Nigerian Singer Tiwa Savage Publicly Asks Beyonce To Help Support The #EndSARS Protests In Nigeria
Nigerian Singer Tiwa Savage Publicly Asks Beyonce To Help Support The #EndSARS Protests In Nigeria
Nigerians are currently fighting for their lives and according to singer Tiwa Savage, her native country needs the support of people who have larger-than-life platforms to bring awareness to the #EndSARS protests taking place in Nigeria.
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, was created in 1992 in Nigeria as a unit of the country’s Police Force to handle crimes such as robbery, car theft, kidnapping, and more. However, the unit is now being called out to end its reign over Nigerians as verbal and video evidence has recently surfaced showing SARS members participating in unlawful arrests and detention, kidnapping, murder, theft, rape, and more. In other words, many members of the Nigerian community have taken to the streets to protest and demand an end to police brutality in their beloved Nigeria.
Tiwa Savage, who was part of Beyonce‘s recent video and music project for Disney entitled “Black Is King,” has taken to her Instagram to inform fans and other viewers of the unrest in Nigeria. Not only did she ask for streaming services like Spotify, Apple, and Deezer to use their platform to bring awareness to the #EndSARS movement, but she also specifically requested for superstar performer Beyonce to use her voice and platform to support their cause.
In a recent Instagram Live post, Tiwa Savage reminded viewers that just like people and celebrities all over the world banded together to speak out about the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the United States, the same unity and support was needed in Nigeria. She said:
At this point, it’s bigger than just what we can do ourselves in Nigeria. We need support.
She continued her comments and talked about the pride she had working with Beyonce on her “Black Is King” project. She then directly asked Beyonce and her team to lend their voice to the #EndSARS movement, pleading with them and telling them that simply “cannot be quiet on this:”
I was involved, recently, in a project that I was so proud of, like as an artist I was so so proud to be called and to be amongst the few people that were involved in this project. It’s called ‘Black Is King: The Gift’ album. So I’m going to say this. Please do not quote me out of context but I want to use my platform right now to call Beyoncé and the whole team that reached out to a lot of Nigerians. Nigerian artists, Nigerian producers, Nigerian video directors, dancers, creatives.
I’m calling on Beyoncé and her team the same way they used their platform–and [I’m] so grateful for that–the same way they used their platform to elevate and to show the world that black is king and how beautiful Afrobeat and Africa our culture is. I want them to please use their voice and their platform right because the same country that birth this genre is on fire right now. It is on fire. Where these creatives are from is on fire.
How do you feel about Tiwa Savage calling on Beyonce to lend her support to the #EndSARS movement in Nigeria? Sound off in the comments!