Rain of Curses Forces Actor Aremu Afolayan to Apologise for Claiming Tinubu Fixed Nigeria’s Insecurity Problem

Aremu Afolayan, Nigerian actor and brother of filmmaker Kunle Afolayan, has issued a public apology after comments he made in support of President Bola Tinubu during a March 15th appearance on JUJU TV sparked widespread outrage online.

In the interview, Afolayan had declared his intention to vote for Tinubu in the 2027 elections, citing what he described as the president's efforts to unite Nigerians and his intervention in lifting the UAE's ban on Nigerian travellers.

He went further, dismissing widespread hardship with a candour that did not go down well. "When people say the country is hard, I don't really care because I'm doing very well," he said. On the subject of insecurity, he was even more provocative: "When you watch the news about insurgency, don't mind them, it's all scripted."

For a country where millions are struggling daily with fuel costs that have made transportation a luxury, electricity that remains largely theoretical, and a security situation that has displaced communities and claimed lives across the north and beyond, those words landed like a slap on the face of many.

Nigerians descended on his comment sections with the full force of accumulated frustration.

Four days later, Afolayan returned, this time on his knees. Literally. In a video posted today, March 19th, he addressed Nigerians directly. "To all Nigerians, please forgive me. I'm very sorry. The curses you guys are raining on me are too much," he said.

He also added that he had not collected money from anyone to make his initial comments, a clarification he felt the need to provide following the wave of commentary accusing him of being a sellout.

Going on, he attempted to reframe his original insecurity comment, saying what he meant was that anyone dismissing insecurity was the one reading a script, not those complaining. As evidence of his sincerity, he revealed that his best friend's mother had been kidnapped and a ransom paid. "How would I say there's no insecurity?" he asked.

He signed off by announcing his withdrawal from anything politics-related. In Yoruba, he clamoured, saying "Epe yi po", meaning the curses are too much.

Nigerians online have received the apology with the energy one might expect. The consensus in comment sections appears to be that the reversal was less a change of heart and more a response to the volume of the reaction. Whether the curses have since subsided is, at the time of writing, unclear.

Read Next: You Can Record Police Officers on Duty; It Is Your Constitutional Right — Federal High Court