Tyla drops Lagos from world tour after backlash

MaTaZ ArIsInG
Dallas, Texas

SOUTH African Grammy-winning singer Tyla has removed Lagos from the publc itinerary of her APOP World Tour following days of online backlash and calls for a boycott over renewed xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

A check by The ICIR on the singer’s official tour website on Friday, July 31, showed that the Lagos concert, previously scheduled for December 22, had been removed from the 34-city tour schedule.

The tour, organised to promote Tyla’s second studio album APOP, is expected to begin in Paris on October 12 before moving through several cities in Europe, the United Kingdom and North America.

While Lagos has disappeared from the itinerary, the concerts scheduled for Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9, 2027, remain on the tour calendar.

The removal followed days of heated debate on social media after the South African artiste announced Lagos as the only Nigerian stop on the global tour.

Many Nigerians questioned the timing of the concert, arguing that it was insensitive to stage a commercial performance in the country while reports of attacks against Nigerians and other African migrants continue to emerge from South Africa.

The backlash intensified after social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), threatened to mobilise members of his “Ratel Movement” to stop the concert if it went ahead.

In a video shared on his verified Facebook page, Otse warned the concert promoters against hosting the show, insisting that allowing the performance would amount to ignoring the plight of Nigerians affected by recurring xenophobic attacks.

“There will be no Tyla concert in Nigeria. It is not happening. This is a warning to the organisers and the show promoters bringing Tyla to Nigeria. That show is not happening,” he said, arguing that the singer should not profit from Nigerian audiences while many Nigerians continued to face hostility in South Africa.

His position received support from some social media users, while others argued that musicians should not be held responsible for the failures of the governments of the two countries or the actions of criminal groups.

Among those who opposed the boycott was human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Omoyele Sowore.

Sowore argued that ordinary Africans should not be blamed for the failures of political leaders, maintaining that Tyla should not be held responsible for xenophobic violence in her home country.

“No one should hold a talented musician like Tyla vicariously liable for the crimes of xenophobia. Artistes are not responsible for the failures of politicians except where there is ample evidence they’re enablers. @Tyla’s Lagos concert must go on,” he wrote on social media.

However, his comments attracted widespread criticism from many Nigerians, who argued that the issue extended beyond entertainment and questioned why the singer had not publicly condemned repeated xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals in South Africa.

Renewed xenophobia concerns

The controversy surrounding the concert coincides with renewed concerns over the treatment of Nigerians and other Africans living in South Africa.

In recent months, South Africa has witnessed anti-immigration protests, raids on migrant-owned businesses and reports of attacks on foreign nationals, reigniting longstanding concerns over xenophobic violence.

Government records show that more than 1,000 Nigerians initially registered for voluntary evacuation during one of the major outbreaks of violence, while successive evacuation flights later returned nearly 1,500 citizens to Nigeria.

Although South African authorities maintained that many of those repatriated were undocumented migrants, Nigerian officials said the returnees were fleeing an increasingly hostile environment marked by anti-immigrant violence.

The recurring attacks have repeatedly strained diplomatic relations between both countries, with many Nigerians demanding stronger action against perpetrators and better protection for Nigerians living in South Africa.

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