A Nation's Identity Crisis
By Reuben Abati
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.


When Flora Shaw, Lord Lugard's consort came up with the name, Nigeria in 1914, she meant to define

the new country by the strategic importance of the Niger River. And indeed, River Niger used to be as

important to this country as the Nile was/is to Egypt. We grew up as school children imagining

stories about how Lugard in one special romantic moment, asked his mistress to have the honour of

naming a new country in Africa. Something like: "Hello, sweetheart, what name would you rather give

the new country that I am creating?"

"Let me give it a thought? , Awright, how about Ni-ge-ria darling?"
"That would do. That would do. How thoughtful, my fair lady? You are forever so dependable"
And the name stuck and it has become our history and identity. 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". What happened to the "-eria" that Ms

Shaw must have thoughtfully included?


The new referents for Nigeria are now creeping into writings, conversations, and internet discourse.

I am beaten flat by the increasing re-writing of the country's name not only as naija or nija, but

consider this: "9ja". Or this other name for Nigeria: "gidi". There is even a television programme

that is titled "Nigerzie". In addiiton, Etisalat, a telecom company has since adopted a marketing

platform that is titled: "0809ja." Such mainstreaming of these new labels is alarming.
This obviously is the age of abbreviations.


The emerging young generation lacks the discipline or the patience to write complete sentences or

think through a subject to its logical end. It is a generation in a hurry, it feels the constraints

of space so much, it has to reduce everything to manageable, cryptic forms. This is what the e-mail

and text message culture has done to the popular consciousness. Older generations of Nigerians

brought up on a culture of correctness and compeleteness may never get used to the re-writing of

Nigeria as "9ja". Language is mutatory, but referring to the motherland or the fatherland in slang

terms may point to a certain meaninglessness or alienation. What's in a name?

In Africa, names are utilitarian constructs not merely labels. Even among the Ijaw where people bear

such unique names as University, Conference, FEDECO, Manager, Heineken, Education, Polo, Boyloaf,

Bread, College, Summit, Aeroplane, Bicycle, Internet - there is a much deeper sense to the names. But

the name Nigeria means nothing to many young Nigerians. They have no reason to respect the sanctity

of the name. They don't know Flora Shaw or Lord Lugard, and even if they do, they are likely to say

as Ogaga Ifowodo does in an unforgettable poem: "God Punish you, Lord Lugard." Eedris Abdulakarim

summarises the concern of young Nigerians in one of his songs when he declared: "Nigeria jagajaga,

everything scata, scata"


The post-modernist, deconstructive temper of emergent youth culture is even more manifest in the

cynical stripping to the bones character of today's Nigerian hip-hop. It is marked by a Grunge

character that shouts: non-meaning and alienation. On my way to Rutam House the other day, I listened

at mid-day to a continuous stream of old musical numbers from 93.7 Radio FM. Soulful, meaningful

tunes of Felix Lebarty, Chris Okotie (as he then was), Mandy Ojugbana, Christy Essien-Igbokwe, Onyeka

Onwenu, Sony Okosun, Alex O, Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek, Evi Edna-Ogoli, Bongos Ikwue, Veno Marioghae,

Uche Ibeto, Dora Ifudu, Mike Okri, Dizzy K. Falola, and Tina Onwudiwe. Onyeka Onwenu sang; "One love,

keep us together". Veno Marioghae sang: "Nigeria Go Survive". Even in the romantic offerings like

Chris Okotie's "I need someone, give me your love", or Felix Lebarty's "Ifeoma, Ifeoma, I want to

marry you, give me your love" and Stella Monye's "Oko mi ye, duro ti mi o", or Tina Onwudiwe's award

-winning "Asiko lo laye". there was so much meaning and polish.


This was in the 80s. That generation which sang music under its real names, not abbreviations or

slangs, was continuing, after the fashion of T.S. Eliot's description of "Tradition and the

Individual Talent", a pattern of meaning that dates back to traditional African musicians and all the

musicians that succeeded them: S. B. Bakare, Victor Olaiya, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer

Obey, Dan Maraya of Jos, Osita Osadebey, Ayinla Omowura, Victor Uwaifo, Geraldo Pino, Rex Lawson, I.

K. Dairo, Haruna Ishola, Yusuf Olatunji, Inyang Henshaw, Tunji Oyelana, Bobby Benson, Tunde

Nightingale, and even the later ones: Shina Peters, Dele Abiodun, Y.K. Ajao, Ayinde Barrister,

Kollington Ayinla, Batile Alake, Sir Warrior, Moroccco Nwa Maduko, Orlando Owoh, Salawa Abeni, KWAM I

(Arabambi 1 and please include his disciples- Wasiu Alabi Pasuma et al), Oliver de Coque (Importer

and Exporter, ), Ayefele, Atorise , But there has been a terrible crisis in the construction of

music.


The children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of these ancestors have changed the face and

identity of Nigerian music. As a rule, gospel musicians, given the nature of their form, sing

meaningful lyrics, but the airwaves these days have been taken over by the children of

"gidi","naija", "nija", "nigerzie" and "9ja". I listen to them too, but everyday, I struggle to make

meaning out of their lyrics.


Music is about sense, sound, shape and skills. But there is an on-going deficit in all other aspects

except sound. So much sound is being produced in Nigeria, but there is very little sense, shape and

skills. They call it hip-hop. They try to imitate Western hip pop stars. They even dress like them.

The boys don't wear trousers on their waists: the new thing is called "sagging", somewhere below the

waist it looks as if the trouser is about to fall off. The women are struggling to expose strategic

flesh as Janet Jackson once did. The boys and the girls are cloaked in outlandish jewellery and their

prime heroes are Ja-Rule, Lil'Wayne, Fat Joe, P. Diddy, 50 Cents, Ronz Brown, Chris Brown, Sean

Kingston, Nas, Juelz Santana, Akon, Young Jeezy, Mike Jones, T-Pain, F.L.O-RIDA, Will.I.am, Beyonce,

Rihanna, Ciara, Keri Hilson, Jay-Z, Ace hood, Rick Ross, Birdman, Busta Rhymes, Cassidy,

Chamillionaire, Soulja Boy, Young Joc, Kanye West, R. Kelly, Kevin Rudolph, T.I.P-king of the South,

Ludacris, Plies-The real goon, The Game, Young Rox, Flow killa, Osmosis (2 sick), Flow-ssik,

Raprince, Bionic, Fabulous, Jadakiss, Nas, Swiss Beatz, Dj Khaled, Maze, Yung Buck, Maino, MoBB Deep,

Lloyd Banks, Olivia, Lady Gaga, Well, God Almighty, we are in your hands.


And so the most impactful musicians in Nigeria today, the ones who rule the party include the

following: D'Banj, MI, Mode Nine, Sauce kid, Naeto C, Sasha, Ikechukwu, 9ice, Bouqui, Mo'cheddah,

Teeto, P-square, Don-jazzy, Wande Coal, 2-face, Faze, Black Face, Dr. Sid, D'prince, K-Switch,

Timaya, Dj-Zeez, Dj Neptune, Banky w., Big bamo, Art quake, Bigiano, Durella, Eldee, Kelly Hansome,

Lord of Ajasa, M.P., Terry tha rapman, Weird MC, Y.Q., Da grin, kel, Roof-top Mcs, Pype, Niga Raw,

Ghetto p., Kaka, Kaha, Terry G, Ill Bliss, Zulezoo, Pipe, Dj Jimmy jatt, X-project, Konga, Gino,

Morachi, Well, the Lord is God.

These are Nigerian children who were given proper names by their parents. Ikechukwu bears his real

name. But who are these other ones who have since abandoned their proper names? For example, 9ice's

real name is Abolore Akande, (what a fine name!), Tu face (Innocent Idibia), Sauce Kid (Babalola

Falemi), D'Banj (Dapo Oyebanjo), Banky w. (Bankole Willington), P-Square (Peter and Paul), MI (Jude

Abaga), Timaya (Enetimi Alfred Odom), Sasha (Yetunde Alabi), Weird MC (Adesola Idowu). But why such

strange names? They don't sing. They rap. Most of them don't play instruments, they use synthetic

piano.


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. But the strange thing is that they are

so successful. Nollywood has projected Nigeria, the next big revelations are in hip hop.


Despite the identity crisis and the moral turpitude that we find in Nigeria's contemporary hip-hop,

the truth is that it is a brand of music that sells. Nigeria's hip hop is bringing the country so

much international recognition. All those strange names are household names across the African

continent, so real is this that the phrase "collabo" is now part of the vocabulary of the new art. It

speaks to an extension of frontiers. In Nigeria, it is now possible to hold a party without playing a

single foreign musical track, the great grand children of Nigerian music are belting out purely

danceable sounds which excites the young at heart. But the output belongs majorly to the age of

meaningless and prurience. The lyrics says it all.


Rooftop MC sings for example: "Ori mi wu o, e lagi mo". This is a very popular song. But all it says

is: "my head is swollen, please hit it with a log of wood." X-Project sings: "Lori le o di gonbe

(2x), e so fun sisi ologe ko ya faya gbe, ko ya faya gbe, file, gbabe, se be, bobo o ti e le, wo bo

nse fe sa hale hale niwaju omoge, ha, lori le odi gonbe, , sisi ologe ki lo di saya o, so fun mi

ki lofe, o wa on fire o, " Now, what does this mean in real terms? But let's go to Naeto C: "kini

big deal, kini big deal, sebi sebi we're on fire", or D'Banj: " my sweet potato, I wanna make you

wife, I wanna make you my wife o, see I no understand o, cause I dey see well well, but dey say love

is blind, see I never thought I will find someone like you that will capture my heart and there will

be nothing I can do, ". Yes, we are in the age of sweet potato. And so Art quake sings: "E be like

fire dey burn my body, e je ki n fera, oru lo n mu mi. Open your hand like say you wan fly away. Ju

pa, ju se, ka jo ma sere, alanta, alanta."


And here is Zulezoo, another popular Nigerian musical team: "Daddy o, daddy, daddy wen you go for

journey, somebody enter for mummy's house, person sit down for mummy bed, person push mummy, mummy

push person, mummy fall for bed yakata, daddy, o daddy, the man jus dey do kerewa kerewa, kerewa ke"

And Dj-Zeez: "ori e o 4 ka sibe, ori e o 4 ka sibe, 4 ka sibe, 4 ka sibe". And MI: "Anoti, anoti,

anoti ti, anoti titi." And Konga: "Baby konga so konga, di konga, ileke konga, ju pa pa, ju pa,

konga, ju pa pa, ju pa, sibe", And 9ice: "gongo a so, kutupu a wu, eni a de ee, aji se bi oyo laari;

oyo o se bi baba enikan, kan, i be double now, aye n lo, a mi to o, gongo a so, oti so o, e wo le e

wo enu oko, " Or Tony Tetuila: "U don hit my car, oyinbo repete, u don hit my car o". Or Weird MC:

"Sola lo ni jo, lyrics lori gangan, awa lo ni jo". Sheer drivel. So much sound, little sense. Is this

the future? Maybe not.


Most of the music being produced now will not be listenable in another five years and this perhaps is

the certain fate of commercial art that is driven by branding, show and cash. But we should be

grateful all the same for the music, coming out of Nigeria also at this time in the soul, gospel,

hip, hop genre: the music that is of Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, Lagbaja, Asa (there is fire on the

mountain/and no one seems to be on the run/ there is fire on the mountain now, ", Ara, Sam Okposo,

Dare, Sunny Neji, Infinity (now a broken up team), African China, Alariwo of Afrika, We suffer

nonetheless in music as in the national nomenclature, an identity crisis. A country's character is

indexed into its arts and culture, eternal purveyors of tones and modes. Nigerian youths now sing of

broken heads, raw sex, uselessness and raw, aspirational emotionalism. A sign of the times? Yes, I

guess.


I find further justification in the national anthem, many versions of which now exist. I grew up in

this same country knowing only one way of singing the national anthem: from "Nigeria we hail thee" to

"Arise o Compatriots". The singing of the national anthem is supposed to be a solemn moment. Arms

clasped by the side, a straight posture, and the mind strictly focussed on the ideals of patriotism

and nationalism. Stillness. Nobody moves. And the national song is rendered in an unchanging format.

But not so any longer. There are so many versions of the Nigerian national anthem these days. Same

lyrics but different musical rhythms.


I have heard the national anthem sung in juju, in fuji, in hip hop, in Ishan's igbagbolemini, in

acapella mode, even reggae. I attended an ocassion once, the rendition of the national music was so

enthralling, people started dancing. Even the photographers and cameramen danced with their cameras.

For me that was the ultimate expression of the people's cynicism. The prevalent mood is as expressed

by Dj-Zeez: "ori e 4 ka sibe, 4 ka sibe": an epigrammatic, onomatopoeic, market-driven diminution of

language as vehicle and sign. What kind of people are we? A dancing nation? Dancing and writing away

our frustrations and caring little about sense, in this country that is now known as "naija", "nija",

"9ja", "nigerzie," "gidi"?





[b]Banky W's response
My response to Mr Reuben Abati's article in The Guardian Newspapers
This is my response to the article entitled "A Nation's Identity Crisis" that recently ran in The

Guardian Newspapers. It was written by Mr Reuben Abati, a well respected name in Nigerian Journalism.

Please try and read the original article before commenting on my response. As Mr Abati has stated his

opinion, I felt it neccessary to state mine. If anything I'm sure both pieces are at least food for

thought.

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.


In the very least, the article warrants a well-informed response. I have little doubt in my mind that

it will generate a slew of responses, positive and negative, and as one of the many subjects that was

mentioned in the write-up, I feel compelled to voice my opinion (with all due respect) on some of the

issues that were raised in your piece. What I'm going to attempt to do is to directly address issues

that stood out and resonated most with me. The writer asked "What's in a name?" and went on to honor

a ", generation which sang music under its real names, not abbreviations or slangs"; this would have

been a valid point if he had not himself mentioned Greats like King Sunny Ade (real name: Sunday

Adeniyi), I.K. Dairo (Isaiah Kehinde Dairo), and Ebenezer Obey (Real name: Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu

Olasupo Fabiyi- Wow!!!). We could also point out other legends like Ras Kimono and Majek Fashek as

others who, for creative or other reasons, saw it fit to have stage names that happen to differ from

what's on their passports.


Shortening of full names and/or the crafting of stage names is not something new from our generation

of artistes that "lack the discipline or the patience to write complete sentences" as you said;

rather, it's the creative right of an artiste to go by whatever moniker he sees fit. And if we want

to talk about the names of today, we can highlight a few: Eldee - actually L.D. which stands for

Lanre Dabiri, similar to Isaiah Kehinde Dairo's transition to I.K. Dairo. Naeto C and Banky W are

simply short forms of their full names. In my case, my father's nickname among his friends is

actually Banky as well. Furthermore, on the topic of Names and abbreviations let's set a few things

straight. Nigerzie is actually spelt Nigezie and is not an abbreviation for Nigeria. It's a TV Show,

much like Soundcity or Hip TV, except they choose to incorporate "representing Nigeria" in their

name. It's like the "United Colors of Bennetton", or DKNY, both companies that choose to represent

their locations or origins in their name. Also, for the record, Gidi doesn't mean Nigeria either.

It's a term for Lagos, coined from "Las Gidi". And as far as the popular term "Naija" goes, who

remembers Shina Peters singing "♫ Naija lo wa yi o o o, wa jo, afro juju lo gb'ode ♫" I hate to point

out that our generation did not come up with that term, the "golden age" that you long for did.


As an editorial head of a National Newspaper, you owe it to your public to at least do proper and

accurate research before printing an article. The risk in not doing so, is you might unknowingly

mislead your readers, and you might actually come across as being ignorant or out of touch. A quick

look at all the reference names of artistes and songs mentioned in the article goes to show that the

author was sadly way off base in his accusations and examples. For instance, to make a point on how

today’s Nigerian artistes lyrics are meaningless and prurient, he referenced the Rooftop MC's song

"La Gi Mo". What he failed to realize or crosscheck, is that the said song is probably one of the

most meaningful and important songs that have been released in the last few years on the Nigerian

Music Scene.

The Rooftop MC's are actually a Rap Group that leans to the Gospel or at least Socially Conscious

side of music, and their songs always have a positive message. That song itself talks about the

errors we make by trying to take God's glory for our success, getting caught up in the limelight

and asking God to bring you back to reality to know that HE deserves the praise for where you are.

The author mentioned other songs like D'banj's "Fall in Love", and doesn't realize how hypocritical

he sounds by attempting to ridicule some of our most popular love songs. Felix Liberty sang "Ifeoma,

ifeoma, I want to marry you", D'banj sang "Omo U don make me fall in love" and Banky W sang "Till my

dying day, I'll love you". Barring a difference in musical styling, are these songs not cut from the

same cloth?


Why can't someone in Mr Abati's position be proud of the fact that at Nigerian and African Weddings

nowadays, couples are choosing these songs to mark their first dances instead of previous choices

like “Endless Love”? Why can't we appreciate that the days of going to Nigerian Parties and clubs and

celebrating to foreign music “all night long” are long gone? Despite these facts, you still see

International festivals and concerts being held in Nigeria where the foreign acts are paid 30 to 40

times what some of our biggest stars are allowed to charge. I have to disagree with the author's

views.


We are not all one and the same, but we ARE artistes. We may sing, rap, dance, mime, perform, play

instruments or whatever else; but we are artistes. And Composers. And musicians.
We may not all play the piano or the guitar, but neither does Michael Jackson, arguably the world's

greatest artiste/entertainer. That's why he teamed up with producer Quincy Jones to create some of

the best music anyone had ever heard.


We have our own producers that have shaped Nigerian sound, people like Cobhams Asuquo, Don Jazzy,

I.D. Cabasa, Dr Frabz, Tee-Y mix, Eldee, Terry G etc. That list goes on. These music minds are no

less credible than those of Mr Abati's time, like the great Laolu Akins. Far be it from us to claim

that we are perfect and flawless in our art, we know that we are still growing and have lots of

areas to improve, but the truth of the matter is we have worked very hard to create the industry we

have now, and some people choose to criticize and lambaste most of us, instead of helping and

teaching us.


That is unfair. Yes, some artistes sag their jeans, however, a glance at the pages of THISDAY style

or the recently concluded awards shows will show you very clearly that others wear three-piece suits

and traditional attires just as proudly, myself included. This music industry that you have very

clearly disapproved of has partnered with and given rise to the fashion industry in Nigeria as well.

Just ask Designers like Mai, Babs Familusi (Exclamations Couture), the Okunorens, Muyiwa Osindero and

countless others. Everything from the t-shirts and jeans rappers wear, to the shoes and suits are

made by young Nigerians, where in previous years people preferred to shop in London.


The youth-driven industries in Entertainment and Fashion have teamed up to thrust Nigeria into the

world's positive spotlight, when for many years our dear country was mostly known for corruption,

lack of infrastructure, and security issues. Our country has not yet given us steady electricity,

adequate education, safety from armed robbers or standard healthcare, yet artistes have risen like

the Roses that grow from Concrete, and these very artistes love and represent their country proudly

on a global stage.


This music industry has given hope, jobs and income to countless youth of today. We are Rappers,

Singers, Producers, Sound Engineers, Managers, Promoters, Marketing Consultants, Record Label Owners

and we will not apologize for making the best of our circumstances; and all this in spite of the fact

that we have Marketers that exploit but refuse to pay for our Musical pieces, Royalties and

Publishing income that hitherto has been non-existent, a Government that is just now very slowly

starting to enforce anti-piracy laws, and Event Organizers that would rather pay 50 Cent One Million

US Dollars than give D'banj or P-Square 5 Million Naira.


You were right on some counts. We ARE businessmen and women, and we ARE interested in extending name

recognition and brand extension. You were also right in that we look up to people like Jay-Z, who

took their music and created multimillion-dollar empires. Since when did ambition and desire to

succeed against all odds count against a person’s moral character? Shouldn’t we be encouraged to pay

more attention to the business side of “Show Business”?


Shouldn’t we want this music industry to provide for our future and the futures of our children? We

know we have a moral responsibility when it comes to our Creative works. Some of us pay more

attention to it than others, and there is lots of ground to cover up. But how about a little

appreciation and help, instead of trying to tear us down and discredit us? Time will tell whose music

will last and become evergreen, but it is not in anyone's place to judge; and for the record, can we

just accept that fact that hip hop music is an artform that is probably here to stay, I mean for

goodness sake the Grammy's has!! Instead of fighting the change, we should learn to embrace it. I

thank God for people like the great Adewale Ayuba that have reached across to our generation to

collaborate with, bridge the gap, and help us improve.


We want to learn but your generation has to teach. We want to read but the Government must provide

libraries. We want to go to school but the lecturers keep going on strike. We want to travel but

previous generations messed up so they won’t give out visas. Most of prefer having our own live bands

but the income needed to support that is not forthcoming.


You speak of meaninglessness and prurience, identity crisis and moral turpitude. You praise Legends

like Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti and you ridicule us. 9ice does not drink or smoke. eLDee is married to one

wife. Olu Maintain does not drink. Naeto C is currently obtaining his Masters’ degree in England. The

ironic thing is, we look up to and praise your generation too.


You seem to forget that Baba Fela had 27 wives, smoked marijuana in public, was himself half naked at

shows (as well as the women around him) and allegedly died of HIV. However we look past what some may

consider shortcomings and respect and emulate the immense contributions he made to our history. We

are in awe of him despite personal choices that some may or may not agree with. All we are asking for

is to be appreciated and afforded similar tolerances.


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. Anyone that is familiar with the cost of

promoting an album (videos, press, etc) would know that it you end up making hard decisions in terms

of what you have to push and promote, for your best chance at success.

I suggest that you buy whole albums and look at the body of work. Listen to the entire CD’s. I think

you'll find that more often than not, Nigerian artistes are doing a pretty good job of representing

this great Country of Nigeria. Naija Till We Die. Yes Boss.
Sincerely,
Banky W.


Hmmm,

ahhhhhhhhh

thank u for posting this

wanted to reply directly to the man

Waow, can't believe i read these lenghty write ups. . .
Abati is like a sinking man struggling to gain relevance,The man lost credibility when he sold his voice for plot of land in abuja.
This write up is just one of his ways of getting back into focus and sadly, it's not working.

when i first read the article,i could not believe it came through the head(brain!) of the "much revered" abati(guess he smoked pineapple express before writing his article!),am sure its just to gain relevance, nothing more, (sighs!) HE IS A 1ST CLASS PRODUCT OF HIS FAILED GENERATION.RUBEN and all members should immediately proceed to third mainland bridge, and jump in and, hehehe!damm! they failed us, imagine electricity as a previlege,i wonder how nigerians in heaven cope with the constant power supply, sure it took them a while to adapt,

Here’s Eldee’s response

Quote:
First off, the only reason I have chosen to address this is because it would be wrong to sit and watch a journalist of supposed repute and the power to maneuver public opinion, openly kick against change and development.

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.

I see the article as a threat to the much needed change and development that Nigeria needs, and we must kick against this mindset. This is the general mentality of the generation that mismanaged this country due to selfishness, greed, incompetence, lack of exposure and an overall lack of integrity. The generation that kicks against innovation and development as long as it does not agree with their selfish plots. The generation that has little or no vision for “Nigeria.”

He titles his article “A nation’s identity crisis” and starts off by glorifying the use of a name that was given to us by “Mistress” to Lugard Flora Shaw! in 1914. Why should we attempt to change such a beautiful name? He even says…”Our dear country is now “naija” or “nija”. What happened to the “-eria” that Ms Shaw must have thoughtfully included? ……” The “oyinbo knows best” colonial mentality, as though Mistress Shaw is superior to all of us.

What does it matter if Nigeria is called “Naija”. It has been called Naija since the 70’s. Why pin it on this generation?….oh,, I know why, it’s because this is the generation that finally gave Nigeria a worthy reason of mention on the international scene. The generation that is fighting the ugly image of corruption and underdevelopment (which they created) with exportable entertainment. The generation that has created millions of jobs with an industry that was left to rot in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The generation Mr Abati himself acknowledges are very successful at what they do. Now that we are worthy of mention, we shouldn’t misinform the rest of the world about the spelling of Nigeria…like anyone will one day decide Nigeria is spelt N-A-I-J-A. By the way, “Gidi” is not Nigeria but Lagos. It’s short for “Las gidi”, yet another term which was created in the 80’s. You could have asked the young guy sitting in your office for clarification on that one…Sir.

Then he goes on to speak on original names and the use of abbreviations, blah blah. Mr “misinformed journalist” Abati, just so you know, King Sunny Ade is not his real name, neither is Dizzy K Falola, Majek Fashek, Kollington Ayinla, Ebenezer Obey, Dan Maraya of Jos, Ayinde Barrister, Ras Kimono, Alex O nor the very obvious KWAM 1, so was there really a need to criticize the stage names of the our generation’s artists? besides what is anyones business what a man or woman decides to call him or herself?

Then he proceeds to talk about music making sense and all that random blab and has the nerve to quote “Ifeoma, Ifeoma, i want to marry you” as a more sensible song than “Fall in love”??!! This man obviously knows nothing about music. “Fall in love” is not only a great song but as Nigerian…oops I mean as “Naija” as it gets. Every generation has its not-so-great artists who make limelight. Don’t make me mention names.

He talks about the new generation imitating western hip hop stars. How about the imitation of Jamaica that befell Nigeria in the early 80’s, producing much of the boring local reggae music that we had to endure for almost 2 decades?? One would almost think the Nigerian flag was red, yellow and green in the 80’s/early 90’s. Do you see any of us wearing red, blue and white outfits in this generation or using the american flag in our videos?? Yes, the pants sag, yes the girls show more skin. It’s the same as the pants and mini skirts you all wore in the 70’s, yes, the bell bottoms and open-chested shirts. The jewelry is the same as you wore then as well, only now we can afford real jewelry. Stop and think for a second, really?!!!?.

“…most of them don’t play instruments, they use a synthetic piano”…Yeah, same way most of them don’t use typewriters, they use computers. Oh wait,…I didn’t realize the piano is no longer an instrument.

“…They are more interested in commerce and self-advertisement, name recognition, brand extension and memory recall!”…Yes, exactly what the older generation didn’t do well. The reason why the new generation are more successful. It’s a new day Mr Abati, if we don’t learn from their mistakes, what’s the point?

You talk about identity crisis and you discredit songs like “ori mi wu o…”, “u don hit my car”, etc. What identity is it that you’re speaking of? oh,, the one Mistress Shaw and Lord Lugard left us with abi? I keep hearing people talk about how Nigerian artists imitate foreign musicians, yet the one’s that have the most “Nigerian” content in their music are your targets. What a shame!

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.

okay this is lyk the most intersting thin to have ever graced nland pages. first as a graduate of english from the same university of lagos i am sorely dissappointed in mr abati who i look up to as a role model. i mean our lecturers used to hype the guy as an example of how a grad of english culd make it and be relevant in this bleeped up nation. sorry to say sir that ur relevance has turned to irrelevance as u have bitten more than u can chew with this misguided and unwarranted critique of our generation(its not lyk urs has anything to show for all its mouth yappin). also wat is this i hear abt u being a sell out for a plot of land in abj, that stinks lyk hell and i sincerely hope it is not true cos we still need credible journalists lyk u who wont sell out for peanuts though i advice u sir to make criticisms more constructive and less derogatory. i wuldnt lyk to go into a detailed analysis of everything that is wrong wit the write upas it is shameful enuf already
on the otha hand i am really impresed with banky w and eldee's reply to the article, guys u are too much its people lyk u who give hope to the intellectuals of our generation that we wont be swamped unda a load of crap and intellect myopia that characterizes our generation. suffice to say that dr abati has some points in his article as u cannot deny that the craze to make commercial music is actually affecting the content of our entertainment industry wit guys believing they can talk about only girls, cars, shack and bling. i feel honoured to be a part of this generation of ours that is trying to rebrand this big problem called nigeria and i feel wat people lyk dr abati shud do is to encourage us by pointing out the loopholes and ways of correcting them not comparing us to the failed generation that wrecked it.
to all nlandres i urge u guys to post stuff lyk this more, reasonable and relevant stuff that affect us all and also enrich our minds and entertain and ican assure u that very soon facebook will bcum obsolete as it is really more childish and hip than serious
thank you[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font][/color][color=#990000]

Banky W just became my hero _{*runs to buy Banky W's albums*}

Could the directors of The Guardian please sack Mr Abati and give his job to Banky W.

Who is this Banky W anyway?

Dr Abati is entitled to his opinion!! Before my head is chewed off: let me say I am proudly Naija, I love the music of Eldee, Banky W, Bracket and all the rest who have made Naija proud and given people like me so much to smile about in this country we call ours. But I truly believe everyone is entitled to an opinion however stupid we think it is. For that reason Banky W earned my respect in the manner in which he replied Dr Abatis article. It proved that he is a very intelligent and well brought up gentleman. I am closer in age to Dr Abati than Banky W but I happen to know many of my contemporaries that love Nigezee and Nigerian music, refer to our country as Nija or 9ja or whatever we choose. My parents generation thought that Chris Okote, Felix Lebarty and co were all crap and their parents must have thot the musicians they loved were crap. That's the way life is and it will never change. Like I said he is entitled to his opinion and we are entitled to ours.

i was so enthralled reading the detailed composure from banky w, and eldee. their write up is wow!.

i bet mr abati didnt think this guys could write, or decipher what he wrote. i bet he must be truly miffed that he didnt have the last say in this.

BTW, i think banky w is HOOOTTTTTTTTT!, i cant place eldees face, but i think he writes well, very lively.