By BALLASON Gloria Mabeiam
Readers discretion is advised in this piece and with the kind permission of the writers and their producers, the following song or their excerpts are herein reproduced: Just like the sun, lights up the earth, you light up my life Th e only one, I’ve ever seen with a smile so bright And just yesterday, you came around my way And changed my whole scenery with your astonishing beauty you could make a brother sing, You ordinary thing, a supernatural being, I know you are just brighter than the moon Brighter than the star, I love you just the way you are. And you are my African Queen, the girl of my dreams.
You take me where I’ve never been You make my heart go ting-aling-a-ling, You are my African Queen, the girl of my dreams And you remind me of a thing And that is the African beauty Yeah o you are my African queen, Out of a million you stand as one Th e outstanding one I look into your eyes, girl what I see is paradise, Yeah you captivated my soul, now everyday I want you more o How can I deny this feeling I’m feeling inside oh no one can never take your place, Can never take your space, Th at’s a fact I cannot erase And you, you are the one that makes me smile Make me fl oat like a boat upon the Nile You are my African queen and I know, oh yes I know You are my African queen and I know, see I know See I know what I am feeling in my heart and in my soul Oh I know that it is love And I know that this love was surely sent from up above Cause you’re the only one I think of You are my African queen And I know that this means that you’re the only one that I will serve I’ll give you my heart, my love, my body and my money Every other thing you think of Who could think of anything better than you Who could think of ever hurting you Sacrifi ce my all, I’ll give it all to you Cause you are my African queen For real. So black, so beautiful I love you, my African Queen, I Love you, . Th en there are some other songs that talk also about love. Th e excerpt: See I like Beyonce but she dey with Nigga. I like Nikki———- —–.
I like Rihanna, she dey make me go gaga.Whatever the inspiration of these lyrics and especially the words which could not be displayed, are best known to the writer of this song. Now for those who walk down their streets, the song ‘Malonogedede’ should be familiar. It begins with a protest against an unnamed person who is hating; then in a radically unconnected twist, the lyrics begin to describe sceneries that at best objectify the female gender and at worst, corrupt the mind. Of course there are other songs that have become so famous with their dances such as kukere.Th e beats are entertaining but the lyrics although not necessarily vulgar are void of meaning. Most of the songs that fi ll the Nigerian air waves fall under this category.
Lately, some of the lyrics that are being churned out from the Nigerian industry have raised grave concern. A country like ours which is largely built on moral and religious convictions is slowly losing its grip on what is good and proper. Listening to children sing some of the popular lyrics that are largely x-rated is as horrifying as it is disturbing. Sadly, these children sing these songs without knowing their implications yet their awry consequences are bound to follow. Th e adult population that is suppose to act as sieves have also fallen prey. Lyrics which pump out moral sewage continue to top commercials and gain acceptability to a largely indiscreet population. For the avoidance of doubt, this piece does not advocate a deniability of our commonalities such as love, sexuality, fun times, or even the social weaknesses in our society. Yet music, just like movies, project a country’s image. Th e African Queen song above is copiously quoted for its ability to celebrate love and feminity without being vulgar. Which woman wouldn’t want to be celebrated in such loving and respecting words? What lady wouldn’t want her virtues extolled in a manner that values her entire person rather than alluding to her merely as a sex symbol? Clearly, none. Th e African Queen is not the only song that meets the larger celebratory requirement of love; there are other songs whose lyrics are equally well written by our Nigerian artistes.However,a larger percentage of the songs that fi ll the airwaves these days are far from ideal. Most of the songs which are suppose to be love songs only objectify women by singing about body parts .
Th is is far from fl attering and only reduces the value of womanhood. Th ere is also another category of songs which are meant to be philosophical but woefully fall short of its purpose. Such songs appear to applaud Advanced Fee Fraud, corruption or Cyber crime. Should we therefore close our eyes to the vices in our country? No. It will be out of the pale to infer that our country is perfect but it is also true to say that the greatest disservice we would do to our country is to project it perpetually in bad light. Th ere are several musicians who have in the past sang about the social vices and ills of their community; yet they equally balanced their art with a promise of a better future and a hope of rising from the ashes. Hugh Masekela is famous for his ‘Bring Him Back Home’ which later became the anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela from prison.
Bob Marley who sang about social deprivation, love and injustice with his hit tracks such as I shot the Sherrif, No woman No cry, Redemption song, One Love, to mention but a few, is one of such artistes. Back here at home, our own Fela Anikulapo Kuti sang on a range of issues and especially gave the military regime a run for their money with such songs as Zombie, Teacher don’t teach me nonsense, etc. Truth be told, he had his own times of indiscretion but hardly have things slid as badly as they now have at any moment in our music history. Turning from our music to our movies, it must also be observed that a number of Nigerian home movies do not qualify to fi nd their way to our homes.
It gets really embarrassing when movies which are classifi ed for general viewing pop up nude scenes to the viewership of children. Similarly, the projection of Nigeria as a largely fetish nation as often done by Nollywood or as a country whose wheels ride almost exclusively on competitive love and divorce as generously displayed by Kannywood, is overrated. Th ere are a lot of our stories that are untold. Our triumphs as a country, our cherished norms and values, those things which have kept us going in the face of adversity need to gain audience with the international community Th e National Film and Video Censors Board and the PMAN need to rise up to the challenge and do more than they are already doing in their contribution to the positive transformation of Nigerian society through the censorship and classifi cation of music, fi lm and video works, while balancing the need to preserve freedom of expression within the law, and limit social harm as is commendably enunciated in the mission statement of the NFVCB.
