Gender, Tradition and Cultural Sustainability of Drumming in African Music: The Indigenous Sociological Theory of Ajobi and Ajogbe

Abstract

The study discusses challenges facing scholarship in Africa within the Humanities and Social Sciences due to the application of Western models. It highlights the varied interpretations of the term "relationship" proposed by scholars, with emphasis on the Ajobi (consanguinity) and Ajogbe (co-residency) model developed by Akinwowo in 1980. This indigenous sociological framework aligns with contemporary efforts to foreground African intellectual traditions in scholarship. The discussion gives a clearer explanation of how Ajobi–Ajogbe relations operate within apprenticeship structures. This model is considered the most accurate depiction of African relationships, drawing from prehistoric practices within the Yoruba social order. The study suggests that certain practices, such as male children being sole drummers in the Ayan lineage, could threaten tradition, and proposes nurturing female children with drumming talents. Many scholars are continually bringing the gender enquiry to the fore. “This quest centres around how a people, society, or a nation view the role of men and women, particularly in the way they participate in, contribute to, and are rewarded by the prevailing social system,” Ezeokeke (2004). The ethnographic method used in the study includes interviews with Baba Alajede, Baba Akeem, Bisi Adunbarin-Keji, and Ayankishi (A skilful female drummer on the Bata, Omele Meta, and the daughter of Baba Akeem) in July and August 2025, in RCCG Camp, Agege, and Julius Berger, Lagos, Nigeria. and non-participatory observation advocates for integrating both male and female children from birth and neighbouring communities into apprentice relationships to preserve expertise. Ultimately, extending the Ajobi and Ajogbe ideology to include female children is proposed as a strategy to safeguard tradition and foster collaborative relationships within African communities. In conclusion, the study presents a connection between kinship ideology and cultural apprenticeship and argues that rigid lineage-based transmission may threaten the sustainability of drumming traditions.