A Nation's Identity Crisis By Reuben Abati You may not have noticed it: Nigeria is suffering from an identity crisis imposed on it in part by an emergent generation of irreverent and creative young Nigerians who are revising old norms and patterns. And for me nothing demonstrates this more frontally than the gradual change of the name of the country. When Flora Shaw, Lord Lugard's consort came up with the name, Nigeria in 1914, she meant to define the new country by the strategic importance of the Niger River. And indeed, River Niger used to be as important to this country as the Nile was/is to Egypt. We grew up as school children imagining stories about how Lugard in one special romantic moment, asked his mistress to have the honour of naming a new country in Africa. Something like: "Hello, sweetheart, what name would you rather give the new country that I am creating?" "Let me give it a t...Read the full article.
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Yes I agree with you. You see how imaginative we all can be if we leave behind the decay of the society. This is a good reading of what Anna Everett and others call history of the present. I like the way Abati related the new informal name of Nigeria to that of the hip hop artistes whose works may adorn the heap of garbage soon!!!
Well I know with every writing you leave a little gap for your readers to fill. How did this occur? Yes it is technology for you. The mediation of communication. The new duality of identity. The name is one and the man or woman is another. Here art becomes a vocation separate from the person. So a Lagbaja can walk the streets in a different way in which 9ice though known can still distance himself from his works.
DRA (Dr Ruben Abati) let us have more of this kind of reading and re-interpretation of society. We need mirrors like this to help us reflect on our quotidian existence. This pieces also tells me how rooted and connected the Doctor is....now I hope the doyen of popular music journalism, who is now editor of the Punch will wake up and get back to his beat. Thanks DRA
please let these "children" be, at least they are not doing drugs or "419" or anything of such though quite a number of them have no business being musicians, i think they would have made more money as professional noise makers. for the life of me i do not understand nor approve of the jargons they sometimes dish out (yeah i'm old skool), but eh they're having fun (plenty of it) & also making mega bucks too! so i say let them make hey while the sun shines, it's their time. don't forget olu maitain of yahoozee got collin powel, dancing & singing on stage to his yahoozee, and he has gone ahead to make some noise ooops sorry music out of this!
__________________ "Don't take life 2 seriously. U'll neva get out alive---Bugs Bunny
"U must be the change u wish 2 c in the world"---Mahatma Ghandi
Eedris Abdulakarim summarises the concern of young Nigerians in one of his songs when he declared: "Nigeria jagajaga, everything scata, scata"
Eedris's summation goes beyond a mere expression of concern. It was a verdict.
I recollect emperor Obasanjo and his pack of goons attempted to ban that particular song....typical!
By the way, this builds up on the many streams of ideas that are contemporary on the social streets of Nigeria, using music as an entry point, but leave me hugely disappointed in its reach; perhaps author strives too hard to compress so much, into limited space? or its just the constrain of making it 'entertaining' enough for a sunday morning read, with lesser focus on the implications of the divergent, but emergent reality of a nation-less breed ?
Its a constructive read but I am not sure what a reader should take away....
That said, 5 years ago, this author had declared here
...one of the most intriguing ones, dare I say classical, he ever wrote - which illuminates this topic beyond the circles of entertainment; I have underlined the keywords, the basis on which I infer.
Transit. apply that to the children of "they" as in quote. No emotional attachment....hmmmmmmmm!
Long and short is; Nigeria, as is, is terribly undefined.
We were conscripted and still remain shackled in the existential consipiracies that was defined for us some 40+years ago. Then, we redefined our confusional state for ourselves, taking the opposite route to the truth, at every turn in defiance of what is real....
I think I am bothering on the verge of a rant here, but any attempt to resolve the unique posers (very interesting ones first, and frightening ones) this article raises must begin with a through acceptance of author's earlier conclusion viz:
Dr Abati, it is "Nigezie" not "nigerzie". However, am suprised that you know the lyrics. That means you listen to them. Or are you doing your own underground grooves too?
Let the Naija music army and their fashion continue. I must say Naija music style ( fusion of the various regional languages,pigin and English ) is absolutely fantastic. What is even more remarkable is the massive embrace by Nigerians and world wide acclaim. Last year I was in Slovakia, and I heard some Naija music I think it was Dbanj and Nigga Raw. My next trip to Naija I might have to get another suitcase to come back fully packed with Naija music old and new.
Ori ya to sori Owo ya to so'wo Ise ya to sise *Oko ya to so'ko* (I find this part very annoying) and the sexy dance steps involved.
I totally support Abati on this note and I think we need to "rebrand" (that word again) the next generation.
A fellow Villager named Celticologist wrote a phrase about 2 years ago and this is vintage:
"There are some ol' school tracks for those nostalgic about life in the 80's. I mean anyone who misses early 80's kind of funk....when proper ethical music was last composed without the use of 'b' and 'n' and 'f' words....when bands carry socially positive names like "The Sisters", "The Sunshine Bruvers", "Starpoint", "Hot Chocolate", "Lakeside", "Imagination", "One-Way".... "Whispers"...etc! (Sob, sob...don't even remind me of how good it was back in the days!). As opposed to today’s names like "The West Coast Killers", "Gravediggers"....."Hitman" And corresponding songs like "I just wanna f**k you", "Me and my bitch", "I'll f*** your man", "Kiss my AK47" etc! The world is indeed coming to a close"
Now, this is funny, even at church services, you see worshippers doing the "Yahoozee dance" and drummers beating the "Tungba" sound and members most especially the females dancing and provocatively swinging the "down below"
Let's spare our "patriotism" for a worthier cause.
What those youngmen, and women, are doing is pure arts, complete arts and nothing but arts. An Artist by nature is a non-conformist and must not be held down by unnecessary patriotic slangs and strings. Those youngmen (I am not their fan, I am way past their generation!) are doing more for this country than the left handed "patriotic" parasites in Abuja and the 36 State capitals; and their cheerleaders in the media houses.
If you give them the opportunity, the next thing you'll hear is that they're banning rap-music, hip-hop, arigo, gospel,etc. They must drag you to their level. And some us here who love God more than Christ will come hailing them. Big Brother Africa has been shariaD, to appease the mullahs in Abuja who whould rather marry an under-aged girl than allow adults exercise their freedom of choice.
In an age of SMS and email, who wants to spend scarce time and money typing Nigeria when you can shorten it to 9ja? Who wants to type United Stated of America when you can just type US? Or United Kingdom instead of UK?
Abeg leave them alone...
__________________ Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions… Barack Obama
Let's spare our "patriotism" for a worthier cause.
What those youngmen, and women, are doing is pure arts, complete arts and nothing but arts. An Artist by nature is a non-conformist and must not be held down by unnecessary patriotic slangs and strings. Those youngmen (I am not their fan, I am way past their generation!) are doing more for this country than the left handed "patriotic" parasites in Abuja and the 36 State capitals; and their cheerleaders in the media houses.
If you give them the opportunity, the next thing you'll hear is that they're banning rap-music, hip-hop, arigo, gospel,etc. They must drag you to their level. And some us here who love God more than Christ will come hailing them. Big Brother Africa has been shariaD, to appease the mullahs in Abuja who whould rather marry an under-aged girl than allow adults exercise their freedom of choice.
In an age of SMS and email, who wants to spend scarce time and money typing Nigeria when you can shorten it to 9ja? Who wants to type United Stated of America when you can just type US? Or United Kingdom instead of UK?
Abeg leave them alone...
Your excellency,
I think you mix the issues up in many ways to confuse.
When an imported style, medium and to a gr8 extent content - and artists historically fights a blanket importation/copy of others, less the foreign - stands for the mainstream, then the time is right there for a re-naming. not just reBranding.
I think the centerpiece of Reuben prose, is the ease with which the originality, and eternal connection that must connect the artist with the immediate world that he seeks to educate/entertain/inspire is nearly lost. It may not be a Nigerian thing only but surely, its overly noticeable with us.
I have no problems with hip hop, but separate the digitized instruments that defines the range of artists RA lists, and you are left with utter 'triff.'
Even comparing them with the American rap hip hop roots, doesnt quite count;
Whereas the tupacs, the biggies, the DRE's, and the the Nas' etc. all find their rhymes, deeply rooted in twisted sense of belonging that rules their american streets, leaving you with creativity + poetry and intense musical composition (from the p-of-View of the streets american life that is projected), listenning to our brand of it, doesnt evoke this level of multi-dimensional enjoyment. or appraisal.
Perhaps with the notable exception of 9ice - who seems to take a radical 2 way approach to his trade. ...as far as i know.
Its not asking for patriotism, Its asking for artists and music to know itself. and then project itself. I am not sure that is the scenario at the moment....
@waleakin,
"Tungba"; what a word do they play that @ your church regularly ?
__________________
//..ey everybody wanna paya paya...mama and papa dem dey begin 2 deh paya paya...J.Martins + Timaya
Identity crisis, yes, but moral turpitude HEHEHEHe, I think you were being a wee bit harsh on these young Nigerians
@ Ultimate Chief Igboama,
I am not a musician, but the lyrics of Don Jazzie, Timaya, 9ice, Bracket ( hope they release another classic fast), Joe Martins, Naeto C and the rest sure moves me and many whom I have been in their midst. These songs are
@ Wale Akin,
Greetings on this Fathers' day Sunday,
In the Anglican church we dance in praise of the Lord. It was David, one of our prophets who showed us how to dig it when he was bringing the Ark of God back from the place where it was abandoned for long because the people took to sin.
Villagers,
I think the identity crisis is not really with the people but the leaders. They refuse to enthrone a 21st century set of tried and tested values to move the nation forward. We the people are merely echoes of what a crass turbeulent materialistic elite has saddled us with
Now, this is funny, even at church services, you see worshippers doing the "Yahoozee dance" and drummers beating the "Tungba" sound and members most especially the females dancing and provocatively swinging the "down below"
You church people..na wo!!! I shall be sending this as exhibit A to your church so they can administer the right punishment. It was nice to chat with you earlier have nice day let go and listen to 9ice "gongo aso " and nigga raw "hip-hip gyration".
Thanx RA for a brilliant piece.You forgot Tony Tetuila's"ABC,123".
The good thing is they've shown there are better options than Kidnapping and All sorts of theft going on.
I think though that Tuface,9ice and Psquare do have a few songs that have a lot of meaning.
I'm so happy that we have an ASA or Dare Art Alade(hate his earrings though),that compensates for the likes of Naeto C et al.
Happy fathers day to All.
Greetings on this Fathers' day Sunday,
In the Anglican church we dance in praise of the Lord. It was David, one of our prophets who showed us how to dig it when he was bringing the Ark of God back from the place where it was abandoned for long because the people took to sin.
I am very humbled to have a Father's greetings from you Sir. Thanks and God bless. Now, lets do some bible study to drive home a pertinent point as this particular scene from the Bible has been severally mis-intrepeted by many. David led the ark of covenant and on his way to put it back to its rightful place, he was so overjoyed that he took to dancing (What the 21st century Man will call High Praise and Worship.) Extreme dance steps. Israel Kings have many apparels on and kingly robe with the attached veil and for King David to have been "naked", he must have removed his crown(A symbol of authority), his tunic and the Kingly robe: These apparels must have disturbed him from praising his God and when Micah saw him, she despised him and Bible records that her womb was shut for life! She is the ONLY barren Woman recorded in the bible. I must coonfess that I dont know what kind of dance steps David performed but they must have been electrifying, more like Mc Hammerkinda but its so nonsensical and ill-mannered when you see Christians doing the Yahoozee style inside the church. Its wrong when you Tungba during High Praises, I may be wrong though but this is my personal view on the matter. The same dance that King David did and God was extremely happy was the same dance performed in the new testament by King Herod's daughter during his birthday that led to the death of John The Baptist. So I suggest we exercise abit of caution when we do these dance steps. The word is moderation!
Originally Posted by Anioma777
You church people..na wo!!! I shall be sending this as exhibit A to your church so they can administer the right punishment. It was nice to chat with you earlier have nice day let go and listen to 9ice "gongo aso " and nigga raw "hip-hip gyration".
Bruv, thanks a bunch for the phone call.
Originally Posted by Dapxin
"Tungba"; what a word, do they play that @ your church regularly ?
please let these "children" be, at least they are not doing drugs or "419" or anything of such though quite a number of them have no business being musicians, i think they would have made more money as professional noise makers. for the life of me i do not understand nor approve of the jargons they sometimes dish out (yeah i'm old skool), but eh they're having fun (plenty of it) & also making mega bucks too! so i say let them make hey while the sun shines, it's their time. don't forget olu maitain of yahoozee got collin powel, dancing & singing on stage to his yahoozee, and he has gone ahead to make some noise ooops sorry music out of this!
Am very sure that you did not read the article well before making the above comment, or rather you did not understand the message Abati is passing across.
Rooftop MC sings for example: "Ori mi wu o, e lagi mo". This is a very popular song. But all it says is: "my head is swollen, please hit it with a log of wood."
Who is this man fooling? Maybe the folks that live in nostalgic paradise.Yet, the world has moved on, borderless world, a world where time and space has shrunk, and ideas, and its cross-fertilization and cross cultural collaboration now rules.Youth artistes from unlikely backgrounds in most major cities around the world are helping redefine how we understand ourselves and our world.
They grow rich in the process, and it means a criminal off the streets, and the impact and community they generate, only few politicians have achieved it, except Obama who seems to have captured the importance of the new urban culture invented in America's urban neighbourhood and now proliferating in many major cities around the world building a consensus of choice irrespective of race. It was not for nothing, he brushed dirt of his shoulders as a gesture to Hillary Clinton's shenanigans during his presidential campaign , mimicking Jay Z's popularly titled sing, "Dirt of my Shoulders" in the process.
Jay Z , I listened to, last night on the radio, he had collaborated with an Indian singer, blending rap song with an Indian romantic song, something of a commercial success in India. It shows how artistes experiment to achieve commercial success and expand beyond their own cultural space. Art is hard to evaluate using standards that are subjective and which carry the script and meaning of earlier times. Standards in this sense are best academic and have little utility value in the economic and social milieu of contemporary times. If these songs make people happy why evaluate? You want them sad?
On Abati's article, here is one of the songs he criticizes, which by the way has a message and it is a good song:
Never heard the song, until I read Abati's article, and I decided to go hunting on youtube for the song, one of the songs he waxes so cynically about, indeed I was completely disappointed, turned off with his flippancy.
Not sure whether to call this attitude a character flaw of his, or this a genetic blindness, an inability or just refusal to understand a trend instead of passing judgment, yet this pattern is peculiar to this man. His rigid and inflexible disposition to carefully understand society without imposing his worn out values.He made the similar mistake when he declared his verdict on Obama's potential presidency, something in which he had little understanding and whose context he was alien to.
We are seeing a new kind of world, something most of us have liitle understanding, and we should instead observe and try to make sense of it, instead of rushing to town with our judgments.Lagbaja did not have Colin Powell fooling around, Olu Maintain did, even though we might not have liked the circumstance and the lyrics. But we must acknowledge that in art sometimes we see ourselves and it is a reflection of our present condition, our contemporary selves in today's music to be specific.
Nigeria has no identity crisis, it is just being redefined and we are watching that process evolve. It is in a flux right now and making judgments shows a lack of patience in exploring the cultural and international forces of technology and the social implications it has on our country. Nigerian musicians just like their Nollywood compatriots that are colonizing the rest of Africa culturally, and some of Europe, and making money and building a thriving arts industry that is into cultural production.I think all the cryptic variants of Nigerian name is an affirmation of boundless energy and creativity of the Nigerian. We are seeing a Nigeria emerge that we really have no clue, yet it is an outlet for the youths and it makes them happy. Why hate?
Abati, ti o ba understand e...ko sun men ! (if you no understand wetin dey happen, make u move on. Sho! na by force ? )
__________________
"The world is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel." Horace Walpole
"Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge;it is thinking that makes what we read ours." John Locke (1623 -1704)
"The city is not a concrete jungle. It's a human zoo." Desmond Morris
About time we change the name of our that country to NAIJA, instead of that colonial legacy...
Reuben, sorry to bust your bubble, whatever is going on in NAIJA, is signs of the time we live in.
GOD BLESS NAIJA (I MEAN NIGERIA) AND AFRICA, AMEN.
A Nation`s Identity Crisis 
as I struggle now to have a good sunday ki ori mi ma lo fo ka si ibe... 
) the next generation.
do they play that @ your church regularly ?
.
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