Artful dodgers, By Odi Ikpeazu

“The public should try to make itself artistic.”

Oscar Wilde

The musical situation in Nigeria is quite a curious one. First of all, it is probably safe to say that that the majority of the public does not see much correlation between the state of the arts and that of the nation. This is very worrying but since most people do not realise it, I suppose it does not matter because as the famous fallacy goes, what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you. In other words, ignorance is bliss, that sort of thing.

Well, if a man is dying from lung cancer but thinks his ailment is a spiritual attack from the village, it still does not alter the scientific reality that he is dying from lung cancer. It is in the same manner that the neglect of the nation’s artistic condition has taken a huge toll on her civic well being, whether we appreciate the fact or not. Sadly, the arts are not given as much prominence as Health, Law, Sports, Medicine, Agriculture and so on. Therefore, a great chunk of the essence of civilization is lost on us, especially on our children.

When we travel out of Africa to the great cities of the West, the first thing that probably strikes us is not the health facilities or the legal system, which are not instantly visible to the naked eye, excellent as they are. Rather, it is the architecture that has us awe struck at first, the ancient majestic masterpieces, the medieval marvels, the modern monuments, the legacies that largely symbolise and sustain their hegemony. The symmetry and cadences of their city designs and skylines are clearly a result of the transposition and modulation of cerebral art to the physical realm. In whatever they do, it seems, they cannot extricate themselves from art.

On the contrary and unfortunately in our case, in all we do, it is obvious that the farthest thing from our mind is art. Art is the missing link in our evolution from primate to human, as a result of which, we presently suffocate in the most awful habitats imaginable. We may of course delude ourselves that our main bane is poverty but that is not really so. Some will quip, “It’s the economy, stupid!” But art is the mother of creativity, upon which all social fabrication is based, including economics, politics and science. It is the peg on which the coat of civilization is hung. Our sloppy attitude to art therefore, is the major cause of our legendary ineptitude.

Everyday in our recording studio here in Onitsha, men and women enter, eager to make recordings with every intention – and even conviction – of being the next superstar of the musical scene. In their popular parlance, they want ‘to blow!’ Commonly, the majority lack the most rudimentary musical knowledge but that very fact inspires them because some of their peers have made fortunes from the depths of musical illiteracy. That being the case, one cannot blame them for their mercenary attitude to the art of music, since ours is a hunger-driven social culture.

Music has become the go-to occupation for anyone who doesn’t have the inclination to learn any occupation. Ironically, it was a once-lofty profession attainable only through a combination of inspiration and perfection. So, my partner Ernest, a fine and experienced musician, accepts their money and ends up applying his profound musical mind to devising and arranging whole compositions with only the most pedestrian input from the so-called artiste. With the proficient arrangement complete, he then invites the would-be superstar to do virtual voice-overs of the usual stock street slangs and phrases, which they hope will be catchy enough for the impressionable hoi polloi.

It is now well accepted among the youths that music is the only occupation, which does not require any formal training or practical apprenticeship. The more important prerequisites, it appears, are dreadlocks, tatoos, ear rings and gold chains, fake mostly, real if you can manage it. I asked one of such aspiring superstars if he could conceive attempting doing the electrical installation in my new house, he not being an electrician. With a firm shake of the head, he forbade it on the grounds that he would get electrocuted. Or would he try building a table or a chair for me if he didn’t apprentice with a master carpenter to acquaint with the art of joinery, moticing, sawing, planing and so on? Of course, he didnt think so. Or represent me in court if he did not pass through the rigours of Law School? Certainly not! So why is music disrespected so much that novices do not want anything to do with learning it? Why would a punk or rookie so much denigrate that noble profession of great avatars from down the ages, who have ranged from Beethoven and Bach to Marley and Masekela?

On occasion when I am unable to avoid going into town, to typical places like the Main Market in Onitsha, Alaba or Oshodi in Lagos, Nyanya in Abuja, Molete in Ibadan, Ariaria in Aba or any number of places in my dear country, one finds the only constant to be chaos and cacophony. The apparent widespread affinity for confusion and disorder is as confounding as it is unchanging. It is traditionally compounded by the election season such as the current one, when corny leaders meander among the murky masses, promising instant change that we all know is impossible.

Change is unattainable when the consciousness is obfuscated by so much dreadful art like much of our music and town planning, for instance. Political leaders will never acknowledge that fact however, no doubt because the majority of them are arguably the product of virtual artlessness. As a result, creativity is low, imagination scarce, ingenuity rare, inspiration sparse and originality almost non existent. This is so, no matter how much they expertly mumble numbers, fumble with figures, juggle or juxtapose percentages, charts and indices, seeking to impress the vacuous commoners, to whom it is all Greek in any case.

It would be so much better if they applied their power and influence to beautifying the towns and cities, to making the peoples’ eyes rest on order and symmetry, to enabling them caress their minds with harmony and equilibrium, so that cadence and resolution may bring their consciousness closer to the shores of civility.

If that is accomplished, the people will automatically be amenable to good art and fine music, consequently letting beauty and ryhthm regulate their lives. In otherwords, seek ye first the artistic kingdom and all else will be added unto it.

-Ikpeazu is a lawyer and public affairs analyst