IYA NI BY ASA
Before the maiden presentation of this song in France, Asa has the following to say:
I have this song that I wrote when I went home. It’s titled Iya. It means suffering. A song about the suffering of the people from where I come, Lagos, Nigeria, and over the world anyway. But it’s about the suffering of the people, the common man.
From this preamble, it is obvious to which end this song is made and the thematic concerns of the artist which is to appraise the suffering of the common people. Beyond the romanticized idea of entertaining her audience through her songs, Asa channels her aesthetic prowess as an expressive tool to evaluate the socio-economic conditions of the common men. She speaks to the social sensibilities of an average Nigerian citizen and their depleted standard of living. The song revolves around the theme of religion, economy, politics, hard-work, health among others.
POOR STANDARD OF LIVING
There is no assurance of survival or guarantee of continuous existence in the country as several social, political and health factors can be responsible for the sudden death of an average Nigerian citizen. Statistics according to Chineme Okafor (2016) in his has however shown that the mortality rate or average life expectancy of Nigerians is relatively low when compared to other countries due to very poor standard of living, inadequate medical facilities, unhealthy environment, poor social amenities, oil spillage in the Niger Delta, social disorder, political instabilities, and religious conflicts among others. Our roads are death traps, our rivers have become intoxicated poisons for man and aquatic animals, the atmosphere is being polluted with carbon monoxide and the unhygienic style of living has contributed immensely to the low mortality rate of the country. To several Nigerians, turning to God has been the only way of ensuring their safety in an unsecured country. The ubiquitous political depression, religious terrorism and social sensibilities have hurried many Nigerians to the place of prayer where they gain immunity against man’s inhumanity to man such as kidnapping, armed robbery, assassination, fraudulence, hostilities etc. Asa turning to God in the face of obvious depression therefore parodizes the life of average Nigerians whose only alternative of keeping their hopes alive is to trust God and not the constantly failing government.
POVERTY
Annually, the Federal Government budget which is in trillions of naira is a constant reminder of how rich and economically endowed we are as a country. In fact, according to International Monetary Fund in 2016, Nigeria is regarded as the fastest growing economy. There are politicians, business tycoons, and cyber criminals who are boasting of billions of naira in their national and international accounts. However, with all these high sounding monetary figures, it is heartbreaking to realize that there are Nigerians who lives on less than two dollars a week. The incessant marginalization between the rich and the poor has made the rich richer and the poor poorer in an untrammeled progression. Drawing from the theoretical ideology of Manichaeism which holds that the world is structured by a system of dualism, Asa creates an obvious distinction between the rich and the poor in the society. This social and economic gap widens continually almost in an incorrigible way. Though many Nigerians are workaholics, their hard-works and labours have not yielded the expected dividend and the little amount they are able to muster together is being ridiculed by the perpetual depreciation of our currency. Asa calls this “illusions”.
SOCIOPOLITICAL SERVITUDE
Ending the song on a crucial note, she observes the culture of social subjugation which many Nigerians are subjected to. They (honest citizens) are compelled to live as slaves in their own land clustering around the tables of political bigots and giant fraudsters for crumbs and financial scraps. The system of servitude that has come to be identified with the country has led unfortunately to many chattered dreams and waste of precious lives.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it has been shown in this chapter that Asa and 9ice have unequivocally proved that music is a veritable instrument of socio-political analysis. Artists are not just observers of political events but also chroniclers of their history, custodians of their cultural heritage, voice of the voiceless citizens and critics of political progression. The point of convergence however, between the two artists examined in this chapter is that they try to locate the cause of social and political retrogression within the ambient of political leaders and the influential few. They also attempt a criticism of the recklessness of Nigerians towards this backwardness. However, in the next chapter, Lagbaja deviates from making the leaders solely responsible for all the crimes and agony in the society and try to identify the consequential roles of the common man in the dissipation we encounter in the country today.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page I-II
Certification III
Dedication IV
Acknowledgements V
Abstract VI
Table of Contents VII-XI
Music, Literature and Society 1-4
CHAPTER TWO
SECTION ONE
Music as A Means of Entertainment 16
Music as A Means of Education 17
Music as an Instrument of Socio-Political Criticism 18-19
SECTION TWO
SECTION THREE
CHAPTER THREE: THE THEMATIC APPRAISAL OF 9ICE’S AND ASA’S SONGS
A Critical Appraisal Of 9ice’s Musical Style 32-34
PETEPETE
Post-Colonial Disillusionment 35-36
Social Recklessness and Its Effects 37-38
THERE IS FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
Political Instability and Insecurity 43-45
Cultural and Moral Decadence 47-48
IYA NI
Sociopolitical Servitude 51-52
CHAPTER FOUR: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LAGBAJA’S SONGS
An Appraisal of Lagbaja Musical Style 53-54
The Roles of the Citizens in a System of Corruption 55-57
Relevance of His Masked Tradition 57-58
Criticism of the Social Culture of Scapegoatism 58-60
Restoration of Moral Values as the Way Forward 60-61
200 MILLION MUMU (PART THREE)
Political Avariciousness 62-63
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion 69-70
Recommendations 71
Works Cited 71-74
Appendices 75-83WORKS CITED
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