South African Grammy-winning singer Tyla has dropped Lagos from the itinerary for her upcoming APOP World Tour, days after the announcement of her planned Nigerian concert triggered calls for a boycott.
A review of the singer’s official tour schedule on Friday showed that the Lagos date, initially listed for December 22, was no longer included among the announced stops.
The revised itinerary still features performances across Europe, North America and South Africa, but Nigeria has been removed from the list of destinations.
Tyla had announced the APOP World Tour on Monday, with Lagos originally named as her only Nigerian stop.
The singer was expected to perform in the Nigerian city on December 22 before concluding the tour with shows in Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9.
The Lagos concert quickly became a subject of controversy on social media, with some Nigerians calling for a boycott of the show over concerns about the treatment of Nigerians in South Africa.
The boycott campaign followed renewed reports of alleged xenophobic attacks against Nigerians living in South Africa. Some social media users argued that Nigerian audiences should not welcome South African artistes while Nigerians continue to face alleged attacks and discrimination in the country.
Others, however, disagreed with the boycott calls, arguing that artistes should not be held personally responsible for political and social tensions between countries.
The controversy has intensified following reports of attacks involving Nigerian nationals in South Africa, including the reported death of a Nigerian identified as Chika Ibe in Cape Town.
Tyla’s decision to remove Lagos from the tour itinerary has therefore fueled speculation that the controversy may have influenced the status of the planned concert.
However, there has been no official confirmation linking the removal of Lagos to the boycott campaign or the concerns over xenophobic attacks.
As of the time of filing this report, Tyla and her management had not publicly given reasons why the Lagos performance was removed from the official tour schedule.
The concert promoters have also not announced whether the show has been cancelled, postponed or moved to another date.
The development leaves the status of Tyla’s planned December 22 performance in Lagos uncertain, with fans and observers awaiting an official statement from the singer, her management or the event organizers.
