South African Grammy-winning singer Tyla has quietly removed Lagos from the schedule of her APOP World Tour, just days after her planned December 22 concert in Nigeria triggered widespread calls for a boycott over renewed xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
Checks by this newspaper on the singer’s official tour website on Friday confirmed that the Lagos stop, which had been previously listed for December 22, has been scrubbed from the itinerary. The updated schedule retains all previously announced dates across Europe, North America and South Africa, with the tour now set to conclude in Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9.
The development comes after this newspaper reported on Monday that Tyla had unveiled the APOP World Tour with Lagos listed as the only Nigerian stop before the tour concluded in South Africa. That announcement sparked heated reactions on social media, with some Nigerians urging a boycott of the concert in protest against the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. Some social media users argued that no South African artiste should perform in Nigeria while reports of attacks on Nigerians continued, while others maintained that musicians should not be held responsible for political or social issues.
The controversy deepened on Thursday when activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, threatened to mobilise members of his “Ratel Movement” to stop the concert if it went ahead. In a post on his Facebook page, Otse wrote, “TYLA SHOW WILL NOT BE HAPPENING IN NIGERIA. This is a message to SOUTH AFRICANS. WE ARE AFRICANS AND WE DONT UNALIVE OUR OWN, since you people have taken it upon yourselves to unalive other Africans because according to you guys other African nationalities living in South Africa are taking your jobs. WE ARE STANDING IN SOLIDARITY TO SAY NO TO THE PROMOTERS AND CELEBRITIES FROM SOUTH AFRICA WHO HAVE REFUSED TO SPEAK UP AGAINST THESE ATTACKS ON OTHER AFRICANS LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA. #NOTOXENOPHOBICATTACKS #ratelmovement SAYNOTOXENOPHOBICATTACKS.”
The boycott campaign has exposed sharp divisions among Nigerian public figures, with media personality Do2dtun calling on the Nigeria Immigration Service to deny Tyla and her team entry visas. Author and relationship adviser Solomon Buchi insisted the concert “must not take place,” arguing that Tyla had remained silent on the xenophobic attacks. However, Omoyele Sowore, the 2027 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, has strongly opposed the boycott, arguing that musicians should not be blamed for political failures. “Nigerians should direct their anger at their real enemies… No one should hold a talented musician like @Tyllaaaaaaa vicariously liable for the crimes of xenophobia,” Sowore wrote on X, adding that “Tyla’s Lagos concert must go on.” Sowore faced immediate backlash, with many Nigerians rejecting his position and insisting that Tyla’s silence amounted to complicity.
The removal of Lagos from the tour schedule comes amid renewed concerns over the treatment of Nigerians in South Africa following reports of alleged xenophobic attacks and the death of Nigerian nationals, including one Chika Ibe in Cape Town. The Nigerian government has pressed Pretoria to take urgent action to protect Nigerian citizens, with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye describing the situation as emotionally traumatising. South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, who recently delivered a message from President Cyril Ramaphosa to President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, cited the purported crowning of an “Igbo King” in East London and the arrest of over 500 Nigerians for criminal offences as factors that have “fuelled negative perceptions surrounding Nigerian nationals.”
As of the time of filing this report, neither Tyla nor her management had publicly explained why the Lagos concert was removed from the tour schedule. Neither had the concert promoters announced a cancellation or postponement of the show.
