Tekno was under fire a few weeks ago. It wasn’t from the public alone, but from the government itself, which is even more dangerous because of the legal implications involved. It was the singer’s attempt at a comeback after a short illness. 

What was his crime? He shipped half-naked girls in a see-through truck and danced with them. Authorities and some segment of Nigerians said that act debased “our” moral fabrics as a society. 

The act was a stunt to promote the singer’s then upcoming single, “Agege”, which featured Zlatan Ibile. Buy many said he pushed it too far. 

For an artist making a return to the scene again, a legal battle and public outcry are not the proper way to announce a return. Tekno knew this and he immediately apologised before things spiralled out of control.

Forgotten. Perhaps, what the singer benefitted from was the first offender privilege: people were able to look beyond the incident and say, at least he’s not like them.

Tekno is not like them. He has done music that didn’t debase “our” moral values before; he’s called on the government to do better and less than 2 months after the half-clad video surfaced online, the singer has followed it up with “Better”, the kind of music many Nigerians expect him to sing always.

This time, the singer is not calling Nigerians to enjoy themselves. He’s asking them to stop being timid and stand up against the government. 

If Tekno hadn’t done this on “Rara”, one could wholeheartedly say the singer’s rebellion was from a place of desperation and personal gratification. However, his dark, non-glamorous lyrics has an audible authenticity.

“They go do like say them no know say food no dey. They go do like say they no see say road no good oh,” he sings on “Better”.

The song attributes Nigeria’s dysfunction to years of misrule by the government. What’s striking, yet unsurprising about this song is the way it heaps the blame on the feet of Nigeria’s political class. This is a shared sentiment among the masses and Tekno seemed to have hit it right on the head. 

“Better” could be the song that’d worm Tekno back into the heart of Nigerians, a place he’s always been at until he decided to debase “our” moral fabrics.

Listen to Tekno “Better” below: