Measures against Tekno are pure persecution

It is wrong, unlawful and unacceptable for any government agency to target a single artist for moral purity of a whole nation in the manner the Nigerian authorities have been targeting Tekno.

In what is a clearly calculated and highly personalized threat, the Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Mr. Segun Runsewe, threatened that Tekno would be made a scapegoat “to teach others a serious lesson.”

According to him, the NCAC is committed to exposing proponents of such kind of offensive sights and videos in Nigeria, while security agencies will be briefed to place Tekno on their watch list, “because his conduct is a threat to national security.”

As reported by Punch, Runsewe said he got hundreds of telephone calls and SMS from Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora, who queried why such immorality would be allowed in the country.

He stated, “We commend the police for arresting Tekno for the shameful misconduct. The same person, who was granted bail on health grounds has gone ahead to release the controversial video. We are now warning him to desist from this shameful conduct, which is not part of our culture.

“No single person is bigger than Nigeria; whether he likes it or not, we are going to use him as a scapegoat to send strong signals that this government does not tolerate nonsense and immorality, but discipline, which is our moral principle.

“Since the offensive Tekno scam video came to the limelight, I have received hundreds of telephone calls and SMS from Nigerians at home and others in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other parts of the world querying why such anomalies would be tolerated in Nigeria.”

There is no doubt that the words of Mr. Runsewe are irresponsible, overreaching, overbearing, menacing and filled with hatred. Tekno is a young artist trying to make it in the entertainment industry. He has a Producer and Directors whom he works under their directives. To focus on him and make him the target of government rage is highly unusual and totally unacceptable. There ought to have been better ways to deal with the problem than singling him out for special persecution and naming him a “scapegoat”. Indeed going by the English dictionary, the word ‘scapegoat’ is defined as:

“a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.

synonyms: whipping boy, victim”

Only an irresponsible official will punish a person for the wrong done by others. It is also scandalous to place on the head of this one boy the entire weight of the moral decadence of an entire nation. There is no doubt that Mr. Runsewe is somewhat of a megalomaniac, which must be why he saw Tekno as a threat to national security.

DPA is ready to fight for Tekno against the onslaught of any vindictive or vengeful official. Indeed, we are considering a protest to call for the resignation of Runsewe for scapegoatism.

In the pictures below, Mr. Runsewe is seen threatening to make a scapegoat of Tekno.