An old clip of Antar Laniyan saying he’d walk out on friends who criticise Tinubu is back online, and the reactions are loud. Here’s what he said and why.
Would you walk away from a friend over politics? Veteran Nollywood actor Antar Laniyan says he would. An old clip of him saying so has resurfaced, and people online are not happy about it.
The clip comes from the African A-List podcast. Laniyan said that if a friend called and started criticising President Bola Tinubu, he’d simply leave. When the host asked why, he said Tinubu “has not been what you are saying to me.”
Then he went a step further: “If he has done it for me, I would not even discuss it with you, I would still walk away.”
Most of the reactions online have called him selfish.
Why is it back now?
The podcast aired a few months ago, but the timing of the resurfacing is what’s got people talking. Just days earlier, actor Yinka Quadri appeared on the same show to explain why he’s backing Tinubu’s re-election.
Quadri pointed to the president’s long-standing help for entertainers. He said Tinubu paid $25,000 to bring actress Moji Olaiya’s body home from Canada in 2017. He also mentioned road projects in the South-West, pension payments and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
So now the two conversations are sitting side by side, and people are comparing them.
Yoruba actors and politics have a long, noisy history. In June 2022, Quadri, Jide Kosoko, Taiwo Hassan, Femi Adebayo and others appeared in a video backing Tinubu’s presidential ambition. Some Nigerians weren’t impressed.
Some who campaigned for him later sounded disappointed. In 2025, Fatai “Lalude” Odua and Ganiu “Alapini Osa” Nofiu said they and their colleagues were neglected after the 2023 campaign. Olaiya Igwe, who famously campaigned naked on a beach, has also apologised to Nigerians for backing him.
All of this is happening as the 2027 elections get closer. The APC has released its campaign timetable, and opposition groups are challenging the president to face voters in person.
Laniyan has been acting since 1981, and he also talked about how Nollywood has changed over the years on that same show. As of the time of the original report, he hadn’t responded to the backlash.
For now, the clip keeps travelling. Friendship and politics have never mixed easily, and with an election on the horizon, it looks like they won’t any time soon.
Join the conversation