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Beautiful Nubia: A Poet And Musical Icon

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Dele Jegede In Conversation With Prince Yemisi Shyllon
Prof. Toyin Falola

By Toyin Falola

Music has registered itself as one of the most wondrous phenomena in the world for centuries now — from the Hurrian Hymn No. 6, which some civilizations consider humans’ first song, to the newer renditions of Burna Boy and other Afrobeats musicians — there is no denying that music has been around for as long as human societies have existed, and even if music in centuries past is not as organised as contemporary music, the fact remains that it serves the multi-functional purposes in today’s society.

The vitality of music to human societies owes to several reasons, chief of which is how potently it helps humans stay healthy and happy. This wonder is further solidified by how music transcends language barriers. Thus, a Hausa woman could fall in love with Italian music and, in the same breath, sing along to the song she’s listening to, although she has little to no proficiency in Italian. People have often demonstrated that they can sing beautifully and amazingly in a language they don’t speak or are not skilled in. It is, therefore, not shocking that Nigerian artists who sing in a mix of their indigenous language and English continue to command global attention and trends.

The multi-functionality of music comes into play in different ways in human society — for some, it is an escape route that opens up into happiness, no matter how fleeting it might be, and this is where calm and melancholic songs often come to bear in many people’s day-to-day activities. For some others, it is a means to vent, protest, and speak up against the status quo — giving rise to reggae, jazz, Afrobeat, and other activist genres. Yet, others find music as a form of entertainment. In most cases, the roles that music plays in people’s lives are not mutually exclusive and can co-exist and even complement each other.

Musicians vary according to the genre they sing, their fanbase, alignment, ideologies, and brand. Dr Olusegun Akinlolu — known to many by his stage name, Beautiful Nubia — is a prime example of a musician for whom music transcends a career choice or a means to an end. Closely studying Beautiful Nubia’s philosophies, beliefs, lyrics, band formation, musical arrangement, melody, brand, and stage name will prove that music is central to his life. First is the strategic choice of a stage name. Historical details portray Nubia as a prosperous, beautiful, and wealthy African state that has relations with the civilisations in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. It is also credited as one of the cradles of civilisation and state formation as we know it today. When viewed through the lens of the songs in Beautiful Nubia’s discography and digging deeply into historical details in the choice of a stage name, choosing this particular name shows an intentional move to define an Afro-centric brand.

                                        Beautiful  Nubia

Furthermore, Beautiful Nubia’s genre and band formation reflect deep-seated intentionality. Born into and growing up in a developing Ibadan city, his exposure to the rich culture of the Ibadan Yoruba people massively contributed to his language acquisition, so much so that his Yoruba language repertoire is replete with solid and deep idioms, proverbs, and aphorisms. Choosing to sing folksongs in Yoruba means being willing to learn the intricacies of deploying literary devices in the Yoruba language without losing sight of the importance of rhythm and melody. This is an undertaking that surpasses mere language literacy or grammatical correctness. It borders on richness and language mastery that even some native speakers might not be able to attain.

1968 Ibadan, a vastly growing post-independent city that doubled as the capital of the new Western state, witnessed the birth of Olusegun Akinlolu. His earliest sojourn pointed him toward a career as a veterinary doctor, for which he studied at the University of Ibadan between 1987 and 1992. Passionate as he might have been about the veterinary practice, destiny had something grander and more legacy-defining for the Ibadan man, and in less than a decade of practising as a veterinarian, Akinlolu switched to music. This formal switch led to him founding EniObanke, his music company, in 1997, the same year he released his first and most iconic album, Seven Lives, which was his authoritative entry into the music world. Through this album, he established that Afro-themed folksongs can be captivating and powerful, even if written in English; that lyrical depth will be one of the bedrocks of his career; and that he is focused on singing for and about Africa.

In addition, he quickly registered relatability among both old and young. The main track, “Seven Lives,” which the album is named after, deftly swings between criticism of what the continent has become and an undeniable pride in its development. Despite the seeming desolation and gross underdevelopment plaguing several African countries, this is the reality for many Africans who are proud of their connection with the continent and proudly wear their identity. Beautiful Nubia’s deft use of imagery and the instrumental arrangements in the song also lay strong claims to its eventual relatability, helping it to the ranks of Nigeria’s evergreen songs.

Beautiful Nubia is a songwriter and musician who has proven that he understands what it takes to make evergreen music, and such qualities include the ability to make his songs relatable to both old and young listeners, easy-to-remember lyrics, melodious tunes, and the songs’ replay value, which is what make the songs new and appreciable every time they are played. These are the qualities that songs such as “Seven Lives”, “Jangbalajugbu”, “Kilokilo”, and “Owuro Lojo”, among others, possess.

                                             Beautiful  Nubia

A strategic band leader, Beautiful Nubia has been the vanguard of his Roots Renaissance Band, through which he has propagated his messages. He is also well-known for addressing African issues, cultivating a loyal brand of listeners that cut across several ages and genders. Beyond producing songs, Beautiful Nubia spreads a message of hope and reinforces the beauty of Africa and its varied cultures. To that end, Roots Renaissance Band has held the EniObanke Music Festival in several cities in Nigeria for over a decade now — a series of events through which he and his band have helped Nigerians and Africans reconnect with their roots and Africanness through music that speaks to the soul.

Beautiful Nubia does not pander to mainstream or popular ideals, and the quality of his output is so overwhelming. His approach to producing, releasing, and promoting his music reflects exclusivity and luxury. To encounter his songs is to fall in love with them, and to love the songs is to stay loyal to the brand. His minimalist lifestyle affects how he approaches the distribution and marketing of his music and books, as well as the promotion of his music festivals. With his Roots Renaissance Band, he has an amazing output level of about 30 albums, including acoustic and instrumentals-based albums, and live and poetry performances. The multi-talented band leader is also an established poet and author who has written several books across different genres.

As an enigmatic music composer and band leader, Beautiful Nubia has proven that his choice of career is more of a lifestyle and reflection of his philosophical beliefs. In promoting and propagating African-themed music, Beautiful Nubia, who deftly shifts between deep-founded lyrics in his indigenous Yoruba and fluently stringed-together English verses, has won a loyal group of listeners and fans. For his latest music:

Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/album/olumuyiwa/1669784254

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/7aQKMoZ963bX8Ag8uYfkZ2

Amazon Music – https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0BTTRXCZ4

BoomPlay – https://www.boomplaymusic.com/share/album/63776328

YouTube Music – https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lAtV4phGQvBid1Nfq6wLmBlKiG_ON22sY&feature=share

Please join us for a conversation with renowned Nigerian songwriter, music composer, and band leader, Olusegun Akinlolu (Beautiful Nubia) on the next edition of The Toyin Falola Interviews:

Sunday, March 19, 2023

5:00 PM Nigeria

4:00 PM GMT

11:00 AM Austin CST

  1. Register and watch:

https://www.tfinterviews.com/post/beautiful-nubia

 

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Opinion

With Us, Not For US

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Barrister Ijeoma Fynecountry

By Ijeoma Fynecountry

The 21st of March of every year is international day for the celebration of persons living with down syndrome. The advocacy and push for communal and political recognition of the basic fundamental rights for persons living with various types of disabilities, particularly intellectual disability, just as enjoyed by their peers who do not have any form of challenge – physical or intellectual has recorded a substantial success around the globe, especially in more developed climes. 

While the same cannot be said of the situation in Africa and Nigeria in particular, scanty breakthroughs have also been seen over the years, with the consistent and dogged efforts by some specialized organizations such as Down syndrome Foundation, Nigeria (DSFN).

The theme for this year’s celebration is “With us, Not for us”. This theme is apt particularly in the current era where the push for inclusion has taken a center stage in the campaign worldwide. While it is comforting to know that people, government and communities alike are now becoming more empathetic to the plight of persons living with disability, it is also necessary and most important that their rights as human beings deserving of not just empathy but actual concrete benefits accruable to other citizens without disability, is massively taken into consideration and actually provided for.

Therefore, it is not enough for the government to map out and create as in Lagos state and few other states, sections in the public schools to admit children or persons with intellectual disability, it is necessary to adequately equip these special schools with the needed “specialized” manpower, infrastructural and educational aids to attain the targeted educational goals for these persons. Likewise in the provision of better healthcare, economic, social needs of persons with disability etc.

Persons with intellectual disability do not just need to be specifically educated in accordance with his or her type of disability, but MUST also necessarily be able to aspire to or expect to be employed according to his or her learned ability. That way, a full right, befitting of a person, be him a person with disability or not, is assured. For what is the need of going through a learning process, acquiring a specialized knowledge about a craft or handiwork and eventually still not being given the opportunity of gaining employment as supposed, not due to lack of knowledge but for having a disability? No human being should be subjected to such. Our government should do better. The society at large should do better.

The theme for this year is enjoining all stakeholders – the government, communities, corporate organizations, religious bodies/organizations, individuals to open up their hearts, and recognize the very urgent and important need to help in the actualization of these basic human needs, rights of persons living with intellectual disability as we are all human. No human rights or needs should be prioritized over the other no matter the state of their health, mental and physical capacity. Stand with us by taking actual intentional steps towards uplifting and elevating the humanness of persons living with disability. It is not enough to say that you are for persons living with disability, your specific, intentional, targeted actions toward ensuring the practical applicability of these rights matters.

Fynecontryis a Lagos-based legal practitioner and the legal resource person for the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria.

 

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Opinion

The 2023  Elections And The Newness Of Nigeria

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The Futility Of A Marital Chase
Dr. Hope Nwawolo

By Hope Nwawolo   

Despite the hues and cries that greeted the results of the 2023 elections, what if the court’s pendulum stays or swings otherwise in the expected litigations?

What will it teach our inquisitive young children?

What will it do to the hopes and dreams of the youths?

What will it do to the mind set of those in diaspora, waiting and hoping to return?

How will it affect our heroes still alive and yearning for the good old times?

One basic fact is that no matter where the pendulum swings, something new has started in the political sphere of Nigeria. And because it was unexpected, it has become almost impossible to strangulate it.  

In every competition, there is an expectation that the best man will win. That may not always be in politics, particularly, in Nigeria…where the winner may not be the best man or even the better man. And when it is said that politics is a game of numbers, sometimes, the actual numbers may not be visible to determine the end result. It becomes a case of the more you look the less you see; until interpreted by respected learned men with high integrity.

Politics, they say is a dirty game, where money speaks and promises made are broken without an iota of guilt. Where the gullible minds of the masses are deceived, with as little as a box of indomie. Where some vibrant but jobless youths are brainwashed to risk their lives to snatch ballot boxes for the politicians who do not know them beyond giving them stipends through some third parties. Where market women are forced to come out for rallies and campaigns because they cannot afford the fine that will be imposed on them if they failed to participate. They also do not want the harassment of the market leaders. 

In politics, fear is palpable in the air, before, during and after elections. The 2023 elections recently carried out, depicted these more than expected in both the politicians and electorate. What started like the usual political pattern took a drastic turn about nine months to the first elections and though it was said to be only a social media affair, it got everyone sitting upright and tightening his seat belt, particularly after the first elections.

Now, there is a generational shift, a new awakening, a new dawn and a new political birth, waiting to happen. To wherever the pendulum turns; where the court stands, it will make a turnaround in Nigeria. It may be turbulent at the beginning, it may be emotionally draining and psychologically traumatizing, but it will point to light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a new hope backed by a high spirit of determination. An unexplainable faith in many people for that newness of existence and purpose. An unprecedented emotional and psychological strength in the youths not to give up on their dreams. An unquenchable desire to keep praying. Soon a newness will break forth to calm all nerves and dry all tears.

A newness that will permeate conflicts and hatred,

A newness that will dissipate unnecessary anger,

A newness that will usher in unquestionable and transparent political systems in future elections,

A newness of freedom to choose a candidate without coercion or molestation

A newness of jubilation after the announcement of election results.

This is the new Nigeria that is awaiting delivery…

Nwawolo, PhD, writes from Lagos.

hopenwawolo@yahoo.com

 

   

 

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Opinion

Overcoming Policy Execution Trap As Nigeria’s Development Challenge

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Prof. Tunji Olaopa

By Tunji Olaopa

If I am asked to give a succinct and apt summary of the entire challenge faced by the Nigerian state in terms of her policy architecture and development management, in spite of contestation in the development literature, I will not hesitate in stating clearly and unambiguously that it is the challenge of policy implementation; the whole dynamics of getting things done. By elimination, the implication is that the challenge cannot be located as that of the dearth of development ideas, insights, models and paradigms. Right from her independence, Nigeria has been inundated with several ideas, both local and global, about development policy and frameworks. And yet, policy outcomes keep getting bogged down in the murky waters of political shenanigans. This means that the new administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has its challenge mapped out, in red, for it.

There is no shying away from this postcolonial predicament that has limited and kept limiting Nigeria’s capacity to honour the terms of her social contract with Nigerians. Hence, the Tinubu government will soon be inundated with the impatient agitations of Nigerians for a quick and tangible fix that will address their sufferings. And they are justified since they have not been given any real deal for the past sixty-three years of sovereign independence. And the new administration is obligated because that is the reason for seeking office in the first place.

Prof. Olaopa’s new book on public policy and development challenges

How then can we begin to understand this policy execution challenge? It is simple: how can an administration in Nigeria transition from governance vision and policy intention to policy outcomes that elevate and transform the quality of life of its citizens? Failure to understand and give critical and political attention to this question lies at the heart of the governance failures of successive Nigerian administrations. The new Tinubu administration cannot afford such a glaring mistake. And so, a fundamental case must be made out of the question of how policy intentions get circumscribed in the dynamics of policy execution that occasions policy failures in past administrations.

Modern states all across the world are distinguished by the traditional four functions they discharge as part of their administrative responsibilities—security i.e. securing the sovereign territory against lawlessness, policy formulation and implementation, governance regulation and service delivery.The capacity to perform each and all of these functions very well within an integrated framework in the governance context is what delivers the dividends of democratic governance to the citizens, and it enhances the state’s competitive and human development rating in global reckoning. With these functions, we have the metrics to differentiate between high-performing states like China, India, the United States,Botswana, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirate, Germany, Rwanda and the Asian Tigers (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea), and low- or even under-performing countries like Nigeria that is still cluelessly stuck within a dysfunctional vicious cycle within her arrested development.

From the perspective of governance, there must be something these states are getting right in the connection between leadership, politics, and policy articulation. For instance, there is a trajectory of relationship that links elite bargains to development bargains. In other words, development is a
function of elite nationalism and the extent to which the political class of a state can commit elite suicide and gamble on development on behalf of the people they are leading. In Nigeria, low
manifestation of elite nationalism has made it really difficult for the political class to set aside their personal and egoistic class interests in ways that enable them to clearly and ideologically discern and navigate the deadly developmental landmines strewn all over our governance landscape by the
neoliberal implication of ideological apparatuses and frameworks to which Nigeria is beholden. And here, the factor of development gamble of the Asian Tigers’ elites comes into bold relief. From within the ideological ambit of the developmental state, the leadership of the Asian Tigers were able to define a policy space that consciously and critically weighed the benefits and shortfalls of external influences, especially the type that came from the World Bank, IMF and the other cohorts of the neoliberal policy dynamics. Their developmental circumspection paid off!

Since we cannot argue that Nigeria has been stumped by the lack of vision documents, development plans and blueprints, or even policy expertise, the locus of the new administration’s focus  must be directed at the possibility of mustering the political will to undermine the mystified Nigerian Factor, and face the global neoliberal consensus in order to begin the crafting of an enabling policy architecture to drive development. And to achieve this translates to creating the delicate balance between ‘doing the right things’ (a function of decision making quotient) and ‘doing it right’(project and change management effectiveness), and overcoming the various political, cultural, structural and systemic constraints that trapped past well-meaning policies and intentions of Nigerian leaders in the dynamics of implementation.

There is first the conspiracy of elitist interest that ensures there is a poor resource allocation that focuses on elite bargain than development calculations and taking care of the national interest. Other constraints follow: (a) the disconnect between policy design and implementation due to  weak  implementation planning, risk assessment and incompetent change management strategies; (b) unstable and poorly managed macroeconomic policies; (c) policy and project discontinuity; (d) public service low capability readiness; (e) political interference; and finally (f) deep-seated political and bureaucratic corruption. In essence, development has failed not because Nigeria lacks the blueprint or paradigms to make it happen, but due to the dynamics of the politics that the political elite plays with Nigeria’s development potential.

Let me outline what we can regard as the “politics of policy implementation” that Nigeria has played for many years, a politics the new administration must take into serious consideration if it
does not want to fall into the category of failed administration right before it commences. This politics throws Nigeria’s development and policy non-performance right into the frame of the 2005 World Bank review findings about policy and development projects in Africa. According to the finding, 29% of development projects ever get completed, 45% of on-going projects are rated as satisfactory, while 26% of such projects invariably get cancelled. Such a review can never backstop a solid development project of a developmental state.

The politics of policy implementation in
Nigeria is founded on the following assumptions and practices. One: there is that dangerous presumption, that the new administration must resist, that once policies and development plan are designed, they are automatically implemented by the public service. And such a presumption is against the background of a scant investment in implementation analysis and planning, as well as the failure to facilitate the capability review, determine public
administration system’s capability readiness, and strengthening of the MDAs as the powerhouse of government administrative functionality. The MDAs, that is, are not working according to any
specific theories or praxis of change that can guide the functional integration of blueprints or paradigms. This kind of policy inattention draws attention to the policy contradiction: launching a
national development plan and strategy that are not implementation- ready in terms of adequate capability review of the MDAs integral to ensuring implementation success. Two: this
presumption is compounded by the uncritical reliance of past governments on policy experts and consulting firms who are tasked with designing high-end policies that are then dumped on MDAs whose capability reviews and implementation readiness have been neglected in the first place. The
extroversion of the policy design is then compromised by poor functional integration. The truth is that most of these consulting firms lack the appropriate deep content and solution frameworks that are in tandem with the context of policy dysfunction they are supposed to work with. Three: governance policy or project are hardly subjected to feasibility test determined in terms of scope and expectation that are captured by their framework of time, cost and risk assessments before
they are pushed into implementation. This makes it very difficult to benchmark funding projections for these policies and projects against revenue estimations, as well as facilitating in-built flexibilities that enable the policies and projects to adjust to volatilities and contingencies.

All the issues raised above constitute binding constraint that will undermine any governance possibilities the new administration requires to make a success of democratic governance. Undermining the binding constraints demands returning to the fundamentals. The first and most significant is that the new administration needs to interrogate the framework of how government business is currently being conducted. Governance successes are necessarily a function of how government business engages the complexities of the policy design and execution processes within a results-oriented frame. And that entails undermining the structural gaps between policy objectives, development strategies and policy outcomes. This demands second, setting the public service on a performance curve with the institution of a performance management system. This means that the public service must, for example, unfailingly now deploy KPI-based metrics to replace the cumbersome annual performance evaluation report (APER). And at the backend, it becomes imperative to have a monitoring and evaluation system supported by databases that enable staff and program continuous assessment, human resource development rooted in iterativep performance gap identification, supervisors-staff dialogue and multisource feedback mechanismsf for overall national development policy tracking and reporting.

The governance mantra must be on getting the balance between doing the right things and doing it right. And this cannot be achieved through the wanton multiplication or even duplication of
governance plans, programs and blueprints. What is needed is sequencing the blueprints into a coherent and feasible implementation programme, with the right amount of political will behind it. This gives the success of democratic governance a 95% chance of succeeding. The new administration  needs that fighting chance!

. Olaopa, a retired Federal Permanent Secretary, and Professor of Public Administration .
tolaopa2003@gmail.com

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