Tyla removes Lagos stop from ‘A*POP World Tour’ itinerary amid backlash in Nigeria

Boycott calls spread across Nigerian social media before the Dec. 22 concert was removed from the singer’s official world tour itinerary.

Lagos has disappeared from Tyla’s “A*POP World Tour” itinerary after the Dec. 22 show triggered backlash from Nigerians over xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The Grammy-winner originally announced Lagos as one of three African stops, alongside Cape Town and Johannesburg. An OkayAfrica Instagram post compiled reaction videos and later documented that Lagos had disappeared from the schedule while the two South African dates remained.

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Across X, TikTok and Instagram, Nigerians argued that Tyla should not profit from a Nigerian audience while remaining silent about attacks on Nigerians and other African migrants in South Africa. Some clips called for a peaceful boycott, while writer Solomon Buchi urged Nigerians not to support the show. Popular Nigerian Social critic and activist VeryDarkMan went further, threatening to mobilize his Ratel Movement to prevent the concert from taking place.

The criticism was not unanimous. Some users said Tyla should not be blamed for violence or government failures in her country. Omoyele Sowore made the same argument on X, saying Nigerians should direct their anger toward those responsible instead of treating the singer as a substitute for the South African government.

The dispute also revived Burna Boy’s 2019 response to xenophobic violence. The Nigerian star warned Africans not to pretend xenophobia was unreal and urged people across the continent to help unite Africa. His comments came before Africans Unite concerts in South Africa, featuring Burna Boy and Jidenna, were canceled amid opposition and security concerns.

That history gave the current boycott campaign extra weight for Nigerians who viewed Tyla’s Lagos announcement as another test of whether entertainment should continue normally while anti-Nigerian hostility remains unresolved.

By July 31, Lagos no longer appeared on Tyla’s official tour page. However, neither Tyla, her management nor the concert promoter had publicly announced that the show was canceled or postponed.

The Tyla Lagos tour date may be gone for now, but the Lagos removal leaves the argument unresolved: whether African artists should be expected to speak during conflicts affecting audiences elsewhere on the continent, and whether cultural boycotts build solidarity or redirect responsibility toward the wrong person.