Nigeria clocked 60 years on the 1st of October 2020 and there’s have been mixed feelings on how to celebrate properly as people feel there is nothing to celebrate for.
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Late Fela Kuti described Music as the weapon of the future and he wasn’t wrong. He was the rebel child of the music industry that made sure to call out the Government with his music, a choice he paid dearly for.
Its quite unfortunate that years later after his death, the situation of things hasn’t changed much.
To give a rundown on why celebration isn’t the focus on the nation’s 60th birthday, Mp3bullet.ng has compiled a list of songs that narrates the sad tales of the country perfectly.
Jaga Jaga – Eedris Abdulkareem
One of the best political commentaries-like song to date, Eedris Abdulkareem describes the country situation as ‘Jaga Jaga’, a Nigerian term which has been used to describe something in a state of chaos or disarray in the song.
It’s unfortunate that despite the fact that this song was released in 2002, it still perfectly describes the Nigerian situation in 2020, eighteen years since it was dropped.
Upon its release in 2002, the song sparked reactions from the Nigerian Populace with the song subsequently banned from being played on the radio by the Federal Government under the administration of the ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
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Plenty Nonsense – Trybesmen
Nearly 20 years ago, Trybesmen, dropped their debut album L.A.G style, following the success of the classic club hit, “Shake Bodi”. The album also housed “Plenty Nonsense”, a heavy-bass set rap song, featuring verses from the group’s earliest members, Freestyle, K.B, and Eldee.
“Plenty Nonsense”, is the Trybesmen’s take on some of the frustrations of being young in Nigerian society.
Following a chorus simply decrying how there are many everyday realities that shouldn’t be a norm, Freestyle, starts off with a story about a typically Nigerian Police checkpoint stop by officers looking for any reason to harass and assault young people seen driving flashy cars.
This situation is still ongoing in this present day even escalating to people getting shot by the police in some cases.
K.B takes the next verse, to church, only to subtly play out a narrative of how blind faith in religion is used to keep the poor, impoverished.
Eldee’s for his part reflects on how the intense competition for public universities left a lot of young people stuck in the JAMB/WAEC limbo between high school and college in the 90s, while also managing to infuse a correlation between marital abuse and poverty.
Bushmeat(Ole) – Sound Sultan ft 2Baba
Sound Sultan paints an abstract look on the corruption games in Nigeria on his 2008 single, “Bushmeat” which features 2Baba and W4.
He sings “One day bushmeat go catch the hunter” before asking people shout Ole which means ‘Thief’ in the chorus.
He talks about the corruption structure in Nigeria and how Nigerians are wallowing in poverty and the Government doesn’t care.
He also laments about the difficulty of getting anything in Nigeria or getting a job or contract unless you have a connection in high places.
2Baba in his verse talks about the unfairness of life as some people are trying to survive while others enjoy it.
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Mr President- African China
African China is a unique reggae singer who in the early 2000s was known for his socially conscious songs one of which is ‘Mr President’.
‘Mr President’ is a song about the daily struggles of an average Nigerian. African China calls on Nigerian Leaders to lead well.
The singer calls out the Political parties in Nigeria for their destructive manner and the lack of proper infrastructures.
2010(Light Up)- Sound Sultan ft M.I Abaga
As the title depicts, “2010” is a political song released in the year 2010 as a reminder for the Nigerian Government about their promise to provide constant electricity supply by the year 2010.
Soundsultan and M.I speak specifically about the electricity problem and how this has stalled our collective progress as a Nation.
In a plot twist, the Government is still yet to fulfill that promise in 2020.
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Rara- Tekno
In “Rara” Tekno addresses the issue plaguing Nigerians. He begins the song with “My Country People” before he goes on to calls out the bluff of the Nigerian Government complaining of the stories they sell to the citizens.
He then goes on to complain about the electricity situation in Nigeria and the heavy dependence on generators for power supply. He blames greedy people in the Government who will collect contracts for these projects only to keep aside.
In verse 2, Tekno talks about corruption whereby the “big people” take public funds and stash it in offshore accounts and hence cannot be traced before asking them to invest in the country to make it a better place.
This is Nigeria- Falz
One of Falz’s best works ever, “This is Nigeria” is his cover of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”.
Falz is the son of popular human rights activist and Lawyer, Femi Falarin and which is so no surprise that Falz would have the same idealogy as his father.
“This is Nigeria” is a mirror in which Falz reflects the factors that contribute to Nigeria’s many problems.
The music video which was artistic and well done played out the everyday struggles of Nigerians from Police brutality, to extreme religion practice, corruption, terrorism,
According to Falz, the song “addresses numerous political and social ills”, and is an attempt “to spark a reaction in the positive direction”. The video highlights Nigeria’s issues with violence, political corruption, policing, and organized religion.
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Talk- Falz
In 2019, as the election year drew near, Falz attempted to speak sense in Nigerians with “Talk”.
He addressed critical issues caused by greedy Politicians and warns the Youths and all Nigerians, in general, to speak up for what they truly want.
“Talk” was another of his political commentary. He takes a Jab at MURIC for trying to take him to court for “This is Nigeria”, Politicians, Yahoo boys, pastors of Megachurches, and the President, Buhari.
Promise and Fail- 9ice
In “Promise and Fail” 9ice takes a jab at the ruling political party who has been promising change once they get into government when they were the Opposition party only to get in the seat and are still yet to deliver on their promises.