Music leading the fight against Corruption in Africa- THE STORY

I participated in a contest about bribery and corruption on Hive Learners earlier this week on the blog. It was not the best topic to write about because it was a serious issue that affected myself and many others not only in my country but throughout the world.

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OUR STORIES

I was in my fourth year in college in 2020, just before Covid 19 pandemic began, and one of the requirements for partial completion of the degree was to participate in Industrial Training.I studied petroleum engineering, my Industrial Training placement in an oil and gas company was ideal. I applied to several companies but received no responses.

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The exams were so simple that I could pass them even if I was sleeping. "Connection" was the missing piece in my puzzle. The system is founded on a corrupt structure that allows for bribery and favoritism in selection. To acquire a job, you need to know someone who is prominent in the firm; this means that your degree, expertise, or experience do not matter; only bribes do.

My acquaintance was seriously ill and had to be transported to a rural public health institution. He was diagnosed after waiting for several hours, but he was unable to be treated due to a lack of space or medical equipment. The acquisition of these equipments apparently made it into the budget, was approved, but never delivered. Individuals in the health-care system were given the money for personal gain. So, while they were toasting their heist with wine, my friend was toasting his disease with pain.

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In a country with abundant natural resources, poverty is prevalent, with little or no evidence of improvement. When we wake up to breaking news of "Animals devouring money," how can I explain to my children that animals like snakes or monkeys might consume millions of dollars? The driving force behind these failures is corruption, which runs deep in our veins.
These are only a few examples of how corruption has affected everyday people's lives. It was a disease that went undiscovered and for which there was no vaccine.

THE EVOLUTION OF MUSIC TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

Fela Kuti pioneered the transformation of African music into Afrobeats; it was not just about putting together musical instruments or creating notes for a song to be played; it was about the message the music was conveying..It was all about creating "Underground spirituality," as we call it.
It was not about dancing while listening to a song. It was about sitting down and listening to every syllable in the song, meditating on the words while ensuring that we understood the message about how thoroughly Corruption had ingested us.

According to my Dad, the idea or plan of Fela Kuti was to create music and sounds that would change what he considered as "African Mentality". I have discovered that the solution to Corruption is Mentality. Music travels deep into our thoughts to change the existing mentality we have about things
So I made a compilation of songs that several musicians on the continent wrote to equip our minds in the fight against eradicating the Corruption Mentality.

FELA KUTI & AFRICA 70- PANSA PANSA IN BERLIN, GERMANY 1978

This is the first African band that created the genre called Afrobeats and it was here Fela Kuti announced the "Underground spirituality movement". A movement consisting of songs that talk about the Corruption in Nigeria, the way Politicians steal with their pen and how the country is in a total mess because of effect of Corruption.

He complains about his music got the attention of the government and how the government is complaining about the messages in his song. He explicitly states that he would continue to evangelize against the corrupt practices in the country regardless of any factor

BEAST NO NATION BY FELA KUTI AND EGYPT 80

This song was channeled against a corrupt police system filled with bribery and brutality and the numerous government policies to steal money while the citizens of the country fold their hands without doing anything or standing up..

Fela messages was received well by everyone in the country, I grew up listening to my father playing tracks of Fela Kuti. It was clear he passed a message for the new generation to continue with the fight musically. One of those Musician would be Burna Boy

BURNA BOY - SOKE

The actual phrase is "Soro Soke" which is a Yoruba phrase meaning "Speak Up"..Burna boy dives into this song to remind us that we must speak up about this disease killing the country...

Key Lyrics
They want to know as things dey go
For my country o
E don kolo, people don kolo, eji soro
E no easy
No money o, no light e o, water nko?
E no dey flow
If e vex e o, dem go call mopol, dem go come o carry you go

He simply explains that when people ask him about how his country is going..He simply replies that there is no water or power, no provision of basic things and yet when you question the government, they use the police as a tool to bully you.

BURNA BOY - COLLATERAL DAMAGE

This is an afro-infusion genre to switch from the traditional sound of afrobeat into a vibe that suits the present day vibration while spending the message about the damages in the country.

Burna boy preaches how we have folded our hands while governors, presidents are stealing public funds..He cries we are even afraid to stand up for fight, to hold the government accountable because we are scared of things we cannot see or the police oppression.

Lyric for Burna Boy are from [Source]

GIFS are from [Source]

Special thanks to @mipiano for this amazing idea behind our stories and the effect of music as an inspiration..It has been amazing sharing these experiences and also seeing that there are other people sharing the same stories...

Cheers to our great community