-
My son watched me get arrested during military era – Falana explains why he won’t stop Falz from ’embarrassing’ government.
-
Femi Falana Reveals Why Son Falz Embarrasses Nigerian Government.
Femi Falana (SAN), a renowned human rights lawyer, has disclosed that his son, prominent rapper Folarin Falana, commonly known as Falz, has been a vocal critic of the government due to his upbringing.
Speaking on Sunday at the 2nd anniversary of the Oluyinka Odumakin Lecture in Lagos, Falana said that his son used to be concerned about his many arrests as a lawyer when he was younger.
He claimed that he received requests from people to confront Falz about his statements and actions, which are damaging to the reputation of the government.
Mr. Falana claims that Falz is an adult who is aware of his behaviour and that he questioned the source of the idea.
He continued by recalling how his son had frequently seen him get imprisoned numerous times as he was fighting for democracy during the military era.
Falz used to wonder if his father was a criminal because of how frequently he was arrested.
“One of these guys one day said, ‘Falana talk to your son; he should stop embarrassing the government’.
“I said which government? You mean that boy who is an adult? Can I give you his number so you can talk to him?
“But be careful because when that boy was growing up, I was being arrested from time to time.
“So, the only language he understood was detention, arrest and the rest of them.”
Falana went on to explain that when Falz was six years old, he asked his mother, “Our teacher taught us that only criminals were arrested. Is my father a criminal? Why is he always being arrested?”
Falana was constantly being detained by the authorities at the time.
His wife had to explain that during the military regime in Nigeria, only two categories of people were arrested: criminals and political suspects.
“And the mother had to say that in Nigeria, under the military, only two sets of people were arrested: criminal suspects and political suspects.
“Political suspects are those who are out to expose the criminality of the government. That is what you see going on.”
Falana’s statement following the release of Falz’s latest single, ‘Yakubu,’ which includes rapper Vector.