Freedom Vibes Landmark Activities in Kano, December 2025
Unchained Vibes Africa (UVA) recently concluded a period of 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 8th – 10th December 2025, represented a significant push for artistic freedom and regulatory reform in the nation.
Freedom Vibes Academy 2025 in-person Convening: Empowering Creative Activists
The intensive three-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 from 8th – 9th December with Nigerian Educator and Former Vice-Chancellor of the 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 UVA team.
The Academy participants had the opportunity of an interactive session with celebrated Kannywood actor Abba Ali Zaky who mentored them in mastering the craft of performance for social impact and civic engagement.
Participants also presented their proposals for the Project Implementation Award.
The Freedom Vibes Summit 2025: A Call for Reforms
The 3rd edition of the 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. 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: Celebrated Kannywood Actor Abba Ali Zaky, trailblazing author and film producer Mallam Kabiru Musa Jammaje and Hausa hip-hop Ambassador Aminu Abba Umar “Nomisgee”.
- Government Representatives: Delegations from the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), the National Orientation Agency (NOA), and the 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 Headline Performance
A powerful highlight of the Summit was the performance by singer Muhammad Yusuf (a.k.a AGY). He performed his song LABARINA (My Story), a compelling memoir of his own prison experience after releasing a song that criticized the immediate past governor of Kano State. His performance recounted his wrongful arrest and courtroom battles, while also highlighting the widespread challenges currently facing Nigerians, deeply moving the 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 reform to align laws with the Nigerian Constitution and global standards.
Freedom Vibes Academy Graduation and Announcement of Academy Awards 2025-2026
The Freedom Vibes Summit also served as the venue for the grand finale and Graduation Ceremony of the Freedom Vibes Academy 2025. At the Graduation Ceremony, the recipients of the Freedom Vibes Academy Awards, a Project Implementation Award offering small financial support for project execution, were announced. The 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.
- Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Plan (20%): The clarity of the plan to measure and document the project’s impact.
Top Three Awardees for the 2025–2026 Implementation Cycle
Winner Awardee: Aisha Sani Lawan (Kano) Project: HER RIGHT Advocacy Goal: 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. |
1st Runner Up Awardee: Ahmad Mubarak Tanimu (Kano) Project: Memory of a Common History Advocacy Goal: To deradicalize extremist views, promote tolerance, respectful dialogue and freedom of expression in northern Nigeria through the production of a 20-minute documentary film. |
2nd Runner Up Awardee: Gloria Francis (Kaduna) Project: Her Naija Dream Project Advocacy Goal: To collaborate with 10 mothers across five communities in Kaduna State over a three-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 reaches 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 elections. |
The successful conclusion of these activities has not only illuminated urgent challenges facing Nigerian artists but has also ignited a wave of creative determination, promising to influence national advocacy and inspire cultural transformation in the years ahead.
