For those who dont know who Mr. Abati is, here's a quick introduction. Mr Abati is to the right.
Reuben Abati, born November 7, 1965 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, is a newspaper columnist. He is chairman of the editorial board of the Nigerian newspaper The Guardian.
He has won a number of awards including The Cecil King Memorial Prize for Print Journalist of the Year in 1998, The Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary in 1998, Fletcher Challenge Commonwealth Prize for Opinion Writing in 2000, and the Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary, 2000.(wikipedia)Anyway, about a week ago Dr. Reuben wrote an article about this present generation in general, with a particular emphasis on the music culture.
You may not have noticed it: Nigeria is suffering from an identity crisis imposed on it in part by an emergent generation of irreverent and creative young Nigerians who are revising old norms and patterns. And for me nothing demonstrates this more frontally than the gradual change of the name of the country.But these days, the name Nigeria is gradually being replaced by so many variants, that I am afraid a new set of Nigerians may in the immediate future not even know the correct spelling of the name of their country. For these Nigerians whose lives revolve mostly around the internet and the blogosphere, the name Nigeria has been thrown out of the window. Our dear country is now "naija" or "nija".He then came down particularly hard on our music
At public functions, they mime. They are not artists, they perform. They are not necessarily composers, they dance. The more terrible ones can't even sing a correct musical note. They talk. And they are all businessmen and women. They are more interested in commerce and self-advertisement, name recognition, brand extension and memory recall! They want a name that sells, not some culturally conditioned name that is tied down to culture and geography.FULL STORY
Since his article, there have been several replies from members of the entertainment industry. Banky W's reply is one of the more widely read.
Dear Sir,
In the immortal words attributed to P.T. Barnum, "I don't care what the newspapers say about me, at least spell my name right." My name IS Banky W, full name being Olubankole Wellington. Not Willington, as you stated in your article entitled "A Nation's Identity Crisis". I read the piece repeatedly, and found that misspelling my name wasn’t the only error. At it's worst, the article seemed like an attempt to discredit and slander an entire generation of artistes and consumers, and at best it came across as having some valid points but being grossly misinformed, prejudiced, and hypocritical; definitely not what we would expect of a highly regarded publication as The Guardian, or from a person in Mr Abati's position. You danced to Shina Peters. Let us dance to our music. And for the record: for every "Anoti" by MI, he has a "Crowd Mentality" or a "Talk about it". For a Naeto C's "Ki Ni Big Deal", he has a "The Devil is a Liar". Just because an artiste uses a particular song to promote his album for commercial reasons, doesn't mean they should be judged on that alone. (Facebook)FULL STORY
eLDee's reply however wasn't as courteous...
At first when I read the article, I tried to humor myself that perhaps he had one or two salient points but upon further analysis, I discovered that the article is just a shameless rant from a man who obviously has no understanding of modernism and how to deal with it.There may be a few Nigerians who share Mr Abati’s sentiments and I will blame that on a lack of exposure, lack of wisdom or the need for enlightenment. This cannot be tolerated especially when it is being voiced by a journalist who holds such a crucial position in our media.
There has never been a time in Nigeria’s history when Nigerians have been more patriotic. A time when it has become cool to be Naija! A time when we wear ankara with pride, listen religiously to Nigerian music, watch Nigerian movies and look forward to a more progressive Nigeria. Mr Abati, your generation failed us and we have learned from you guys how not to fail the next generation. Thank God the whole of Nigeria is not as backward thinking as you have displayed……Sir. (Facebook)FULL STORY'Me i must talk, me i go speak my mind.' I guess eLDee wasn't joking when he wrote that song.
For a more balanced perspective, Audu Maikori, CEO of Chocolate City offered his own 2 kobos...
This article is an indictment that goes beyond a few artistes, labels or managers , its goes to the heart of the Nigerian people which is dynamism that’s was fuelled by our rich and varied multicultural influences which have shaped us as a people.
Let me round up by stating emphatically that music is part of our cultural and it is the society and culture therein ultimately determines what is good or not ,what is hot or not, i have my personal opinions about genres of music and artists that have pushed them but ultimately its boils down to freedom of choice, that freedom is enshrined in our Constitution, its that Constitution that has made it possible for there to be a Nigeria or Nigerians for that matter. Some of the pillars of our Constitution is the right to be heard, to speak freely and the people’s right to choose.i.e. their right to choose what is good or bad(owey) crap or not ,what is cool sounding or not, who is hot or not. If we are truly a democratic nation then by your own very words Nigerians or Naiajians have spoken! Let us respect their choice. (Facebook)FULL STORY
Laying the entire issue to rest, one of my fave bloggers Tosyn Bucknor took the time to weigh in...
You know whats worse than someone trying to get your attention?
Giving it to them.
This article is news. But you know what they say about todays news being non existent yesterday and bin liner tomorrow?
But it would seem a Mission Impossible has now become Mission Accomplished because we continue to twit, facebook and email it!
Let us (for the article was directed at ALL OF US) internalise that anger so we can turn criticism into gold.
On this note I rest my case. (Speechgirlbucknor)FULL STORYWanna know my opinion??? Nah, i think Tosyn put the final nail in the coffin of this story so me chiming in right now would be late and my opinion would irrelevant. Let's Keep things moving in an orderly fashion...
Stay tuned for ROUND 2, sha.
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