NIGERIAN ARTS IN FOCUS: A REFLECTION ON LITERATURE AND MUSIC
Over the years, eras and seasons, literature has lost its whit, its meaning and its joy. Mediocrity has beset the land like coronavirus did that year, leaving poetry as baseless rants and words poorly joined together. West Africa is merely struggling to match the legacy of her heroes' past. Nigeria, in literature, can be placed on a high pedestal when reviewing the valuable contribution various writers have embodied. Renowned literary icon, Professor Femi Osofisan, has sounded the alarm on the worrying decline of artistic and literary pursuits in Nigeria. He attributes this downward spiral to the country's struggling economy. In an exclusive chat with Daily Sun, after delivering a superb lecture titled "Antithesis: Ibadan in the season of locusts" at the University of Ibadan, Osofisan shared his deep concerns.
"It's heartbreaking to see the state of our economy drive many of our brightest intellectuals abroad," he lamented. "But what's equally troubling is the loss of focus among our youths. They're increasingly mimicking foreign cultures, rather than embracing and celebrating our own rich heritage.”
The University of Ibadan can be mentioned as the home to beautiful literary works, courtesy of excellent personalities like Professor Wole Soyinka. His works have cut through various cultural heritages, races, and realities of the environment we are blessed, or not, to be in. His book, The Trials of Brother Jero, could not have explained the delusion of false prophets any better; the pain it causes to their unknowing, mindless followers, and the joy they believe they have found. What better way is there to subtly poke at the ongoing quackery in some so-called religious ministries?
He, like other writers, have contributed largely to the promotion of history through literature and in the least vague and most appealing way. The late Chinua Achebe’s 1959 Things Fall Apart remains golden in this era and time.
Book Cover of Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe
The upsetting death of Ikemefuna and Okonkwo’s regrettable contribution to it, Nwoye’s betrayal to Umuofia and the tragic, yet expected fall of Okonkwo all depicts what happened in the precolonial era. So understandable, simple, yet complicated, and bitter sweet. It so explicitly explains how our culture, values and beliefs got ripped from us in the introduction of Christianity.
As men have made an impact, women are surely not left tending to the baking flour in the oven. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a world renowned writer, so eloquent and proud of her feminism, has made such great strides not to be soon forgotten but would remain on the lips as long as men live, I hope. As she said, “We should all be feminists”.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
She has attributed a few of her works to being motivated by her mentor, Chinua Achebe. Love, culture, feminism, heartbreak and whatnot. She really is the face of the trials of an average, female Nigerian. Despite her exploits around the world, she never fails to call on home in obedience to our elders’ words— “remember the son of whom you are and the place you are from”. Cities have produced talents and she wears Nsukka like a perfectly-fit glove.
In Purple Hibiscus, Kambili suffers physical, emotional, and psychological trauma in the aim of being the best, and where one lacks in love, one finds it elsewhere. It could be from Aunty Ifeoma, Mama, Jaja, or Amaka, and she does love them, but she finds her comfort in Father Amadi. This, as with most teenage girls, has become a regular occurrence, but can they really be blamed? We find solace in what appears as peace, and if falling in love, in Kambili's case, with a young Catholic father is her definition of what solace is, then who stands to judge?
The majority hoped for a sort of happy ending for this pair but the only parting gift from the writer was Jaja’s imprisonment, Aunty Ifeoma and her kid’s successful migration from the hell they were forced to face at Nsukka, and quite sadly, the gift of penmanship and correspondence between Kambili and Father Amadi.
Only a strange person would not feel the emotions in Chimamanda’s works. Sometimes it feels as though one is looking through a mirror or perhaps, one is reading about what exactly made her to be how she is. To be poetic, is to read the unwritten words after all. The unwritten words like how Kambili craved to be with Father Amadi physically , the paper signified distance, and the reality that he was truly gone. Is that not how love makes a woman feel in the actual sense? The reality that distance is the most contributing factor to what cannot be.
In Americanah, we saw what can be supposed to be wicked love. Ifemelu abandoning ceiling after their experiences can be deemed as wicked if one ignores the pain and depression she experienced. But then, should she really have acted like he existed only in her past when he looked forward to her as the future? Eventually, she returned and Obinze, or rather, ceiling chose his long lost love over the family he had built. A regular story? Maybe. An actual occurrence in the world we live in? Definitely.
Literature, as a literal sense of being, cannot be mentioned without its sibling, music. Victor Mendoza described contemporary music as, “music performed and created with what is rhythmically, harmonically, and texturally current.”
Currently, Afrobeat and Afropop have emerged as the most prominent and widely consumed genres in contemporary Nigerian music. This phenomenon has provided a global platform for numerous Afrobeat artists in Nigeria, enabling them to gain international recognition. As a result, Nigeria has established itself on the global music scene as a hub for successful artists, boasting an impressive number of internationally acclaimed award-winning musicians.
Asides pleasure and probably the sense of fulfillment we gain from sitting in a corner and hungrily devouring the pages of a satisfying piece, music is also literature and the likes of Fela Anikulapo Ransome-Kuti, a legend whose name is forever etched into the cold stones of Nigeria's history, left a mark— despised by those in power. He fearlessly expressed his opinion on the ruling military government , not just the one about his love for beautiful women and his 27 wives who he married in memory of the attack on Kalakuta Republic and also to protect these women from the authorities.
Fela was a privileged man and with a goalgetter mother, the legendary Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, he definitely had big shoes to fill and bigger boxes to tick. He criticized corruption and human rights abuse through music thereby inspiring Nigerians who took a minute to listen. Asides his thirst for women, he enraged the Nigerian government thereby gaining respect, love and comparison to the Jamaican legend, Bob Marley.
Fela Kuti, the principal innovator of Afrobeat, even after his death in 1997, left an offspring that kept the tradition of keeping the goons on the toes alive, Oluwaseun Anikulapo Kuti.
The late Fela Anikulapo Ransome-Kuti
Other musicians, still alive today, have spiced up the music industry with their flair of cultural relevance, innovation and deep meaning. The saying, “charity begins at home”, explains why despite Asa’s birth in France, her love for her roots lie deeper. Artistes like Brymo, Asa and Beautiful Nubia do not need to sing shaku-shaku before they pass their message across. In Asa’s Bed of Stone, Eyo talks about the need to return home because truly, there is no place like home or Akinyele’s passive brutality in Bamidele.
Nigerian music would be incomplete without mentioning other legendary figures such as Ayinla Omowura, Musiliu Haruna Ishola, Saheed Osupa, Wasiu Ayinde, Ebenezer Obey, Pasuma, and many others. Nigeria is not only rich in natural resources but also boasts an abundance of talented individuals who have earned their place in the musical hall of fame.
Nigerians have made their mark globally, earning recognition and accolades. Notable examples are Tems, who made history by winning her first solo Grammy Award for Love Me Jeje and Burna Boy's Grammy Award winning Twice as Tall album Talent indeed deserves appreciation. Similarly, Davido’'s global sensation, Unavailable as well as Wizkid's collaborations on Brown Skin Girl and Essence have further cemented their international status as enigmas of the industry.
Tems at grammys for her award of best african music performance in 2025
Literature and music are like fraternal twins that still look identical. Literature has indeed lost its spark, maybe to a certain demographic but the yielding flames still remain, hoping to not be quenched especially in a country like ours with more overwhelm than calm.
Although disinterest still exists, art is indeed being revived. The creation of more pieces not only speaking on our heritage but explaining our struggles will hopefully play a part in resolving it. This would do the entire West Africa some good before it extends to the world at large. Literature, after all, is a language best communicated by the words that are not seen but rather felt.
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