NEGOTIATING SOCIO ECONOMIC CHALLENGES THROUGH AFRICAN ART MUSIC: A READING OF DAY DAYỌ̀OYÈDÚOYÈDÚǸ NEPA ’

Abstract

The Social and economic aspects of music compositions remain unexplored in the intercultural compositions of Nigerian art music composers. Akin Eúbà states that composers have the obligation to create music that is relevant to their own people and all peop le at large. Eúbà’s pronouncement includes modern art compositions that are relevant to the Nigerian situation, but extend beyond cultural and religious spheres to social, economic, and political issues in such a society . ‘Nepa’, an acronym for National El ectric Power Authority, is the institutional structure responsible for coordinating and maintaining electricity supply throughout the Republic of Nigeria. Due to the inefficient and unreliable services of this sector over the years, the Nigerian government in 2005 settled for privatization to unbundle power utility across the states. However, power outages remain the norm in the country. Even though the sector has ceased to exist as ‘Nepa’, a majority of the Nigerian populace persists in calling the power s ector by the name ‘Nepa’, which has become a signifier of this inefficiency. DayDayọ̀OyèdúOyèdúǹ, a Nigerian composer of art music, addressing the corrupt practices of the electricity sector, has composed a choral cantata piece with the title ‘Nepa’. ‘Nepa’ is a satirical piece that critiques the corruption in the Nigerian power sector. Through this composition, OyèdúOyèdúǹ stages a kind of activism by taking this discourse from the political realm into the concert hall. Effectively, he projects and reflects a ‘national voice’ for the masses through the music. This paper examines the tensions and resoluti ons articulated in this music through a close reading and textual analysis of the music. It identifies compositional techniques (hocket, modulation, word painting, etc) that convey social meanings, and investigates the manner in which music functions in cr eating meaning in broader social contexts in Nigeria. This piece particularly, exemplifies Eúbà’s call for a socially relevant African art music.