The third edition of Freedom Vibes Summit, held on December 10, 2025, in Kano, was themed ‘Charting a Course for Artistic Freedom and Regulatory Reform in Nigeria.’ The gathering provided a crucial platform for stakeholders to confront the troubling surge in artistic freedom violations documented throughout 2025, with Kano State being a particularly significant source of cases and concern. Deliberations focused on issues such as censorship, arbitrary arrests and the harassment of digital content creators
Lead photo: Executive Producer of Unchained Vibes Africa (UVA), Mr. Ayo Ganiu (left) with some of the resource persons at Freedom Vibes Summit… in Kano
UNCHAINED Vibes Africa (UVA), led by its Executive Producer, Mr. Ayo Ganiu, recently concluded its intensive creative advocacy mission in Kano, anchored by the successful hosting of the Freedom Vibes Summit 2025 and the graduation of the Freedom Vibes Academy 2025 cohort. These events, held from December 8 – 10, 2025, represented a significant push for artistic freedom and regulatory reform in the country.
The intensive 3-month hybrid training programme was designed to strengthen the advocacy capabilities of emerging socially conscious artists and cultural advocates. The final in-person phase (Phase 4) was held in Kano on December 8 & 9 with Nigerian educator and former Vice-Chancellor of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, as the keynote facilitator. Prof. Adamu’s sessions focused on navigating censorship and artistic freedom in Northern Nigeria through mini-lectures on its historical roots and practical frameworks for navigating censorship as well as interactive case study discussions on censored works. There were also rigorous sessions on Project Management, Fundraising and Digital Safety and Security training by the UVA team.
The academy participants had the opportunity of an interactive session with celebrated Kannywood actor Abba Ali Zaky, who mentored them on mastering the craft of performance for social impact and civic engagement. Participants also presented proposals for the Project Implementation Award.
The third edition of Freedom Vibes Summit, held on December 10, 2025, in Kano, was themed ‘Charting a Course for Artistic Freedom and Regulatory Reform in Nigeria.’ The gathering provided a crucial platform for stakeholders to confront the troubling surge in artistic freedom violations documented throughout 2025, with Kano State being a particularly significant source of cases and concern. Deliberations focused on issues such as censorship, arbitrary arrests and the harassment of digital content creators.
The summit brought together a distinguished mix of artists, cultural thinkers, legal experts, government officials and community leaders. Notable attendees included artists and creatives like celebrated Kannywood actor Zaky, trailblazing author and film producer Mallam Kabiru Musa Jammaje and Hausa hip-hop Ambassador Aminu Abba Umar ‘Nomisgee’, government representatives and delegation from the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Kano State Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
A key moment of progress was the NFVCB delegation’s presentation on the institution’s efforts to transition from censorship to classification, acknowledging the necessity of modernizing regulatory processes for digital content.
A powerful highlight of the summit was the performance by singer Muhammad Yusuf (aka AGY), who performed his song ‘Labarina’ (‘My Story’), a compelling memoir of his own prison experience after releasing a song that criticized the former governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje. His performance recounted his wrongful arrest and courtroom battles, while also highlighting the widespread challenges currently facing Nigerians, a performance that deeply moved delegates in attendance.
The summit concluded with the adoption of a communiqué that detailed concerns, including the expansion of regulatory agencies’ enforcement into digital content beyond their statutory mandates and called for urgent legislative review and reforms to align laws with the Nigerian Constitution and global standards.
The Freedom Vibes Summit also served as the venue for the grand finale and graduation ceremony of Freedom Vibes Academy 2025. Recipients of Freedom Vibes Academy Awards and Project Implementation Award offering small financial support for project execution were announced. Projects were selected based on the following weighted criteria: Clarity of Advocacy Goal (30%): The clarity of the defined social problem and the measurable goal, Feasibility and Budget (30%): The project’s achievability within the budget and 4-month timeline, Advocacy Impact & Alignment (20%): How effectively the proposed art medium drives the chosen Freedom Vibes objective and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Plan (20%): The clarity of the plan to measure and document the project’s impact.
Three advocacy projects with strong social impact emerged as winners. First position went to Aisha Sani Lawan from kano whose project title is ‘Her Right’ that proposes “To strengthen the recognition and protection of girl-child education as a fundamental human right in Nigeria through spoken word documentary, advocacy dialogues, and storytelling initiatives, and document 10-15 evidence-based stories of affected girls to influence community attitudes, support safer learning environments, and promote actions that uphold every girl’s right to quality education. Second position went to Ahmad Mubarak Tanimu also from Kano whose project title is ‘Memory of a Common History’ that proposes “To deradicalize extremist views, promote tolerance, respectful dialogue and freedom of expression in northern Nigeria through the production of a 20-minute documentary film.”
Third place position went to Gloria Francis whose project is title is ‘Her Naija Dream Project’ that proposes “To collaborate with 10 mothers across five communities in Kaduna State over a 3-month period to use poetry as a tool of storytelling to promote peaceful, free and fair elections by producing and broadcasting a 10-episode poetry series that reach at least 5,000 community members online and offline, with the aim of increasing voter awareness, reducing fear and misinformation and strengthening community commitment to non-violent election.”
According to UVA team, the successful conclusion of these activities has not only illuminated urgent challenges facing Nigerian artists but also ignited a wave of creative determination, promising to influence national advocacy and inspire cultural transformation in the years ahead.
- https://thearthubng.com/freedom-vibes-summit-ends-landmark-advocacy-activities-in-kano-awards-projects/