GLOBALIZING NIGERIAN MUSIC: EMERGING ISSUES

Abstract

Historically, many Nigerians were captured and enslaved abroad alongside their music and some musical instruments; of which many of them were eventually restructured or refined and are now believed to be western musical instruments. Globalization in the Twenty-First century has been described as an emerging world (dis)order (Mohan Giles, 1996). “a process by which the world is becoming a single place†(Scholte,1996 cited in Monge, 1998). It is a process characterized by increase in communicative speed, technological sophistication, economic integration, and ideological universalism. According to Rapport (2001), globalization is a “fact of life†because all are affected by it in terms of its benefits or loss positively or negatively. It influences and is influenced by many aspects of contemporary life of which communication is an integral part. This study is focused on issues depriving the globalization of Nigerian music. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic nation with different kinds of music, most of which have been restructured and/or reproduced as Western music. Nigerian music like its western counterpart would have been better globalized, if agents of globalization are better harnessed and utilized for the purpose. Agents of globalization can be have both positive and negative impacts on Nigerian communities and the nation at large, therefore, can be utilized for propagation and better projection of Nigerian image via culture and other related arts to the world.