Feature Story | 21-Aug-2023

Music as a weapon of the powerless

Environmental degradation, poverty and hunger crises – how do people in Africa express their concerns and protest using music?

University of Konstanz

Nigeria has a wealth of oil, gas and other natural resources. "But the profits from selling them benefit only a few parties, such as government officials and foreign companies", laments Olusegun Stephen Titus, a leading scholar of ecomusicology in Africa. "All the while, millions of Nigerians live below the extreme poverty line of US$ 2.15 per person per day." Oil spills have a devastating impact on the ecosystem, ocean, rivers, ground water and soil that can no longer be used for farming. As a result, there is constant famine.

"Musicians, too, are involved in protests against ecological and social inequities. The artists want to create global awareness for the problems in Nigeria. They want to use music as a means of protest, and this is how music becomes the weapon of the powerless! For decades, Nigerian politicians have been trying to silence them using either reactionary methods or lip service. But these politicians have continually underestimated the power of musical protest", the researcher explains.

Titus describes the modern and sometimes unconventional paths musicians take to be heard in a freely accessible article about his work in the University of Konstanz's online magazine campus.kn.

 

Key facts:

  • Originally based at Obafemi Awolowo University (Ile-Ife, Nigeria), Olusegun Stephen Titus arrived at the University of Konstanz on a Humboldt Foundation fellowship in April 2023, which will continue until September 2024.
  • Titus is a pioneer in the field of African ecomusicology, and he is currently finishing his book “Ecomusicology: the Politics of Oil, Extractive Infrastructure, Forced Migration, Displacement and Music Activism in the Niger Delta of Nigeria”. In the book, Titus traces the trajectories of African music in relation to ecological and social degradation in some African countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Niger, Zambia, Sudan and Ghana.

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