How Nigerian Music Collects the Cash

 

Image Credit: furtherafrica.com

Before Nigerian music arose where the world could see it, I was an avid critic of its lyrical component. Some people loved to sing purely in local tongues. Others preferred to mix English and local tongues. I was an avid critic of the second category, saying that you should either sing in English or the native tongue –it makes no sense mixing the two. At the back of my mind, there was also the intellectual angle. I was, however, defeated when the music found global popularity.

The absence of intellectual content in our speeches or writing is a tradition that should be blamed on Britain for the colonial education they gave.  So many times, it has been said that Britain gave just enough to support its colonial ambition. I had come to believe this while teaching kids with Ginn Books imported from Britain, while teaching at St. Maria Gorettis School in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Britain deliberately designed a colonial curriculum so that a pupil's creativity is stifled. 

Against the odds, Nigerian music rose to global fame and is competing well. So, how did the music rise to such standing, despite the lyrical weakness? The strength of music doesn't only rest on the lyrics but also on melody, pulse, structure and modesty that enables many to relate to it. The modesty, plus the let-us-play-together dance style, is very fundamental to the success of the industry.

The modesty in the lyrics turned out to be a silver lining behind the clouds.  When something is highly intellectual, only the intellectuals can relate to it. Sadly, this demography of the world's population is a handful. By this, highly intellectual genres like Reggae, Soul and Hip Hop failed to pull a huge population of the world's population into their fan base. Now, Afrobeats by its weak intellectual content is engaging everybody.

Even the success of the Nigerian movie industry boils down to the emphasis on a simple storyline that everyone can understand. Now, the industry is ranked among the three most watched globally, collecting the cash.

Thus, it is about tradition, not weakness. This is because, when Nigerians travel to foreign lands and find strange traditions, they can adapt and succeed. I want to believe that Nigerians are just waiting for this conversation to register in their minds. When this happens, a Nigerian songwriter will have it in his mind that his song should have a conscious hue. When this happens, things will change –it has always been one thing at a time.

It is, however, important to understand that not all Nigerian music lacks intellectual content. If you do a survey, you will see that this is true.

Yiro Abari is the author of How to Become a Music Maestro.

 

If I Rule Nassarawa State

Areal Photo of Akwanga from Google Photos

Nassarawa State is one of Nigeria’s thirty-six states. It is located in the North-Central region, touching Kaduna and Plateau to the North and Abuja and Benue to the South.

From an indistinct past, the town has carved out the reputation of a stopover for people travelling in all directions.  Additionally, there is College of Education Akwanga that has pulled people from far and near. The town, thus, becomes an enduring imprint in their hearts.

Sadly, Akwanga is a paradox of sorts –iconic, yet forgotten. Given its popularity in the country, Akwanga shouldn’t be in the cold. This, sadly, is what you see when you pass through the town. Why has the town been left in the cold? When governors come, why aren’t they able to see that Akwanga, by its special place and the fact that humans live in it, should have been transformed for the good of Nassarawa State and the joy of the people who pass through it? So, what have past leaders of Nassarawa State been doing that is bigger than the subject of building Akwanga? We could say that they are either selfish or don’t have the eyes to see the necessity of its renewal.

When one talks about Akwanga, the picture that comes to mind is of that small roundabout, the business area. It is a small space that sadly accommodates the scale of activities of a big town. It is, thus, distended and bulging with cracks manifesting. Hence, the impression that one gets is that of a human jungle. From this, it is rational to say that, from way back, there have been expectations of expansion and the addition of physical brilliance. But the decades scrolled by with nothing changing. The Akwanga situation mirrors the character of Nigerian country towns, and we are speaking for all of them.

The outcome is a country jungle of sorts. In that tight space, there are women selling fura da nono, dudes roasting suya, fuelling stations, auto-mechanic workshops that spill greases everywhere, motor parks, trodden litters from used plastic bags, scores of school-age girls dashing back and forth with bowls of kunu to cope with orders, and hoodlums on eroded road shoulders, scheming to pull out the guts of your pockets. Ninety per cent of these humans walk with the air of ignorance, a situation that stabs the heart of a deeply conscious human.

In Nigeria, when we get educated, we don’t seem to know its purpose. Since independence, we have run Nigeria without a purpose –we don’t seem to have something we intend to achieve. The decades will roll past, trillions will be squandered and yet the towns, people and everything else remain as crude as they had been for the past one hundred years.  

I wish I was the Governor and ruler of Nassarawa State, the A. A. Sule. If I were, I would have embarked on a careful demolition to create space that allows the town to take in air. Then I will design a plan that ensures that the banks, auto mechanic workshops, motor parks, fuelling stations, comfort rooms, hotels, restaurants, and everything else are exclusively built and spaced, creating a town of sparkle that is the pride Akwangans, Nassarawas and the people that pass through.

When one passes through Keffi and Lafiya, he sees a sparkle. Why is Akwanga different?  

Rephrase with Ginger (Ctrl+Alt+E)

How to Become a Music Maestro

A Handbook for Intending Music Artists

Preface

Before now, the long and uncertain road to the "stage" had prevented many talented men and women from following their music dreams. A lot of money was needed to make a music album. Only the influential in the industry had money they were willing to sink into the sponsorship of music projects. You had to be discovered by these influential individuals within the industry, who would then give you a record deal.

Information Technology came and created a bypass to music dreams, making it possible for aspiring artists to evade the recording companies. Information Technology brought software that integrates a complete music "band" into a computer that one can carry in a knapsack. What's more? If you don't have a computer, there is a chance the boy next door, or a classmate, has it and knows how to operate it.

As a result, making music has become so cheap and affordable for anyone who has the talent.

With a bypass available, interests in music careers soared remarkably. Nevertheless, not all ambitious folks take the time to study the rules and techniques that are fundamental for a successful music career. In the end, dreams are broken with frustration setting in.

Late Jamaican songwriter and singer, Bob Marley, once said, "Some people know it, but they can't do it". He was referring to people who have musical talents, but who have, for one reason or the other, chosen to stay off the stage. Until an individual with musical talent gets confronted with making a critical decision on whether to engage his talent or not, he or she may not know that there could be a mountain of reasons capable of preventing one from venturing into the profession. Some of these factors include family influences, disability due to health reasons, cultural perceptions of music stars in the individual's locality, the music setting that may or may not warrant success, pride that stems from wealthy family backgrounds or towering educational qualifications, stage fright, a dislike for the odyssey that music profession involves, etc.

It is difficult for one who has lived out a successful music career to think about writing a book that teaches people how to make music. Such an effort would appear trifling to him. The second reason is that he would have taught members of his band, nevertheless! This is because, during rehearsals, a music artist teaches his band members what to play to achieve what he has conceived would be a chart-topping hit. His band includes instrumentalists and support vocalists. Often, these persons go on to become established solo artists as a result of the experience gained from working with a talented person.

Jesus once gave a parable about a rich man who gave his servants business capitals before travelling. The wise among them invested what the master had given them and generated more wealth, while the unwise dug the ground and buried what the master had given him. When the master returned, he scolded the unwise servant for his lack of productivity. I strongly feel that talent comes from God, and is meant to be used. If one were to be a saint but refused to use his God-given ability while on earth, it would be the sole reason why God would not be pleased with him. I decided to write this music guide because I felt uncomfortable, living with an idea and not using it.

The content of this book is merely a simple approach to music-making as it has been from time immemorial when early humans could make music by just the revelation that came naturally. The music principles, as presented here, are the same as those of gifted musicians who never had advanced education. People with this level of musical understanding have, nonetheless, produced some of the greatest songs ever made in the history of mankind. This is the reason why, I believe, the book will help many who have talent, but who have, for some reason, failed to realize the significance of certain facts that should make their music acceptable and successful.

Some musicians are remarkably successful, while others have modest success. If one can critically compare the works of these categories of artists, he would be able to discover the differences between them. These differences are responsible for the differences in successes, as I discovered. My study cuts across several music genres (and subgenres) in pop and revealed that the principles of making music remain the same, with the differences being the cultural influences from which the genres find their roots.

In general, the revelation that followed my study showed that successful musicians are masters of the different bits that make superior music: the ability to spontaneously identify a personal experience that can be translated into a good song, the ability to write a good song, the ability to discover a suitable melody, the mastery and creative use of instruments … 

When music-making follows these steps, the maker finds that he enjoys making good music for the sake of it. He feels fulfilled by just the fact that it provides him or her to opportunity to use his potential fully.

Some people never find the opportunity to use their potential fully. Based on my experience, this is part of the reason why some people don't find joy in life. They may not know that they are victims of this and that it is responsible for their inability to find full joy in life. The moment somebody finds satisfaction from the mere fact that he has discovered the opportunity to use his gift fully, he is undoubtedly on his way to greatness and money and fame will, no doubt, follow.

The principles discussed in this book are those that many already know, but, at the same time, many don't know them, despite having the potential. This book is aimed, primarily, at the latter group. Those who know them can still find the book interesting, as it will provide a different perspective on the subject. Some individuals love collecting books in areas of interest or in areas in which they are experts. This, I believe, is a material that can enrich their collections of music books.

Buy the ebook edition here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H4XQAQ 

Buy the paperback edition here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTDRCLL4

Yiro Abari Pede

 

How to Become a Music Maestro

How to Identify a Scammer

My Fake Parcel from the UK

Someone presenting himself as a white woman from the UK sent me a friendship request on Facebook. I just told myself, “Here come the scammers again.” But I was curious to see how it goes –it could be legit.

She told me she would want us to become friends. That her husband was involved in a road accident was rushed to India and failed to make it. So, she wants someone to share her life with, someone to be the father of her kids. She asked if I was married or single. I said I was divorced.

The first reason to be suspicious: she has only one friend on Facebook and I am the second.

The second reason to be suspicious: my cover photo on Facebook is of myself and my wife on our wedding day and the profile photo is of me and my daughter. Why was she asking if I were single?

She said she wanted us to be chatting via i-chat on an Apple computer and asked if I had an Apple computer. I told her the computer I have is a Toshiba laptop. She said she would send me an Apple computer if I promised to chat with her so we could get to know each other better.

The third reason to be suspicious: it doesn’t matter what computer is used for chatting.

I told her I wouldn’t mind if she sent me that computer. She requested my trust again. I assured her. As our conversation progressed, she informed me that she had sent the computer together with the iPhone 12 and 3000 pounds to pay for the delivery when it arrived. After doing my conversion to naira, I saw that I was going to be a millionaire. At that point, I became afraid for my life. These things could be delivered truly. But it could get complicated with me ending up with the police. Long-throat couldn’t let me. So, I followed along.

She messaged me, giving details of what she had sent including a photo of the parcel. She informed me of the need to call Customer Care to tell them I was expecting my parcel. She sent me the number to call. That was in the night at about 9PM. But I didn’t call because it was late. Early in the morning, someone called, speaking in decent English, albeit with a mild Yoruba accent, as would be expected of a Lagosian who is educated. He also demonstrated an understanding of how couriers are handled. He asked where I live. I told him that I live in Jos. So, he told me to come to Lagos and get my parcel. But I told him that Lagos is too far and asked if it wasn’t possible for them to send it to Jos. He said it would cost me N35500 and that he was going to send me the Kuda account number to which I would send the money. My delivery will come at about 10 AM, about four hours later. But the situation was so urgent and I felt I was being rushed, not giving adequate time to think. Truecaller revealed the identity of the line as “Nigerian Airways.”

There were questions in my mind: does the Nigerian Airways still exist? If it does, does it handle couriers?

The fourth reason to be suspicious: he asked to confirm if my parcel was made up of an Apple computer and iPhone 12. Is he supposed to know the contents of the parcel? The only way would be if he opened it. The person sending the delivery said he included 3000 pounds and I shouldn’t tell them. So, if he opened the parcel to know its contents, he must have also seen the money. So, I wouldn’t be a millionaire, after all.

So, I asked myself some questions that led me to understand that it was clearly a scam: Was the person sending the parcel someone I had known before? Why should I pay money to someone I have not met and who is far away in Lagos? If there is a problem, how would I meet the person to resolve the situation? In conclusion, I resolved not to pay the money until the parcel is delivered.

This was our last conversation that confirmed he is a rogue:

Me: “Can’t I pay the money on delivery?”

Him: “No, we accept payment before delivery.”

There was a break of about five seconds with neither me nor he speaking.

Me: “I am sorry. I can’t pay for something I have not seen. Sent it so that I pay when it comes.”

Him: “We don’t do that.”

Me: “OK. Forget it.”

Him: “OK, make half payment.”

“Make part payment! ” was clearly an act of desperation for someone trying not to lose all. Corporate policies are not easily bent that way. I immediately end the call.

 The bottom line on how to identify a scammer: IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, YOU DON’T KNOW THE PERSON, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO BE THE FIRST TO PART WITH MONEY. 

 

Plateau the Mecca of Solid Minerals

Solid Mineral Collection

If you have never heard, Plateau State is a theatre of sorts, boasting of diversity in a couple of areas that stretch from tribes, vegetables and mineral deposits. It is the Mecca of solid minerals and, potentially, oil and gas close to its border with Taraba State. Thus, Plateau is a colourful theatre of mineral wealth.  

Before the last twenty years, Plateau has been known largely for tin and columbite, leading to its epithet of the Tin City. While tin mining lasted, other minerals drew no attention, since they had no economic value. However, with increased research and innovations, the economic significance of these minerals has soared, especially with the rise of monsters of technology like China. The need for wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar panels, medical devices, lights, lasers, satellites, fibre optics, batteries, better telescopes, as well as mobile phones, computers, etc, has been the impetus propelling the commercial values of the other minerals to the clouds. Thus, the breadth of the minerals that Plateau State can supply to the world has widened significantly. A large chunk of these minerals embraces cassiterite, columbite, pumice, garnet, rutile, wolframite, galena, sphalerite, fluorite, feldspar, aquamarine, mica, ilmenite, sapphire, quartz, amethyst, lithium, zircon, beryl, monazite, granite, etc.

Now, here is the ugly side of the Plateau story: it is one state with modest subventions, a situation that frightens anyone who knows what Plateau’s subterranean resources are. Just as oil-producing states get 13% derivation for oil taken from their land every month, solid mineral-producing states are also entitled to 13% derivation for any mineral taken from their lands. By comparison, 13% derivation to solid mineral states is trivial and changes nothing, ensuring that the economic plights of the affected states remain what it has always been. Take the Plateau-approved budget of N294 billion for 2024, translating to an average of N24 billion per month. This is inclusive of 13% derivation. It is miserable compared to what goes into the coffers of a small, albeit oil-producing state like Bayelsa, whose budget for the year 2024 stands at N489 billion, translating to an average of N40 billion per month.  

The huge gap between oil-producing states and solid mineral-producing states comes from the little attention the Federal Government has paid to solid minerals since the discovery of oil. The oil industry is so organized that only huge corporations like Shell, Mobil and Chevron carry out explorations, drilling and production. It makes transparency easy since the Federal Government is a partner in all these corporations and knows exactly the “country” share of the profits. In the solid mineral industry, though, this organization is absent. Companies simply pay for leases and get down to mining, paying paltry royalties to locals and taxes to the Federal Government. Whatever remains belongs to the company. What makes matters even hazier is the inability of the Federal Government to properly police the industry to prevent illegal mining, a category that falls below the tax radar. Thus, while the minerals are going, all tiers of government, including the Federal Government are getting robbed. This absence of transparency ensures that the 13% derivation paid doesn’t reflect the degree of mining activities taking place in the states.

In 2023, the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, was quoted as saying that the solid mineral industry can contribute 50% of Nigeria’s GDP. Though third parties estimate that the value of Nigeria’s solid minerals reservoir stands at $750 billion, Mr Alake believes that this is conservative and with deeper investigation, it should run into trillions of dollars. Thus, proper organization of the industry will ensure that states with solid mineral wealth, including Plateau, begin to have enough revenue to deal with the economic challenges they face.

 

Who Is Greedy: The Farmer or Someone Else

A greedy Middleman

On the Plateau, we count ourselves lucky, and extremely so. In Plateau State, we don't only talk about the accommodating character of the people, but also the accommodating character of the climate, as well. Under the Plateau climate, we don't talk about what crops do well, we rather talk about crops that do not do well –it is easier to look at it that way, given the abundance of the crops the Plateau sun accommodates.

One crop grown in Plateau State more than elsewhere in the country is Irish potatoes. It grows abundantly, especially in the northern and central parts of the state. Back in the seventies and eighties, we often looked forward to the rains, during which nearly everyone grew the crop in even the smallest portion of land to which he had access. People will even cultivate potatoes and just share them with neighbours.

By its attraction, the demand just kept growing as other states farther away came to know about it. But since farmers had the challenge of how to store it, the crop remained cheap, despite this monster demand. With education and developments, farmers started learning ways of storing the crop. That is how irrational business practices came into the industry. Some people would buy and store them until a period when demand is highest when they would bring them out and raise the prices to the roofs.

As this happened, the crop started getting out of the reach of ordinary people, becoming an elitist crop. In Jos, you will see women selling it along the road to Abuja, an indication that the crop has now become the special food of the influential, who make their money in the millions. Now, however, we have reached a situation where even the elite are beginning to groan. This is May 2024 and a bag now sells for as much as a hundred and twenty thousand naira or even more.

This example of what obtains in Plateau is, sadly, everywhere in Nigeria. Back in the decades, farmers often cried over the lack of profitability. But while former President Mohammadu Buhari campaigned for the Presidency, he promised to create jobs in the agric industry. When he finally won the election, he banned the importation of rice, which largely came from Asian nations, particularly, Thailand. The decision of President Buhari was just the prompt required to correct miserable pricing in the industry. Before this, foreign rice had a higher advantage in competition, due to its high refinement at the mills. The local versions were endemic with stones and debris of chaff the modest technology couldn't get rid of. The administration encouraged people to get better technology leading to what is now hysterically referred to as "Nigerian foreign rice."

But, now that we have Nigerian foreign rice (I have defined it), prices have continued to rise –we thought local products would mean local prices. But because rice is among the few most revered meals in Nigeria, it became the reason why other foods are rising in price –maize, guinea corn, millet, fonio, sweet potatoes and even garri, the resort of poor people. If you argue that this is driven by inflation, other schools of thought would argue that it is the rising food prices that drive inflation.

The spiralling prices of foods in Nigeria raise the question of what many think is the killer greed of farmers. Farmers, on the other hand, blame it on middlemen and the rising cost of farm resources. Retailers of foods, who often go to rural markets to buy understand the situation better. They blame it on hoarding, which is largely orchestrated by middlemen. They build large warehouses, buy and store the foods until that period when they are in high demand. For grains, it is the period around August, just before harvest, when people's bans are depleted. For tubers, it is the period between April and May.

When farmers talk about resources, they are referring to fertilizers, herbicides and manpower. For chemical fertilizers, it is still middlemen that are to blame. They use all manners of enticements to buy fertilizers state governments have subsidized for their farmers and then sell to the farmers at high prices. It, however, takes the collusion of state officials. Thus, it could be said the constant enemy of the ordinary Nigerian is the middleman who goes to any extent to make money.

So, how can we tame the middleman so that ordinary people can breathe in Nigeria? We have to find a way of checking the middleman. One way is the law. If the middle man can continuously orchestrate challenges that ridicule the government's economic policies, it makes him public enemy number one and attention should shift to curbing his excesses.