Arts/Literary
African Music: Whither Nigeria, Ghana?
Sharing a common culture under British colonial rule, Nigerian and Ghanaian highlife as played in the 1950s by Victor Olaiya and Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah, competed favourably with the Congolese music of Franco Laumbo Makiadi and Joseph Kabasele. In the 1960s, Miriam Makeba’s Pata Pata and Click Song stood on the same musical rating with Rex Lawson’s Love Adure, Ibinabo and Roy Chicago’s Yoyo gbe and Maria.
But innovators like Zaiko Langa and Papa Wemba introduced new elements into Congo Zairean music with a bolder fusion of rhymba and folklore that have attracted western pop attitudes to indigenous music. The South African Xhosa musical tradition of Makeba and Hugh Masekela has been extended by the likes of Dudu Pukwanda, a most expressive voice who maintained the kwela groove with gusto until 1990. And like a dynamite, Yvonne Chaka and Brenda Fassie have taken on Africa and the West on a music trip that is still moving on wagon wheels.
And of course, of all the artistes bringing the manding sound out of the Sahel region, the first international success came to Salif Keita, the albino singer from Mali whose success story has set the pace for the musical culture of Mali. His image and that of his country was boosted by a 1991 collaboration with United States of America artistes. And needless to say that the world is now a stage for Senegal’s Yousou Ndour, a grammy award winner.
Steeped in traditional culture and given Western appeal, Youssou’s music is very popular in Europe and America; and has set the pace for the music of the entire Sahel Region.
On the other hand, since the Uhuru Professional Dance Band and the Ramblers in the late 1960s, Ghanaian highlife has been in limbo. Attempts at extending its evolution to the future were made by George Dako, an alto saxophonists based in Germany in the 1970s. His approach was rock-oriented, but it lacked depth in terms of arrangement and melodic structuring. The Benglos Dance Band made a bold effort to revolutionise highlife in Ghana, but the group disbanded after the release of its first album in 1983 due to lack of support and encouragement.
Also, in Nigeria, not much has happened in the evolution of highlife since Rex Lawson! Except that Fela Anikulapo-Kuti revolutionised it in 1965 and later transformed it to Afrobeat where only Femi and Seun Kuti are the only performers.
If there is any evidence of performance of highlife in Ghana today, it is not because the exponents are professionally committed to it. It is because of the monolithic musical culture of the country, which has highlife as the only idiom, unlike Nigeria where there are various other forms.
In Ghana, highlife is crying for professional treatment without which it cannot receive international acceptance. The situation is not different in Nigeria where there is now a tendency towards Afrobeat music. And yet in all of Africa, including Nigeria and Ghana, indigenous musical culture is profound enough to inspire musicians. There is no excuse.
To say that music is a part of life in Africa is an understatement. In many African cultures, music seems to have a greater significance than human life. It is often believed to have predated the existence of man and remains the main conduit for communication with the gods.
In its traditional forms, music accompanies almost every activity. While in contemporary popular guise, it has proved to be a lively form of cultural expression. No African popular music exists in a vacuum; it is always related in one way or another to the cultural background of the performers. For the African, music truly is the expression of culture. The African expresses it through dance, body movement, clapping the instruments identified with his cultural environment and vocal expression. And an important vocal construction is call-and-response singing, a pattern common to many types of African music.
The difference between contemporary popular music and traditional idioms is often vast, but there must be a continuity of purpose. Traditional musicians are human like every other person. They live in the modern world where culture has become dynamic.
Traditional music is bound to be affected by modern influences because the same people who play modern and traditional listen to both. The traditional will always be there, and the ability to fuse it with modern elements, such as jazz or rock without losing its African value is the hallmark of the contemporary African music, which can break through the international scene. And the artiste must be musically educated to be able to develop an individual style, something that manages to remain constant despite changing contexts.
Almost all the incursions into Afrobeat, highlife, and other forms of music today are lacking in basic professional requirements like composition, arrangements and song writing. These roles need to be performed by trained people to be able to fully complement the efforts of performers. Otherwise, the cacophony of sounds would continue to prevail.
A great number of musical videos are now telecast everyday, an indication that efforts are, more than ever before, being made by our young musicians to identify with Afrocentric music. But what does it benefit an artiste in concrete terms, if all he gets from a whole recording effort is desirable in that it could stimulate people’s interest, but it is like a double-edged sword. It could also be disastrous.
As the frequency of an airplay daily registers an impression on the subconscious, the inadequacies of the video become emphasised. Mediocrity is promoted; and this can eventually destroy the artiste, preventing the discerning public from giving his next recording effort a chance.
However, what can be done to improve the quality of music and its general standard among our youths is for the education ministry to make music compulsory in secondary schools. The implication of this move is that by the time a young chap leaves secondary school, he would be well grounded in the rudiments of music. If he is so inclined, he could pursue music at the polytechnic or university. But even if he terminates his study at the secondary school level and wants to take up music, he already has an idea about melody, harmony, arrangement and form. He has already acquired a foundation on which he would continue to build.
By: Benson Idonije
Idonije writes from Lagos.
It is the idea of God that family should exit. Children form part of the family. God loves family so much that Jesus was born into the family of Joseph.
Everyone’s family is good and important. Children should not look down on their family whether they are rich or poor.
Children should respect and honour their family and foster love among their siblings. They should work together and make peace in the family. They should always stand in the gap. It is good for family members to carry all along since everyone may not be doing well.
The Christianity that children learn is practised in family. Faith-based organisations do a great job in moulding children’s character. Those are the behaviours that children exhibit towards siblings in family.
Every child born in a family is there for a purpose. A baby born into a family is supplying something. It may be joy, wealth and so on. Everyone is important in a family.
Adolescents who have graduated from school but may not be contributing financially can do one or two things at home. You can engage in preparing meals at home while parents are away for a job or business. Contributing in house chores will go a long way to relieve parents of stress after a day’s job.
What do you contribute to your family, especially during holidays both in nuclear and extended family?
The family you were born is constant but friends are temporary. You can decide not to continue in friendship but you cannot cut off your family. No matter how bad you think your family is and you decide to leave home, you must surely return. Your friends can harbour you for a while.
The child’s first identity comes from the family. What the child learns first comes from the family.
Family is the centre of love and care. People have started playing down on marriage because of neglect on basics of family. Marriage starts today and and the next few months, it is threatened. Respect for family plays a crucial role in marriage.
No child grows without parental control and influence. If a child refuses to grow without taking instructions from parents, he may grow up being wild. There are consequences when children do not obey their parents. There are those who want to be rebellious against their parents. They should know that their length of days are tied to their parents.
Your bioligical parents know you more than every other person. There is the wisdom and knowledge your parents have that you do not so it is proper to listen to them before choosing carriers both in academics and job. A young man or woman can choose who to get married to, but a greater role in the choice of who to marry and the marriage proper comes from the parents.
They know what is best for you. No matter how modern trends will influence you and prove it wrong, parent is the key. No one can love you more than your parents because they are your blood.
A lot of parents have been traumatised due to the fact that children they nurtured and trained turned their back on them at older age. Children should not abandon their parents for any reason.
As you grow up, situations may arise in marriage when you decide it is over with your spouse, but no matter the level of provocation with your parents, they will not despise you. Parents will also play a role in that regard. Problem arises in every family but how it is handled matters a lot.
Some children honour their mentors more than their parents. Although there are parents who shy away from their responsibilities. It is important that parents take full responsibility of their children. You cannot bring a child to the planet earth and refuse to perform roles as a parent. But parents may not quantify what they spent from childhood to adolescence. That is a blessing children cannot get from another person.
There are people who have attributed their failure in life to the fact that their parents, especially mothers are witchcraft. It is wrong to feel that your mother is instrumental to your failure in life. The only way to success is hardwork.
Let money not determine the level of love for your parents. Wherever a child goes, family is constant.
Eunice Choko-Kayode
Naturally, when a child is born, it is the role of the father and mother to decide a suitable name for the child. The husband and wife normally discuss and suggest the English or vernacular name of the baby.
But sometimes, when a baby comes into a family, grandparents hearts are usually filled with joy to the extent that they want to answer present, by giving their own names not minding the fact that the biological parents have given theirs.
This happens mostly when the marriage is an inter-tribal one. It also happens even in intra-tribal marriage. Grandparents want equal representation as far as naming a child is concerned. They also have special names as a result of circumstances surrounding the birth of the child.
This is still happening till date.
A lot of people have viewed this in different ways but there is nothing wrong about it. The most important thing is that the child bears as many names as he or she can. But one thing is certain, the child must bear one name in school.
Should circumstance determine a child’s name?
Women who are more emotional are always eager to name their children considering the circumstances surrounding the child’s conception and arrival.
The issue of grandparents naming a child comes up mostly when it is the first of the family.
In naming children by some parents in the olden days, they named their children according to the days in the week in which they were born, like Sunday, Monday, Friday and so on.
You may be shocked to hear that whether a child is given 10 names by parents or grandparents, when he or she grows up, will decide to change. There are several cases where some persons decided to change especially when they feel that the names given by their parents and grandparents do not give them joy. If they are not doing well in life, they may claim that their misfortune is caused by the name their parents.
Competition among children in schools be it primary, (kindergarten) and secondary come in different forms. It can be Mathematics , debate, quiz, spelling bee,competition, from organisations like Cowbell, multi-national companies, faith-based organisations among others.
They are organised mostly for selected intelligent ones, the best among their peers to represent a class, school or group. Prizes are normally set aside for the best as well as consolation prizes for runners-up at the end of each session.
The question is, are children willing to accept defeat when they fail? As parents, guardians, can you encourage your children or wards to accept defeat instead of shouting and comparing them with others who may be performing better either in schools or outside.
Some parents may be blaming their children for not doing well in competitions. They will like to tell their children if others who may perform better have ten heads. Those group of parents blame their children for every failure.
For your children to do better in competition, the parents too must have emotional intelligence. When you continue to blame your children for failure, how intelligent are you?
Some parents always want their children to be in the 1st position and unhappy whenever they secure 2nd position. There were instances where children smashed their trophies because they never got the position they wanted to get and their parents supported them.
Children should be able to accept it whether they win or not. They should be encouraged for every performance. Discourage the issue of “shame, shame, shame, shame”.
A parent says she always tells her children to win even if they will fail. Always give them the mentality that they can win. Children should be given the impression that they can win prizes and laurels in every competition.
Parents should not isolate their children from others in the neighbourhood. Allow them to play with others. Don’t threaten your children that you may not pay their schools fees if they fail. Comparing them with others may encourage or discourage them.
Coming first or getting award as a first class student from the university sometimes does not mean that the person is the best. And if the child does not merit any award in the lower classes, does not mean that he can not merit first class also.
It should be noted that coming first in academic competition may not really mean that the competitor will be the best at work place or business.
Accepting defeat is a way to move higher. Even if a child who competed with others did not come first, there are consolation prizes for runners-up. When you advise the child to accept defeat, you are encouraging her to win in next competition.
Remember all children cannot be on the same knowledge level Their learning abilities defer.
Eunice Choko-Kayode