Tyla, a South African Grammy-winning artist, has pulled Lagos from her APOP World Tour schedule, just days after her planned December 22 concert in Nigeria sparked boycott demands following rising xenophobic tension against Nigerians in South Africa.
PUNCH Online reviewed Tyla’s World tour website on Friday confirmed that managers had removed the December 22 Lagos performance from the itinerary.
The amended schedule preserves all previously announced dates across Europe, North America, and South Africa, but completely excludes Nigeria.
Tyla announced the APOP World Tour on Monday, with Lagos as the only Nigerian stop before concluding with performances in Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9.
Nigerians Call for Boycott
Tyla’s world tour announcement sparked heated reactions on social media, with several Nigerians calling for a boycott to protest xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
Some social media users argued that Nigerians should bar South African artists from performing locally while stories of attacks persist, while others insisted that audiences should not hold musicians responsible for political or social issues.
Others argued that South African celebrities refused to openly condemn the attacks on other Africans thereby endorsing the violence.
On Thursday, activist Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan, vowed to mobilize members of his “Ratel Movement” to block the concert from taking place.
In a post on his Facebook page, Otse wrote, “TYLA SHOW WILL NOT BE HAPPENING IN NIGERIA.
The removal of Lagos from the tour itinerary comes amid growing worries over the treatment of Nigerians in South Africa, following reports of alleged xenophobic attacks and the deaths of Nigerian nationals, notably Chika Ibe in Cape Town.
As of this writing, neither Tyla nor her management has publicly explained why they withdrew the Lagos event from the schedule.
The event promoters have not yet announced whether they plan to cancel or postpone the show.
Backstory…
The latest controversy comes against the backdrop of a renewed wave of xenophobic violence that swept parts of South Africa earlier this year.
Beginning in May and intensifying through June and July, anti-immigrant protests in provinces including Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal escalated into attacks on foreign nationals, with vigilante groups accusing migrants of contributing to crime, unemployment and pressure on public services.
The unrest left at least four people dead and forced the evacuation or voluntary repatriation of nearly 1,500 Nigerians, while thousands of other African migrants fled affected communities.
