On
Sunday, Femi Falana (SAN), a prominent human rights lawyer, provided an
explanation for why his son, Folarin Falana, better known as the rapper and rights activist Falz, often embarrasses the
government. According to Falana, his son’s upbringing, specifically his
frequent arrests as a legal practitioner when he was younger, contributed to
his outspokenness.
Speaking
at the second anniversary of the Oluyinka Odumakin Lecture in Lagos, Falana
shared that his son had been concerned about his repeated arrests as a young
legal practitioner and even asked whether he was a criminal as a result. Falana
then explained that in Nigeria, during the military regime, only two groups of
people were arrested: criminal suspects and political suspects. Political
suspects were those who sought to expose the government’s criminal activities.
Falana’s
comments came just days after his son’s release of a new song called ‘Yakubu,’
featuring fellow rapper Vector. Falana revealed that someone had asked him to
talk to his son and tell him to stop embarrassing the government, to which
Falana replied that his son was an adult and they could speak to him directly
if they wished. However, Falana cautioned the person to be careful, as his son
had grown up with his father being frequently arrested, and thus understood
detention and arrest as the only language the government spoke.
Overall,
Falana’s explanation for why his son frequently embarrasses the government is
rooted in his upbringing, which was shaped by his father’s activism and
frequent brushes with the law. By exposing government corruption and advocating
for human rights, Falz is following in his father’s footsteps and continuing
the legacy of political dissent that has been a hallmark of Nigeria’s struggle
for democracy.
