Rapper Tobechukwu Melvin Ejiofor, aka Illbliss, has claimed that the present-day government of Nigeria is using digital propaganda tools to suppress its critics.
In a recent interview, the famous rap star also lamented that the country is in “a very dangerous part” of its history.
Decrying the rising insecurity, economic hardship, and wanton corruption, Illbliss shared the frustration of making conscious songs that were taken off the radio because they criticise the government.
He accused the government of disseminating falsehoods against its critics.
He said, “I had this record in 2020 called ‘Country.’ It was taken off the radio. Before ‘Country,’ I released other conscious songs like, ‘A Different Kind Of War’ and ‘National Cake.’ But OAPs are always saying that they cannot play such songs because they could get fined.
“Every now and then, you put out a record and you see like a 100 or more tweets come at you like, ‘Why are you always trying to make a mockery of the country? The country is not as bad as it is.’ And you just know that it is an artificial pushback, perhaps, a digital response to whatever. Because I know that propaganda can’t just be on traditional media anymore.
“Propagandists can have a podcast just to say the government is doing great. And you will see people from our generation sit proudly with their faces showing and say, ‘But this government has created jobs. You can tell.’
“That is where we are. We are in a very dangerous part of our history where the government is matching our energy. We thought we had social media but so much happens on the same social media space and you begin to wonder the government had begun to fund theories of distraction or is this government a lot more advanced now? I mean, look around us.”
