Baba Ani at 85: Music as a weapon of development, By Lanre Arogundade

…one important element that we must not overlook is that Baba Ani is himself a crusader and principled fighter for fundamental human rights and social justice. His album Low profile eloquently speaks to this. If he had been otherwise, if he had been a right wing reactionary, if he had been a traitor, if he had been a treacherous element, he would not have been Fela’s dependable ally for so many years…

Introduction

Music is universal. It conveys meaning to people, irrespective of cultural, racial, linguistic and geographical diversities.

The English dictionary defines music as vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce the beauty of form, harmony, and the expression of emotion. Music is also defined as the written or printed signs representing vocal or instrumental sound.

Music is a powerful tool and channel of communication; and its power lies in its effect on audiences, irrespective of age, vocation, profession, social status, etc. In music, there is always something for someone, or if you like, something for everybody, as there is not a single human race that does not have its own genre of music. 

Martin Chilton explains in an article that several scientific and psychological studies have shown that “music can lift our moods, combat depression, improve blood flow in ways similar to statins, lower levels of stress-related hormones such as cortisol, and ease pain”.

Chilton further notes that music can improve the outcomes for patients after surgery, revealing that a recent study reported in Nature Neuroscience even demonstrated that the levels of the feel-good chemical, dopamine, in the brain rose by up to nine per cent when people listened to music they enjoyed.

The telekinetic effect that music could have on audiences makes it a potent weapon of mobilisation for political and other actions. In the era of the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa, combatants went to battle with extra motivation from protest songs and dances. Music was therefore an inseparable part of the struggle, even during the phase of the armed struggle. The likes of Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, etc, are products of the radical tradition of South African music. 

We can easily recall the telepathic effect on audiences around the world of the song, ‘We are the World’, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie in 1984 and recorded along with several other leading musicians in 1985, to raise funds to fight famine in Africa, which had killed about one million people.  

Wikipedia describes the song, which was released on March 7, 1985, as a “worldwide commercial success, topping music charts throughout the world and becoming the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history”.

At independence, Zimbabwe brought Bob Marley to perform, and the audience was moved to its feet by the rendition of his ‘Exodus’ because the protest lyrics, especially the anti-racist ones, of the foremost reggae artist resonated with audiences. When Marley died at the young age of 33 in 1981, he was globally mourned, with his songs played across continents.

The few examples cited above confirm the submission of Daily News writer, Eitan Gavish that “history shows us that music and politics are well compatible” and that “colorful tones, pulsating rhythms and meaningful lyrics have been a catalyst or soundtrack for movements of change”.

His article additionally lists the Greeks as one of the first people to truly realise the potential power of music and how it could help move a society to rebel against its government.

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The article cites how in America, music as a form of protest could be heard on the cotton fields of the South during the times of slavery, with biblical songs that depicted themes of freedom and servitude, such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Go Down Moses.”

Wikipedia has further highlighted the fact that the power of music is seen when it exudes anti-establishment or protest themes, including anti-war songs, even though pro-establishment ideas could be represented in national anthems, patriotic songs, and political campaigns. Despite the latter, we occasionally witness the rejection of the current Nigerian national anthem, “Arise o Compatriots”, in preference of the old national anthem, “Nigeria We Hail Thee”, by students during protests.

Politics and Music in Nigeria

In a researchgate publication, Remi Oke notes that Nigerian musicians: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Sony Okosuns, Onyeka Onwenu, Christie Essien Igbokwe, Dan Maraya Jos, Femi Kuti, Bisade Ologunde (Lagbaja), among others, have harnessed the power of music to mobilise the populace towards social change. I will add to this list the likes of Olanrewaju Adepoju and Tubosun Oladapo, who used the ‘Ewi’ genre to speak for the people by condemning the abuse of power and injustice. I will also add the late Hubert Ogunde and indeed late Dr Victor Olaiya, whose 1983 LP Ilu le o (Country Hard o), drew attention to the debilitating effects of inflation in the 1980s. I only wonder what Olaiya would have sang about the Nigeria of today, where a five hundred naira (N500) loaf of bread can no longer feed a family of four, were he still around.  

Fela’s numerous lyrics against injustice, abuse of power, and the general megalomania of successive leaders in the country, have continued to connect generations in unimaginable ways; so much that those who were not around in his lifetime can still relate with the lyrics and link the messages with their own social conditions.

In the more contemporary era, Nigeria musicians who have used their music to express political opinions include Eedris Abdulkareem, who deployed the tracks in Mr Lecturer and Nigeria Jagajaga to condemn the state of disorderliness in the country and Chinagorom Onuoha, also known as African China, whose song, ‘Crisis’, called out the Nigerian government on its lack of concern for the plight of the ordinary people. Bisade Ologunde (Lagbaja) has oftentimes used his music to demand social reform, political honesty, brotherhood and unity.

Blackface also used his music to expose the poor state of the country, in the track ‘hard life’, the same way that Sound Sultan did and Femi and Seun Kuti have consistently done. There is also Nowamagbe of Edo State, who is renown for his socially conscious music, and we cannot but mention Grammy Award winner, Burna Boy, in this category.

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, described as a “musical and sociopolitical voice” of international significance, of course, stands out in the tradition under examination.

The place of Fela’s Afrobeat

Fela’s Afrobeat remains and would forever be a perfect living example of the power of music in mobilising the people for political action, change and development. 

Fela’s numerous lyrics against injustice, abuse of power, and the general megalomania of successive leaders in the country, have continued to connect generations in unimaginable ways; so much that those who were not around in his lifetime can still relate with the lyrics and link the messages with their own social conditions.

In the introduction to my book Fela: Yesterday’s Message as Today’s Reality, I captured the phenomenon in the following words: “If Fela’s music connects generations, if his music fills the air during mass movements as witnessed during the anti-fuel price hike protests and rallies of January 2012 and if his music continues to dominate the airwaves, not only during the October Felabration but at other times, it is because in the final analysis, he remains the ultimate prophet that saw our tomorrow, and perhaps beyond….”  

During the protest referred to above, Fela’s music blared across every nook and cranny of Lagos, apart from the epicentre of the struggle at the Gani Fawehinmi park in Ojota, as mass anger clouded the atmosphere. From “Suffering and Smiling” to “Zombie”; from “ITT” (International Thief Thief) to “VIP (Vagabonds in Power)”; from “Confusion Break Bone” to “Unknown Soldier” to “Overtake Don Overtake” etc, it was Fela who ruled the airwaves.  

Those who follow the media closely would have also observed that whenever the country is confronted with protests or crisis situations, it is Fela’s music that always comes in handy to producers and presenters, because through it, they also express their opinion about the development in the country. 

As a form of protest music, Afrobeat makes you to think, reflect and act and it was Fela himself who summarised this essence in the following lyrics of “Just Like That”:

“Nothing dey for town to give di youths good example
How our big people and traditional rulers dey do
Den don spoil di tradition and corrupt all di town
Den come make di youths look up to Europe and U.S.A.
In those places sef people don lose den common sense
Na di number of nuclear arms and guns you
Get na him give you power pass
We in Afrika we must start to think our own
In our tradition where human beings and nature grow
Where creativity and understanding must be
Right now, think now, fight now, right now
Suffer must stop.

Just like that
Just like that”

Therefore, as it was in 2012, so it was during the previous struggles – including the campus ones in which my generation actively participated – to rid Nigeria of brutal military rule, especially in those days of the June 12 1993 battles. It has been so ever since.

If Fela was the Field Marshall of the Afrobeat ensemble described above, then the Commander-in-Chief was Baba Ani, as it was his responsibility as Fela’s second (and longest band manager, after Ben Idonije), to ensure that the rhythm of the Afrobeat was maintained, either at rehearsals or during live performances.

We can, therefore, say with confidence that Fela’s music and those of other Nigerians who deployed their lyrics as weapons of social justice, including but not limited to the likes of Sonny Okosuns, Onyeka Onwenu, Majek Fashek, The Mandators, Ras Kimono, Daddy Showkey, Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti, etc., contributed to the victory of Nigerian peoples over the military and helped us to transit to where we are today. I must stress, however, that the struggle certainly continues, given the failure of successive regimes to fundamentally resolve the myriad of problems confronting the country. A nation that is abundantly endowed with human and natural resources has now been turned to a beggar for loans, with the future of the current and coming generations being increasingly mortgaged. We live in perilous times, with daily if not hourly kidnappings and killings by armed elements. Our hospitals are in states of abject neglect and doctors who are defying the odds to work there and attend to distressed patients are being owed salaries and allowances. They have consequently gone on strike again, and instead of negotiating with them, the Buhari government is threatening them with sack or the non-payment of salaries under a so-called “no work, no pay” rule, which recalls one of our protest songs:

‘Se democracy leyi
Se democracy leyi o
Tologun lan so
Se democracy leyi o’.

Fela did provide the answer long time ago. It is all about demonstration of craze and a crazy demonstration in the name of democracy.  

The Baba Ani Factor

It is in the context of the role of music, and in this instance, that of Fela’s Afrobeat, in shaping the struggles of Nigerian peoples, that we can properly situate the monumental contributions of Lekan Animashaun – the Baba Ani of our time, whose 85^th anniversary we are celebrating.

A music or song may have all the correct messages but if the output is eclectic or erratic and therefore displeasing to the ears, then it won’t have the right audiences and in the process, the message might get lost. Therefore, if the message in Fela’s Afrobeat never got lost and has continued to resonate, it was (and still is) because of its emergence from an intricate synchronisation of the trumpets, the saxophones, the guitars, the gongs, the percussions, the gourds, the choruses and the dances.

If Fela was the Field Marshall of the Afrobeat ensemble described above, then the Commander-in-Chief was Baba Ani, as it was his responsibility as Fela’s second (and longest band manager, after Ben Idonije), to ensure that the rhythm of the Afrobeat was maintained, either at rehearsals or during live performances.

With his background as a trained musician, key boardist and baritone saxophonist, no other person could have been better suited for the role than Baba Ani. Be it as Africa 70 or Egypt 80 therefore, Baba Ani easily added value to Fela’s music as band manager.

In those days, one of the best ways to have a good insight into the significant role of Baba Ani was to witness Fela’s rehearsals or arrive early for Fela’s Friday Yabis Night or the Saturday comprehensive show. I was more accustomed to the latter, as such countless times prior to Fela’s arrival, I would witness Baba Ani conducting the first round of sound check and then taking the band through the rendition of some old tunes, including some of his own. Beyond the arrangement of the band, he would, on those occasions, serve as the lead vocalist, occasionally assisted in that role by Keji Hamilton, Show Boy, Dede Mabiaku and Seun Kuti.

Fela would saunter onto the stage to commence another around of sound check later, but it was often an easier task because of the professional sound foundation that Baba Ani would have laid. Yet, it was whenever Fela mounted the stage that Baba Ani’s real task of coordinating the band, in addition to his own responsibility of playing the baritone sax, would begin. In any case, Fela would not even mount the stage without first being introduced by Baba Ani: “At this stage, ladies and gentlemen, I want to bring on stage that great son of Africa, that man who is always speaking the truth, the creator of Afrobeat, the Abami Eda gangan….. Fela Anikulapo Kutiiiiiiiii…” his sonorous voice would repeatedly pierce the smoke filled Afrika Shrine atmosphere. It is to Baba Ani’s eternal credit that even after Fela had passed on, he stood by Seun Anikulapo-Kuti and the Egypt 80 Band and accorded him the same support, band coordination and respectful introduction.

In concluding this piece, it would, however, be wrong to attribute the important role that Baba Ani played in Fela’s life and band merely to his musical prowess. In this regard, one important element that we must not overlook is that Baba Ani is himself a crusader and principled fighter for fundamental human rights and social justice. His album Low profile eloquently speaks to this. If he had been otherwise, if he had been a right wing reactionary, if he had been a traitor, if he had been a treacherous element, he would not have been Fela’s dependable ally for so many years; and obviously we would not be here to celebrate him.

Baba Ani, we owe you a depth of gratitude for this and I believe that current and future generations will not forget your monumental contribution in ensuring that Fela’s music constituted and continues to constitute a potent weapon for social-political development in Nigeria, Africa and the black and white world.

Thank you, Baba Ani. Happy 85^th birthday.

Egbe…..wain, Egbe……wain

Lanre Arogundade, journalist, Executive Director of International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos, Nigeria, and member of the Editorial Board of Premium Times, is the author of Fela: Yesterday’s Message As Today’s Reality.

This is the text of a keynote speech delivered at a symposium to mark the 85^th anniversary of Lekan Animashaun – Baba Ani on Wednesday August 18.

References

1.https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/15-inspirational-quotes-power-music/
2.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332019643_Politics_Music_and_Social_Mobilization_in_Africa_The_Nigeria_Narrative_and_Extant_Tendencies