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05 June 2012 By Abdul-Warees Solanke Growing up under my father, a
fanatical follower of the Late Baba Legba, Yusuf
Olatunji and the late Eegunmagaji, Dauda Ayinla
Omowura, I did not particularly take to liking his
obsession with the duo who dominated the music scene
in southwestern Nigeria in the late 60s, the 70s and
part of the 80s. But because their brands of Sakara
and Apala suffused most Yoruba households, you cannot
but unconsciously sway to their rhythms and hymn along
as their music bellows from the environmental nuisance
that most record dealers at motor parks and in the
neighbourhoods constitute. Somehow, I memorized quite a bit
from the LPs in Baami's collections which were very
priceless to him. He invested a great deal in the LPs
of Ayinla omowura, Yusuf Olatunji, Saka Olaigbade,
Yusuf Akinbami, and some volumes of Baba n Gani Agba,
the Apala exponent from Ijebu Igbo, Late Chief Haruna
Ishola, all of blessed memory. Even as I resisted
being a devotee of these traditional Yoruba music
icons, I cannot resist comparing them with their
successor generation who have not only deviated from
their cultural missionary path, but have also
desecrated the essence traditional Nigerian music:
communicating change, historical reminiscences,
motivation and warning. But I find an exception in the
Beautiful Nubia, Segun Akinlolu who I place on the
same pedestal with Uncles Tunji Oyelana and Jimi
Solanke(not related to me) for his cultural virginity
and originality. I had a chance encounter with
Segun Akinlolu in 2001. As News Editor and Member of
the Editorial Board at the defunct Muyiwa Adetiba
published National Guide, it was my mandate to
interview Uncle Bola Ige, then a minister under Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo. Ige was in town as a special guest
at a musical show at the Alliance Francaise where the
Beautiful Nubia was on stage. With Segun's mother on
seat to watch the brilliance of her veterinary surgeon
son turned musician, the Beautiful Nubia put up a
spectacular but deeply traditional musical performance
rooted in Yoruba folklore and mores that held the
entire audience at the French Cultural Centre spell
bound. He took all to the roots on that rainy, cold
night at Ikoyi. Chief Ige in his appraisal of
Akinlolu's brand of music extolled his perfection and
originality as he noted that the difference between
something that is good and something that is excellent
is attention to details. In that I took a lesson in
personal development. Chief Ige predicted would go far
in his career. The veterinary doctor, Akinlolu, has
indeed taken his music to the entire world as a Yoruba
cultural ambassador. Later that night at Late Chief
Ige's House, on Kingsway Road Ikoyi where I was to
interview him after the show, Akinlolu also showed up
to meet the political legend. We both waited in a side
room where I had chance to interview the dreadlocked
musician on his passion, his style and what fires or
gives him energy and turns his almost a maniac on
stage. I had a feeling that perhaps he courts the
bottle, and that like Fela, Marley or Majek, he is
hooked on ganja, or that he lives stuffs like cracks,
Chinese capsule or LSDs, pumping himself with some
cocktails like, like Jackson or Houston, to shoot his
adrenalin up. He confessed there was none of that but
rather he was a deeply spiritual person, so none of
such pushers is in his bloodstream to drive his stage
performance or give him inspiration. Compare him with
many of his compatriots in entertainment! While not being a follower of any
of the modern day youthful Nigerian musicians, you
cannot escape their noise and nonsense on our
airwaves, on the roadside shops marketing their CDs,
on screens inside BRT buses as you commute to work
daily, during lunchtime shows on TVs etc, and you
wonder where is Nigeria headed towards in terms of
cultural identity as expressed in music from Nigeria.
I can summarize their themes thus: LSMD. Most Nigerian artistes are only
playing out their emptiness and disconnectedness from
the authentic Nigerian values of fidelity, decency or
decorum, humility and integrity. They worship and
celebrate Liquor, Sex, Money and Drugs. Unfortunately
too, they have co-travellers in the Actors Guild and
Nollywood stars. They have promoters and supporters in
the soft sell publications and independent producers.
As they invade our homes and assault our senses, our
children are left at the mercy of deviants and
miscreants now being celebrated as whizkids. Therefore, when Uncle Lekan Ajia
of the National Broadcasting Commission and Auntie
Nkem Orakwe of the Tales by Moonlight fame appeared as
guests on Kaakaki, AIT super morning show to discuss
the Role of Folk Tales and songs in child upbringing
few weeks back, I concluded that the chicken has come
home to roost for us in Nigeria, now experiencing
dearth (or death) of parenting. In their critical
dissection of this cultural misfortune, both former
broadcasters openly indicted corporate bodies for not
doing enough to promote or support children
broadcasting and literature. But beyond the condemnation of
the promoters of our cultural invasion and
desecration, we are all guilty in our collective lack
of discretion in the adoption of just any value, taste
or culture because we must move with time. We have
evolved from our value-laden traditional past to the
emptiness of the West that is camouflaged as
modernity. We see it in the anomic suicides around us
every day. What policy measure do we need in place to
reverse this tragedy! Let's debate our cultural
future. ***** Abdul-Warees Solanke Head of Training, Voice of Nigeria, |
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