THE ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY MUSICIAN IN NATION BUILDING: A STUDY OF THE NIGERIAN NATION

Resumen

Music, from the beginning of life, has played essential roles in the life of humans. Music is a sin quo none, whether on occasions of joy or sorrow. Music, in addition to these potentials, speaks to power without fear or favour. Musicians, through their performances, have added to nationbuilding. The voice of music spreads like wildfire and gets to every nuke and crannies it is meant for. Nigeria, as a case study in this work, has had its take over time through music performances by musicians like the late Fela Kuti, Sunny Okosun, and Nelly Uchendu, which brought about many changes in the nation then. However, the present Nigerian nation has relapsed into a much worse state, and the problem is that the performing art, through contemporary musicians like Burna Boy and Falana (Falz), is still lending its voices. This paper examines the lapses in Nigerian nation-building and how Contemporary Musicians, with their performances, have lent and still lends their surgical work in bringing the desired changes. Data for this research were obtained through library and personal observation, and conclusions were drawn from the findings. The findings from this study showed that contemporary Musicians and their Music have been steadfast in their quest for nation-building and, therefore, are still speaking to power on nation-building.