NBC Denies Placing Ban On Songs By Olamide, Davido, 9ice

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has refuted reports making the round that it banned songs by three prominent Nigerian musicians; Olamide, Davido and 9ice, having considered them offensive for broadcast.

The rebuttal is coming on the back of reports – which went viral on social media – on Tuesday claiming that the commission had banned songs by the artistes.

The affected songs include Olamide’s “Wo” and “Wavy Level”, Davido’s “Fall” and “If (Remix)”, and 9ice’s “Living Things”.

A report had earlier quoted the Federal Ministry of Health to have, in a tweet ,on Friday, said the video to Olamide’s “Wo” violated the Tobacco Control Act.

“This is our position: the video contravenes the Act. Innocently or otherwise, Tobacco promotion advertising sponsorship is banned in all forms,” the NBC said. ‘

‘The song was banned from being played on the airwaves for its “obscenity, being indecent, vulgar language, lewd and profane expressions,” said the report.

It later tweeted:

Meanwhile, in an interview with Vanguard, the Director of Media in NBC, Mr. Antia Ekanem, denied the report, saying that it was false and the handiwork of mischief makers to discredit the Commission.

His words: ‘‘There was no iota of truth in the report. When we want to give out such information, we usually issue a statement. The originators of the story were only trying to be mischievous. There is no element of nastiness in those songs to warrant ban.”

‘‘If you look at the story very well, you will see NBC described as Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, whereas we are National Broadcasting Commission. We saw it and ignored it because it did not originate from us. I even contacted the Director General of NBC and he said I should try and make our colleagues understand that the story did not originate from us.”

‘‘As far as I am concerned, we have more important issue at hand to handle than all these distractions.’’

Also lending voice on the matter with a denial, Idachaba Armstrong, director of broadcast monitoring, told TheCable Lifestyle that a ban notice of ‘Wo’ and ‘Wavy Level’ by Olamide, ‘Fall’ by Davido and ‘Living Things’ by 9ice did not emanate from the NBC

Armstrong said: “First of all, NBC is a commission, not a corporation.

“Nobody at NBC issued a statement to the effect. We can’t be issuing statements on every album released in the country. The broadcaster has the responsibility to do the needful.

“NBC does not ban songs, we don’t have any business with the artistes. It is left for NBC to tell stations to ensure the songs and videos are fit for broadcast before putting them on air.”