South African singer Tyla has removed her planned Lagos concert from her APop world tour schedule following backlash from Nigerians. The Grammy-winning artiste initially listed Lagos among destinations for her upcoming world tour. The December 22 concert was announced alongside performances across Europe, North America and South Africa.
However, the planned Tyla Lagos concert triggered criticism on Nigerian social media platforms. Some Nigerians questioned the decision to perform in Lagos amid renewed reports of xenophobic attacks targeting Nigerians in South Africa.
The controversy quickly revived tensions surrounding relations between Nigeria and South Africa. Some social media users called for a boycott of the proposed Lagos show. They argued that hosting the South African singer while Nigerians faced alleged xenophobic attacks in her home country was inappropriate.
Others disagreed with the criticism. They maintained that musicians should not be held responsible for political disputes or societal conflicts between countries. Several public figures also joined the debate surrounding the proposed performance.
Media personality Do2dtun questioned the promoters behind the Lagos concert. Activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, however, urged Nigerians to direct their frustrations towards political leaders rather than the artiste.
Tyla and her management did not publicly respond to the backlash. However, checks by VANGUARD showed that the Lagos venue had subsequently disappeared from the official ticketing platform.
The previously announced December 22 Nigerian performance was no longer listed among the singer’s available tour dates. The updated itinerary now contains her remaining international performances across Europe, North America and South Africa.
The singer is still scheduled to perform in Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9. Despite the removal of Lagos from the published itinerary, Tyla has yet to clarify whether the Nigerian concert has been cancelled permanently. She has also not indicated whether the Lagos performance could be rescheduled for another date.
