Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
By Ajekigbe Adewale Olayemi
Nigeria is a very unique country with about 450 languages and over 250 ethnic groups, all striving to attain one solid nationhood with the attendant struggles and difficulties of uniting the numerous ethnic groups. Since independence, the fundamental problem confronting Nigerian leaders has been that of the divisive tendencies posed by the multiplicity of ethnic groupings and the drawbacks it has caused to nation building.
In fact, this became more germane when the first republic of 1960–1966 was abruptly terminated by civil war of 1967–1970. Significantly, our cultural heritage points to the fact that our diverse ethnic groupings bring out succinctly the richness of our culture, having spectacular symbols that put forward a lot of similarities in our differences.
The fact remains that the Nigerian people can boast of a common ground which is their cultural heritage that carries with it, so many unifying attributes or symbols. Therefore, the similarities in our diverse peoples and culture can better be appreciated in our immensely rich culture, including art, religion, music, dance and oral literature.
Music: Music is seen as the art of expression in sound, in melody and harmony and to many people making pleasing combination of sounds in rhythm and harmony. Music occupies a very important position in the life and history of Nigerian people and that is why from the early hours of each morning, music is used. Music influences the listener even if one is not aware of it consciously, the body is constantly reacting to the sound variations in pitch, rhythm and patterns.
Music can trigger an idea, a colour, sound or picture and those things that are lost in the past will be brought back to the listeners’ remembrance through it. Music gives encouragement, inspires soul, and lifts one’s mind.
Nigerians are deeply musical people, as the rhythms run in their blood. In fact, music is an inseparable element in their culture. It plays a significant role in sending out information and in entertaining people.
Music in traditional life
Among Nigerians as well as other ethnic groups in Africa, music is an integral and functional part of daily activities which permeates every level of traditional life be it social, religious or ceremonial.
Consequently, there exists a large repertoire of both vocal and instrumental music such as various songs for entertainment, songs for individual and group labour, praise songs for kings, deities, warriors and other important peoples.
Nevertheless, the most prominent use to which music is put in traditional culture is in the celebration, whether as an embellishment or as an integral part of social ceremonies.
Dance: Dance, like music, is a symbolic device to express emotion, the way people felt, thought and behaved. Traditional dance has a central place in the life of Nigerians. It is one of the most highly developed forms of expression and it is central to religious rituals. Dance essentially is a response or reaction to music being played or song being sung.Most often, music seems to be the forerunner of dance, so there is a very close link between music, song and dance.
It must be stressed at this juncture that in a typical Nigerian culture, religion, art, music, dance and drama are best fused, maintaining in their inescapable repetition a constancy and harmony rarely encountered elsewhere in the world.
Symbols of music and dance for national unity
Music and dance provide a common ground for the people of Nigeria to fully express their feelings and emotions, which, to some degree of accuracy, is done in the same manners and ways.
Music and dance are integral and functional parts of people’s daily activities.
Music and dance provide a veritable avenue for reaching the masses of people through ceremonies and festivals.
The musical instruments found all over Nigeria are almost the same and in most cases perform the same function.
Symbolically, Nigeria is an extensive music area both in its geography and the variety of musical types. Traditional music is a living culture and constitutes the staple idiom of the vast majority of Nigerians. The richness of traditional music/culture can be measured in terms of the multiplicity of instruments, musical styles and the unifying attributes it wields.
•Ajekigbe is Assistant Chief Curator,
National Museum, Afin, Oyo.
READ ALSO: Nations Rhythm Festival 2025: When Ibadan stood still for a week of drums, dances
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.