Nigeria’s geographic North is well known for its rich musical traditions that pervade the numerous cultures and many aspects of daily life. In recent years, with much of this vast region embracing Sharia law, the once rich musical traditions are being severely threatened.

The article, “Fundamentalism’s Toll on Nigerian Music - ‘Shariahphrenia’ Reigns in Northern Nigeria” provides some insight into the multi-faceted issue:

“More and more Hausa musicians are thinking about leaving the North. Southern musicians, for their part, long ago gave up the idea of performing further north than Abuja, the federal capital in central Nigeria. In Lagos, Femi Kuti, the son of the late Fela Kuti, explained it this way: “A band like mine can’t play in the North. The dancers would be stoned to death.”"

“To get a feeling for the damage Shariah law has done to Kano’s formerly cosmopolitan life, you need only take a walk in the Sabon Gari section of the city… this part of town, where the nightlife once rivaled that of the big cities of the South, now goes dark and quiet after 10 p.m. And if the venues are still here, the bands aren’t there any more. Who wants to risk his investment, coming with his equipment, and being vandalized? It’s more and more difficult to convince someone from the South to come to play here.”

“…the Shariah trap continues to tighten around the Hausa musicians. Despite some people’s good intentions and official guarantees, “such kinds of stories can still happen in the North; maybe while we’re talking, it’s happening,” says journalist Bayo Ohu. This past summer, the State Council of Ulama, responsible for implementation of Shariah in the northern state of Jigawa, banned public drumming and singing. As the conservative northern daily newspaper The Triumph described it, “The council has noted with disgust the rampant cases of drum beatings, especially during wedding and naming ceremonies.”

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 7th, 2005 at 11:50 am and is filed under music. You can skip to the end and leave a response.