Nigerian singer and human rights activist, Folarin Falana, better known as Falz, has spoken on why he uses his songs to address the excesses of the government.
Falz, known for using his music and platform to advocate for social justice issues, recently released a song titled “Yakubu,” calling out the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yabuku over the just concluded elections.
In the song, Vector and Falz assert that the just concluded elections were marred by electoral fraud, manipulation, and violence.
Speaking on the song in an interview with Arise TV, Falz, who joined the program via Skype from the United Kingdom, explained that he was not abroad because he was afraid of confrontation from state actors over the controversial song.
His words,
“I knew that was going to come up when you announced that I was doing this from London. Like I said earlier on, this is not the first time, this is not the second time, this is not the third time.
“I have released tons of records that are very confrontational. And I was on ground. I’m always on ground when I released these records.
“It is not to say that I’m running anywhere. Absolutely not. Everyone know where to find me. If anyone wants to find me. But I have no reason to fear anything. And I always say this when people ask me ‘how do you do these things without any fear of consequences?’
“And this is the same answer that I always give: the kind of life we are living already is one which we are more or less fading away already. It’s not a meaningful life what we have in Nigeria as a country.”
He added that he would rather go down fighting for a just cause than remain silent and die from a failed system.
“What’s the worst that could happen? It’s death. I don’t fear death. I would rather go down fighting for a just cause.
I would rather be remembered as someone that lived a life that was meaningful rather than someone that for example was walking down the road and got run over by a danfo [bus] because he was driving recklessly. Or, someone that got a heart disease and could not save himself because there are no hospitals capable of saving him in Nigeria,” Falz added.
