Osita Osadebe and Igbo Renaissance
OSITA CHIDOKA
Saturday, February 9, 2008
We
are gathered here tonight not to mourn the death of Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe
but to celebrate a worthy and well spent life; the life of one whose kind of
highlife music not only inspired but motivated his teaming listeners. Osita
Osadebe, Ezeaofulukwe Atani and the father of Igbo music, has departed
this life. His departure caught me unawares as I have been planning a visit to
Atani to discuss a few issues bordering on his music and some Igbo proverbs in
his masterpieces. That visit did not happen and will remain a constant reminder
of the need to ka a na-eme ngwa-ngwa ka e we meghalu Odachi, (to
avoid procrastination).
On a personal level, I met Osadebe in 1998, when as a member of the Presidential Committee on Military to Civilian Handover 1999 I insisted that Osita Osadebe must perform as the Igbo musician despite the presence of Onyeka Onwenu in the programme. After several days of argument, the Chairman General Yunana Nom (rtd) agreed but with the caveat that I should contact Osadebe. The GSM phones were not here then, so I had to travel physicallyto Atani to see the Highlife King in spite of my busy schedule at that time. That visit marked the beginning of our friendship and, of course, he performed at the handover event to everybody’s delight.
His music no doubt represents the typicality of Igbo traditional value system, where African spirit of brotherhood, community, and solidarity are revered. He eulogized through his music, love and not hatred, peace and not war, solidarity and not denunciation.
Chief Osadebe, a cultural advocate and philosopher musician, used his music to give hope to millions of his fans. He inspired a generation of Ndiigbo and indeed Nigerians through his artistry. Our gathering here tonight, therefore, is to give recognition to this rare gem for the positive messages of his music, which represents the embodiment of Igbo traditional values system that confuse and confound our neighbours.
Igbo traditional values continue to confuse all those who interact with Ndiigbo. The confusion steams from the seeming contradictions that surround Igbo ethics, politics, commerce, and morality. The colonialists described us as acephalous and gerontocrats; some of our neighbours view us as lacking respect for elders, while the more brazen describe us as worshippers at the alter of money. These views led to divergent approaches to solving the “Igbo problem.” During the colonial era, it led to the Warrant Chief syndrome; under the militar,y it elevated the points-man syndrome to a clearing house and, for the rest of Nigerians, it led to stereotyping Ndiigbo as lacking in principles and values.
This unfortunate national consensus impacted gravely on Igbo psyche and attitude. The Igbo unconsciously and unfortunately acquiesced to these stereotypes. Igbo historians, writers, musicians, and artists made no effort to correct these unfair views, maybe because Igbo political elites saw no need for it or probably because our level of political consciousness dropped significantly after the war.
While most Nigerians view us as a closeknit and cohesive ethnic group as recently acknowledged by General Danjuma in an interview about the war, we continue to denigrate our unique republican ethos that promote the group over the individual. During the war, we killed ourselves under the banner of “saboteurs.” In the political dispensation of the Fourth Republic, we alienated our political sons and daughters in government with the phrase “anti-Igbo,” and in our day-to-day life we deny our cultural heritage by killing the artistic spirit that Osadebe represents. We promoted Nnukwu Mmanwu phenomenon which runs contrary to Igbo worldview and cosmology.
The failure of the big masquerade syndrome was bound to occur like the failure of Warrant Chiefs and the eclipse of pointsman as soon as their promoters leave office. The celebration of Osadebe today is an affirmation of Igbo value system and consciousness. The temporary triumph of otimkpu in the late 80s and early 90s was a reflection of the historical attempt to hijack and denigrate Igbo political worldview through music, mana Chi Ndiigbo ekwero (God forbade the evil trend). As Osadebe’s music appeared to be on the downhill to onlookers, discerning viewers knew that it was a matter of time for the true Igbo spirit to reemerge and that Osadebe’s music will herald that reemergence. Today in this hall, we celebrate that reawakening of true Igbo culture through Osadebe’s music.
Osita Osadebe’s music provides a window into the soul of Ndiigbo. When he says na agbalu aka na-azo ana, onye ji a na-akonye (which means that fighting a battle without the resources to consolidate the outcome is a battle in vain) it goes to explain Igbo pragmatism. When our neighbours wonder at Igbo silence during mass protests without clear outcomes, it is because for us shouting and grandstanding are not recognized virtues. We only acclaim the virtue of courage when it aims at defined and controlled outcome.
When
Osadebe in one of his outings reminds us that Ogazi amaka, mana ejiro ya
ago mmuo (the peacock is a beautiful bird, but is not used for
sacrifice) again, one discerns another attribute of Ndiigbo. No matter the
razzmatazz of any object or issue, Ndiigbo strive to relate by its utilitarian
value. While we appreciate aesthetics, we are not worshippers of fleeting
trends. We seek for substance; as it pertains to objective outcomes.
His music is laced with meanings, which if properly deciphered could lead to a social change where the equality of mankind will become magnified. He used his music to propagate the idea of a humane society that is not based on one’s monetary acquisitions alone, but on true human values of sobriety, collectivity and community. His music, no doubt, remains the ultimate proof of Igbo rejection of Nnukwu Mmawu, the big masquerade syndrome, or what could be likened to the Iroko of our time that unfortunately sought for ascendancy at a point in the last decade.
The messages of Osadebe’s music cut across all strata of the society as he sang not only for the elites but also has mass appeal amongst the downtrodden. His music promotes the Igbo virtues of hard work, doggedness, and determinism. He remains the authentic voice of the Ndiigbo, whose aggressive determinism and communal solidarity to life are legendary. We cannot forget his antithetical rejection of the deification of material wealth (money), as amplified in post-civil war Igboland. Let me say that he was a fighter without destructive weapons and a winner without fighting. The powers of his music posses the capacities not only to disarm the armed, but restore the fighting spirit in one who might have given up the hope of ever winning.
His music was infectious, powerful, and spiritual in its lyrics, motivating not only a whole lot of generations of Igbo highlife music listeners, but the generality of all those who appreciate the values of music as a medium for expressing messages of positive change in the society. We cannot forget Chief Osadebe, even in death, for his spirit will continue to live as long as his music continued to be played and its philosophical meanings continuously influence the positive psyche of our everyday life.
As we celebrate the life of this musician philosopher tonight, let us also pay tributes to our worthy past leaders who recognized the spiritual and inspirational powers of music and who promoted arts, culture, good governance, and community life that defined Igbo golden era of the 1970s. We must remember an Igbo leader, Ajie Ukpabi Asika. He was a quintessential social scientist who understood that a people are defined by the totality of their cultural, moral, and philosophical content. He understood that the expression of art forms, music, poetry, and traditional mores are clear indices of level of spiritual and cultural refinement. Ajie assembled a team of the finest Igbo intellectuals and sought to change Igbo expressions to denote new meanings that reflect Igbo worldview. During his administration, Igbo arts and culture thrived whether it was the Peacocks, Sir Warrior, Osita Osadebe, Eric Obianwu, or the Nkpokiti dance. In his time, Igbo elites gathered at Presidential Hotel, Sports Club, or Government House for dinner dance or cultural evenings. Igbo healing after the war was accelerated by the ingenious and creative use of art forms to promote livability.
Today, Igboland groans under the reign of cultural Barbarians. Military administrators promoted brawn over artistic impulses and actively killed Igbo cities. Today, save for the current stirrings in some states, there is no Igbo city modern and safe enough for cultural activities. Parks are to become shopping malls, cultural centres are derelict reminders of a glorious past, museums are monuments of failed attempts at cultural revival, the absence of historic sites signpost a conscious de-linking of the past from the present. If not for the indefatigable Owerri musicians, there are no Osadebes on the horizon, no original Wings, no Peacocks, no Eric Obianwu, and no Sir Warrior. A sad situation.
Governance is beyond infrastructure, it is a call not only to rule but to lead a people physically and spiritually. Igbo governors and leaders must wake up to their historic role of leading Igbo cultural revival. Osadebe is gone, Ekwensi is no more, yet we have not identified historic sites to promote the art and happiness they brought to our lives. Is it true that Achebe lived in Zik’s Avenue, Enugu and possibly wrote his masterpieces there? Can we preserve that residence? Do we know the instruments Osadebe played? Are the original equipment still around? Can we put them in a museum? Do we have his notebooks? Can we recover them to encourage a new generation? Can we invest in modern theatres for stage drama in the East? Can we restart poetry readings and cultural evenings in our government houses? Can we promote our Igbo musicians, our last hope of rescuing the Igbo language from oblivion?
Let us not shed tears over these lives that have been well lived. We should rather be consoled by the fact that they left behind worthy legacies that would remain sources of pride to every Igbo man living now or yet unborn. We are indeed grateful to them for their positive influences in our lives and should strive to create the atmosphere that will produce new creative spirits.
Chief Osadebe through his highlife music left a big vacuum too difficult to fill and legacies that would continue to inspire, promote, and project the solemnity of Igbo cultural beliefs and its true meanings to the people. Even as he may not physically be with us again, we should remain faithful to what his music stood for. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, let us listen to Chief Osadebe’s music again and again to derive the true spiritual, inspirational, and social benefits laced in it, in order that our society can become conscious of social evils against which he preached.
Whenever the social reforms arising from the moral ethos embedded in Osadebe’s music takes place in our society, and that time nigh, then the life of this music philosopher would have achieved its mission on earth and his soul would find its bearing in the beyond.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us celebrate the life of this social reformer, an artist, a cultural revivalist, and a humanist whose immortality is assured through his music. The most worthy tribute we can pay to him is to leave this Hall united in the quest for Igbo renaissance that will create the atmosphere for another generation of Osadebe to thrive n'Alaigbo.
Adieu, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe.
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Tributes paid by Osita Chidoka, guest speaker on the occasion of night of tributes in honour of late chief Stephen Osita Osadebe held at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja on Tuesday, 5th February 2008.