JÙJÚ MUSIC AND CONSUMER CULTURE IN THE OIL BOOM ERA IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA, 1970-1980

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 Secondary data included books, biographies, journal articles, unpublished theses and internet materials.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.