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My day is hardly complete without listening to authentic African music and watching Yoruba movies. This is because I get to learn so much from them.
As a scribbler, I always like to project the African story from the viewpoint of an African. I guess one can’t succeed in doing this without understanding African mores and values.
That’s why I do listen to the likes of Yusuf Olatunji, Ayinla Omowura, Haruna Ishola, and of course Fela Kuti, to mention a few. I don’t really care much about the new musicians except the late DaGrin.
One important thing is the use of wise sayings by the musicians of old. More often than not, these sayings are used to suit appropriate occasions.
They show Africans are great thinkers. But then, we’re being bombarded by the so-called modern way of life. To many of us modernization implies preventing our wards from speaking our mother tongues.
But then, educationists have proved children learn best in their mother tongues.
When we even consider other people like the Chinese, the Indians and the Jews, they don’t throw away their mores and values. Instead, they allow ‘modernity’ to develop pari passu with their own culture.
Africans could do with some rethinking!
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