Nigerian Singer, Yemi Alade, has been denied a visa into Canada where she was scheduled to perform, overs fears that ‘she won’t leave the country after her performance.
The 33-year-old was scheduled to perform at the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique but has now been replaced at the festival by Sampa The Great, a Zambian-born Australia-based singer. This is according to reports released by Le Devoir, a French newspaper published and distributed in Canada. Suzanne Rousseau, the festival co-founder, said the visa denial was due to financial reasons and fears that the group wouldn’t leave Canada.
“L’Finally, we got an answer saying the musicians were refused, saying they have to guarantee that they have enough financial means that will make them go back to their country,’ she said.
Yemi Alade has not publicly commented on the matter at the time of filing this report. She joins a growing list of Nigerian artistes who have had their plans to perform at shows outside the country thwarted by visa issues.
In 2018, Wizkid famously missed out on performing at Coachella after his band members were denied American visas. While in March 2019, Mr. Eazi was forced to postpone the US leg of his North American tour after the US embassy delayed his visa.
Some of Davido’s crew members were also unable to attend his sold-out ‘We Rise by Lifting Others’ show at the O2 Arena in February after being denied UK visas.
