Navy Urges Nigerians to Capitalise on Unifying Power of Music to Foster Peaceful Society

Victoria Ojiako

The Nigerian Navy has urged Nigerians, especially musical artistes, to capitalise on the unifying power of music to foster a peaceful society.
This appeal was made at the Nigerian Navy Band annual conference themed: ‘Fostering a peaceful society in Nigeria through the power of music’ held at the Nigerian Navy Music School (NNMS), Ota, Ogun State.
In his welcome address, the acting Director of Music, Captain Simon Ubandoma, said the conference, which brought together musicologists from the Armed Forces, other security agencies and the academia, was designed to leverage the power of music to foster sustainable peace in the community and country.
Setting pace for discussions, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, urged participants to churn out useful recommendations and suggestions that would enable the NN Directorate of Music do more especially in primary and secondary schools.
He noted the need for the directorate to establish its steel bands in more schools where pupils can develop interest in the tool and from there they can be moulded to become patriotic musical artists as they grow up.
Ogalla who was represented by the Chief of Administration, Rear Admiral Kennedy Ezete, acknowledged that music can be used to not only tell unifying stories and history but to also keep the young ones busy and out of trouble.
Calling for restraint and self-discipline among Nigerians, Ogalla noted that all hands must be on deck for the country to return to its glory days.
He said: “We have to cultivate that habit of self-discipline, which is almost totally absent because the kind of music they play today is totally different from what they used to play in the past.
“This is the Gen Z era. I think there is a disconnect between them and how our society will be better. So, we can still use music to send out the real message of how a society should be in a way that will appeal to them.
“So that means our musicologists need to go back to work because the musicians sing for entertainment and to make their money.
“But the musicologists are more focused on the society and the right morals. They will have to do more to bring forth workable solutions that will help salvage our society from the present decadence.”

Reminiscing about his days as a young boy, the Naval Chief noted how parents diligently performed their duties to the point that a child would not bring someone else’s pencil home without answering questions.

“But what we see today is that students whose parents are still paying their school fees will buy the latest phones for the same parents or come home with choice cars and their parents will be celebrating. Is that child working? Did you probe to know how he/she got the money for those things?” He queried.

In his lead paper, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Lagos, John Olugbenga, highlighted the complex nature of the country with over 400 ethnic groups and 500 indigenous languages.

“With all these diversities in our culture, religion and everything; music is the language that can bring all of us together. It’s a language that every of these diverse cultures, ethnic groups will understand, especially when the music is tailored towards bringing unity in our country.  

“All the musicians-academia, non-academia, military, paramilitary and all the celebrities out there- it is supposed to be a combined work. We must all be deliberate to use music as a unifying factor in this nation, especially now that everything is just going in a different direction.

“Let us use music to gather everybody together by bringing peace, unity, solidarity, harmony in our nation.

“We need government support to achieve this. We need to continue to have different musical conferences towards bringing communities and individuals together to educate them on how music can be used positively to bring peace in our nation,” he concluded.

Similarly, a music lecturer at the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, Dr. Debora Temisan-Lawal, said researches have shown music was a powerful non-violent tool to solve several issues in the country and across the world.

 “Music is a form of identity. It exemplifies our values, it shows what we stand for, what we fall for and what we desire,” she added.