Grammy-winning South African singer Tyla has quietly removed Lagos from her APOP World Tour schedule making no public statement as she did so after a Nigerian social media campaign demanded a boycott of her planned December concert over xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
The Lagos stop on Tyla’s APOP World Tour is gone. As of Thursday, the Lagos date scheduled for 22 December 2026 no longer appeared on the Grammy winner’s official tour schedule. Neither Tyla nor her management has issued a statement explaining the change, and organisers have not confirmed whether the show has been cancelled or postponed.
The removal comes less than a week after the tour was announced, and it follows one of the most heated debates over African solidarity, artistic responsibility, and xenophobia that social media on the continent has seen in months.
The tour, spanning 29 cities, was scheduled to begin in Paris on 12 October, before moving through Europe and North America, with Lagos as its only stop in Nigeria, concluding with performances in Cape Town on 4 January and Johannesburg on 9 January 2027.
The Lagos inclusion triggered an immediate backlash. The boycott campaign gained momentum after Nigerian author and media personality Solomon Buchi questioned Tyla’s silence over the attacks and urged Nigerians to withhold support for the singer until the safety of Nigerians in South Africa improves. Content creator and OAP Dotun echoed the call. On Facebook, prominent activist Verydarkman whose real name is Martins Vincent Otse posted a direct message: “TYLA SHOW WILL NOT BE HAPPENING IN NIGERIA… This is a message to South Africans. We are Africans and we don’t unalive our own.”
Much of the backlash also centred on the case of Chidimma Adetshina, the former Miss Universe Nigeria of Nigerian descent, who is reportedly facing deportation proceedings in South Africa a case that has inflamed Nigerian public opinion and given the broader xenophobia debate a human face.
The boycott campaign was not without opposition and the pushback was substantial. Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore was among those who opposed the calls, arguing that the responsibility for addressing xenophobia rests with political leaders rather than entertainers. He wrote: “Tyla’s Lagos concert must go on. The failures of the South African and Nigerian governments should not be visited on an artist who did not create the problem.”
A law firm, DACO LP Africa, issued a statement signed by its Managing Partner, Damilare Adenola, arguing that Tyla had the right to perform and earn a living from her craft, and that an individual should not be held responsible for the actions of a government merely because of shared nationality. “Rights are not conditional on silence,” the statement read. “Tyla, as an individual, has the right to perform, earn a livelihood from her art, and engage commercially across Africa.”
Several social media users also noted that Nigerian and South African artistes have built strong creative relationships over the years. Tyla herself has previously demonstrated close ties with Nigeria she visited Lagos during the 2024 Detty December festivities and has collaborated with Nigerian stars, including Ayra Starr.
What is striking about the Lagos removal is not the decision itself but the manner in which it was made. There was no press release, no social media statement, no acknowledgement of the controversy or the feelings that drove it. The date simply disappeared from the official schedule.
That silence has drawn its own commentary. For those who pushed the boycott, the removal is a victory proof that organised cultural pressure produces results. For those who opposed it, the silence represents a missed opportunity: a moment where Tyla could have used her platform to address xenophobia directly, rather than retreating from a market without explanation.
The broader question the episode raises goes beyond one tour date. It sits at the intersection of art, politics, and continental solidarity a space that African artists and their audiences are navigating with increasing tension as South Africa’s anti-immigration crisis deepens.
The Lagos removal lands within the same volatile landscape that has seen Ngizwe Mchunu step back from South Africa’s March and March anti-immigration movement, at least one protest leader shot dead, and more than 53,000 African migrants deported in a single month. Nigerians have been among the nationalities most visibly affected and most publicly vocal in their response.
The extension of that politics into the entertainment economy is not new. Nigerians have previously called for boycotts of South African businesses, telecoms companies, and public figures during past cycles of anti-immigrant violence. What is new is the scale and speed with which the pressure translated into a visible outcome a world tour itinerary changed within days of its announcement.
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Whether the Lagos concert is cancelled permanently, postponed to a calmer political moment, or quietly rescheduled under different circumstances remains unclear. Fans in Nigeria continue to await clarification on the fate of the Lagos show.
What is clear is that for African artists crossing borders in both directions, the relationship between their art and the politics of their nationality is no longer something that can be managed by staying silent. The audience is paying attention — and, as Tyla’s revised tour schedule now demonstrates, it has leverage.
