be an effective justice system? Or is the cancel culture effective?
Ibinabo Fiberesima: A Case Of Selective Amnesia?
Moving on to Naira Marley’s predecessors, we’ll begin with Ibinabo Fiberesima, the Marilyn Monroe of the 1990s and early 2000s Nigeria. She was the role model for growth, an epitome of excellence. According to Premium Times, on February 26, 2006, the ex-beauty queen and then-president of the National Guild of Actors were driving along Lekki – Epe Expressway when she lost control of her steering wheel, swerved into the inbound lane and rammed her car into the car of a certain Suraj Giwa, a medical practitioner at the Lagos General Hospital. Unfortunately, this accident resulted in his death. Ibinabo was charged to court for manslaughter and reckless driving. In 2009, she was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail. Upon appeal, she was granted bail. However, the appeal was dismissed in 2016. She further filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, in which judgment has not been made.
Despite such an unfortunate accident, in 2019, she declared her intention to contest as a Local Government Chairperson in Rivers State. The question was how did the netizens’ justice system handle this? Did their wheels become rickety? No, just like their usual antics, they sprang up and stood their ground. The internet raved, and tabloids had a swell time. Ibinabo wasn’t going to be allowed to contest! And yes, their stance was upheld. She later tendered a public apology to the general public. Later on, the rate at which she appeared in movies dwindled. However, it came as a shock when the former Rivers State governor was impeached following the President’s call for a state of emergency, and Ibinabo Fiberesima was seen protesting, requesting that the Governor be reinstated and reiterating that they had finally found peace in the state.
A look at the comment section revealed one thing: Nigerians had forgotten what Ibinabo Fiberesima had done and the fact that they had cancelled her a few years back. An important question now looms: is cancelling temporary or permanent? What exactly determines the time frame for cancelling?
Taiwo Akinwande: Remorse and The Cancel Culture
Taiwo Akinwande, popularly known as Yetunde Wunmi, is another one of the accused. She was arrested by the NDLEA in 2006 for drug-related offences and served a two-year sentence in prison. Before her offence, she was a renowned actress in Nollywood who had acted and featured in various Yoruba movies. After her jail term, she was able to make a successful comeback by producing a movie based on her experiences titled ‘Egbogi Oloro,’ which received a warm response from her fans. According to her in an interview with the Sun Newspaper after her release, “The Association of Nigeria Theatre Practitioners (ANTP) brought me back to life. They rekindled my hope, and my career was put back on track. I was able to overcome the sad experience through the unflinching support of everybody who stood by me during the trying period. It was terrible indeed. But today, the rest is history.” This case brings us to the forefront of a question bordering on cancel culture. Does remorse equate to forgiveness? What is the end goal of cancel culture? To strike fear or restructure morals?
Olanrewaju James (Baba Ijesha): Cancel Culture as a Tool for Justice
Finally, we have the tale of the fallen comic. The Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James popularly known as Baba Ijesha. In 2021, he was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. The case polarized Nigeria: supporters claimed a setup, while activists demanded justice. The internet was ablaze, and the netizens were confused. Guilty or not? To cancel or not? Due to the uproar the case generated, the legal system hastened its rickety journey of justice. In 2022, the Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court sentenced him to five years imprisonment. Can we now say that the Netizens’ justice system is useless and should be scrapped? Is it until a case generates an uproar before justice is swift? Let’s pay attention to the classic quote “Justice delayed is indeed justice denied.” Can the Netizens now become judges of these cases by employing cancel culture to prevent justice from being denied?
The Moral Evildoers
We have another round of ‘evildoers,’ these oh so morally bankrupt celebrities. The judge? The Netizens. However, these evildoers are not judged by one yardstick. After all, fingers aren’t equal. Celebrities like Odumodublavk, Naira Marley, and others who glorify drugs and fraud aren’t cancelled or backlashed. They’re the friends of the youth. Remember the “Marlian Movement”, the era of Pata ni logo Benz, and the recent “If she no fuck o, if she no sucks, who go pay for her wig and handbag?” Yes, those are the whitewashed moral evildoers. Their morals are questionable, but to the netizens, they are good boys and the perfect template to embody. Now, God forbid you decide to post “Jesus is Lord” on your Instagram story on Eid-el-Fitr. Be prepared to drown in the spit of the judging netizens. God forbid you take the side of a cheater. “Cancel him!” they’d cry. What, then, is the exact importance of cancel culture if different yardsticks are used to determine the rightness or wrongness of an act?
The Moral Cheaters
We’ve had different celebrities cheat both in their marriages and relationships. Yul Edochie, a popular Nollywood actor, cheated on his wife, May Edochie, and had a child with another woman outside of marriage. The netizens’ response? “Cancel him! We don’t want any cheaters and scumbags!” Yes, indeed, cheating is morally reprehensible, but why exactly is the yardstick for cancelling those who cheated different? Let’s take a look at Fred Amata and Ibinabo Fiberesima, both veteran actors. Fred had cheated in his marriage with Agatha Amata with Fiberesima. However, the backlash of such cheating was only on Ibinabo Fiberesima. Fred Amatha still served as the President of the Directors’ Guild of Nigeria.
A look back at Yul Edichie’s cancellation also shows the erratic nature of the cancel culture. In 2022, it was revealed that Yul Edochie had been cheating on his wife, May Edochie, with a certain Judy Austin. Netizens were angry and enraged, but what sparked their fury was the death of May and Yul’s son and the attitude portrayed by Yul Edochie. The whole internet was in a frenzy. “Cancel Yul! Cancel Yul!,” they raged. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, a movie starring Yul Edochie in the lead role, which was released two weeks ago, had 99,000 views.
Another, which was released two months ago, had 488,000 views on YouTube. Who is watching these movies? One would ask. Ghosts or spirits? According to Yakubu Moshood’s article titled ‘Top Nigerian YouTubers 2024’, channels like NollywoodpicturesTV have an average of 98,000 views for uploaded videos. In addition, a look back at Yul’s movies before his supposed cancellation revealed that his commercial value did not decrease. So, was Yul Edochie cancelled or just tongue-lashed? And if cancelled, why was it ineffective?
Beauty And The Nigerian Cancel Culture
Let’s not forget the ‘hot men’ of the Nigerian entertainment industry and the selective amnesia that happens to netizens when they cheat in their marriages. Bolanle Ninalowo, Nigeria’s D-rock, admitted publicly to cheating on his wife, which ultimately led to the collapse of their marriage. The netizens’ response? Cold. It made no ripples or waves. “The cheater in question is a hot man, no judgment shall be made on him,” the netizens decided.
Moving on to the next, Innocent Idibia, popularly known as 2face, is the next candidate to whom the Netizens have granted a presidential pardon. According to The Nation, “In 2019, the couple had a meltdown where 2Baba went on his social media account to share apologies for allegedly cheating on Annie, but the messages were deleted, and the Afropop singer claimed his account was hacked and nothing was wrong with his marriage.” The couple have since called it quits in January this year.
The netizens’ response to this fiasco? Jamming “African Queen”, a hit single by 2face dedicated to Annie during their lovey-dovey era, and dropping jabs in 2face’s comment section. One would think this was scripted. But, no, that’s what the Netizens did. Was it mockery? Or were they ignorant of the fact that 2face Idibia was gaining commercially from their incessant streams?
Gender And The Nigerian Cancel Culture
As for the female counterparts, no mercy is shown. The Netizens are ready to brandish their claws and gnaw out your bones. Tega Dominic is a perfect example of this. The married BBN (Big Brother Naija) celebrity was involved with Boma Akpore, a fellow housemate. Upon leaving the show, she faced severe backlash, and despite apologizing for her actions, the backlash continued. It takes two to tango. However, for the netizens, one is sufficient. The other party in this scandal faced tongue-lashing and backlash. However, this was just for a time. The reality TV star went ahead to become an actor and starred in various movies such as Suki, Seeking Justice, and Lisabi, amongst others.
And let’s not forget Tiwa Savage and her leaked sex tape scandal. When this happened, the backlash was huge, fans raved, and the internet was ablaze. She was slut-shamed. The netizens clamoured for her to be cancelled. At that same period, another male artist, Oxlade, had his sex tape leaked. However, he was met with praise and hailing. “Na man e be.” Ironically enough, the lady in the video faced more backlash from the video than Oxlade. Now, looking at the examples above, it is evident that beauty and gender are determining factors in cancel culture.
The netizens are quick to cancel the ‘ugly’ ones and the females. This brings us to the question: does Nigerian cancel culture, no matter how paradoxical it is, reflect the Nigerian culture and its dysfunctional state? And is it just a reflection of who we are?
From real court convictions to social media convictions, we have seen cancel culture and its irregularities play out in the Nigerian entertainment industry. We have explored Naira Marley’s internet conviction and comeback. We have explored cancel culture and forgiveness and its time frame. We have also asked ourselves if cancel culture came into existence as a form of justice. We have seen how the cancel culture has transformed into a tool of bias through gender and beauty, and we’ve noticed the selective and emotional characteristics of it. Now we ask ourselves, should this insufferable culture that evolved out of the dysfunctional Nigerian system continue to exist.
This article first appeared in Law Press on the 13th of April, 2025.
