Winnie Boss

In championing social justice or social reform, music is also a potent weapon said Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in his address entitled ”Championing Social Justice and Advocacy Through Music”, delivered at the 2016 AFRIMA Roundtable in Lagos , recently.

In details , the minister recounted ,”  Who can forget Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s song’, “Unknown Soldier”, which drew attention to the injustice meted out to his mother, Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti?

Who can forget Ayinla Omowura’s song, “Owo Ile Eko”, in the 70’s that was a way of communicating to the government the need to help regulate the house rent during the time of Governor Mobolaji Johnson of Lagos State?

Veno Marioghae’s song, “Nigeria Go Survive” in the 1980’s dwelt on the government’s inability to provide basic social amenities in the country

Ebenezer Obey’s song, “Garri ti won”, in the 70’s reflected the effects of the austerity measures in place at the time

Nelly Uchendu’s song, “Late Night Husband” , reflects on the irresponsibility of men who have turned their wives to bread winners and left with the upkeep of the home to them

Ik Dairo, Jo Araba, EC Arinze all sang in the 60’s in memory of first Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba who was assassinated in 1961.

Togo Lawson in 1920 sang “Won ti se wa jina”, a song that was then the favourite of Brazilian returnees who served as fieldworkers during the colonial period to protest irregular payment of their salaries.

– Akeeb Kareem sang ”NEPA” in the 70’s ( Never Expect Power Authority) where he recounted the sufferings of the people even when they paid their taxes ,etc.

In addition to social justice and advocacy, he said that music is also a tool for social reform

According to him ,  Zeal Onyia’s song “Ogogoro”, was composed in the 50’s to caution against excessive intake of alcohol.

Adeolu Akinsanya’s song “Won fi Ibaje Sayo” was composed to advise women against the bleaching of their skin, very similar to Fela’s ”Yellow Fever”.

Also , he observed that Music chronicles history when he said ,” Godwin Omobuwa and Ebenezer Obey did a song, keep right, in 1972 when the country changed from driving on the left to driving on the right.

Sonny Otti sang a song in memory of Nigeria’s first heavy weight champion, Hogan Bassey.”

Considering the creative sectors of our economy like Music, Film, Production, the Arts etc,  Lai Mohammed subscribed to achieving influence by building networks, communicating compelling narratives, and establishing international rules by drawing on the resources that make us unique which is Music .

Hence , he said the federal government would 00leverage on the power of music to promote the National Re-orientation Campaign tagged “Change Begins With Me,” which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on Sept. 8th 2016.

“Because this campaign is about returning to those moral values that stood our country in good stead, a lot of that can be done through music. In order words, music is a powerful tool of advocacy. Good music has no tribe, no gender, no section, no religion,” he said.

In terms of our pursuit of long lasting social and prosperous change, he believe that the secret weapon lies in the arsenal  powers of the creative industry.

“Research shows that the UK, for instance, draws much of its influence from its creative industries and in particular the dynamic performance of its music industry. The fact that five of the Top 10 best-selling albums in the world last year were by British artists highlights that music and culture are important not only for their economy and balance of trade, but in helping to promote a positive image of the UK both within and outside their country.”

” Also, America’s greatest and most positive attractive magnet is its music, movies, arts, images, and books, which are more popular than they have ever been. Indeed, if there is any group of Americans that are winning the hearts and minds of people all over the world, it isn’t military leaders, diplomats, business leaders, academics or politicians, whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. It is the makers of America’s popular culture – The actors, the musicians and other celebrities.”

Emphasising that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the prosperity of the sector , he said that Nigeria must work for the Music industry, adding that  cooperation of all players in the sector are required for the the progress of the one industry.

“we have signed MoUs with the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the British Council, and we are also partnering with such credible organizations like AFRIMA to achieve our objectives of mass creation of jobs and development of skilled and managerial abilities; formalising and growing the export of all aspects of the
industry so that it becomes a significant foreign exchange earner for the country and also the provision of key infrastructure that will encourage local and foreign investments into all the key aspects of the Creative Industries,” he said .