Abstract:
The enthrallment with Jùjú music, a Yoruba musical genre, was buoyed by Nigeria’s oil boom
phenomenon in the 1970s. Existing studies on Nigerian popular music genres, especially the
Jùjú, have focused more on its musicological and sociological components than on exploring
the genre during the oil boom period in the context of African historiographical traditions. This
study was, therefore, designed to examine the interface of Jùjú music with the oil boom and the
consumption patterns of wealthy Nigerians. It also interrogated aspects of the country’s socioeconomic development, with a view to critiquing Jùjú music’s contribution to conspicuous
consumption from 1970 to 1980, the peak period of oil boom era of post-independence Nigeria.
The historical approach was adopted, the theories of Conspicuous Consumption and Symbolic
Anthropology guided the study. Purposive sampling was used to select three dominant Jùjú
exponents (I.K. Dairo, Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade) based on their popularity and high
patronage. Both primary and secondary data were used. The primary data included lyrics of 30
songs from 10 albums by the musicians based on their contemporary relevance. In-depth
interviews were conducted across Lagos, Ibadan and Oyo with 20 purposively selected
respondents of middle and old age: one industrialist, two high chiefs, four academics, four civil
servants, six traders, and a security officer, a banker and a civil engineer, based on their
knowledge of oil boom and Jùjú music. Newspapers from the National Archives, Ibadan, with
relevant information on the subject matter, were consulted. Secondary data included books,
biographies, journal articles, unpublished theses and internet materials. Data were subjected to
historical analysis.
The changes in the economy, occasioned by the oil boom, influenced Jùjú music and provided
the tools for a new discursive history of 20th century Nigeria. Jùjú music opened important
terrain of investigation into the relationship of knowledge, music, culture, class, and
conspicuous consumption that was induced by petro-dollars in the burgeoning economy of the
1970s. It was induced by cultural change and socio-economic organisation of the society. Jùjú
music reflected and refracted the nuances of the oil boom period, thus becoming an avenue
through which the socio-economic development of the period was underscored. There was
consumer culture and consumption pattern as there was an increase in the display of economic
prowess due to a sharp increase in Nigeria’s foreign earning. Social events were enlivened as
celebrated personalities whose praise songs were performed pasted money on the foreheads of
the musicians (sprayed). These included eminent personalities in Obey’s Board Members
(Bisilola Edionsere – “Cash Madam” and Miliki System, Oyename; Sunny Ade’s Rasak Okoya
and Adenaike (Currency Controller), I.K. Dairo’s MKO Abiola and Bode Osinusi. The
musicians responded to the nuances and social needs of their audience through elevated praisesinging.
The interrelatedness of Jùjú music, Nigeria’s oil boom and consumer culture enabled an
intellectual tracking of socio-economic dynamics, trends, and issues between 1970 and 1980,
as it underscored socio-economic realities of the period.
