SONGS

This study examines Afrobeats as tools for political and social resistance in Nigeria, with a focus on how artistes employ music to influence and critique the political and social realities of the nation. The research reveals that Afrobeats has evolved beyond entertainment into a powerful instrument for social awareness, political activism, and resistance against oppression, corruption, and injustice. The study adopts New Historicism Theory as its theoretical framework, which states that understanding a literary or artistic work requires knowledge of the historical context that shapes it. This approach enables an exploration of how Afrobeats reflects and responds to Nigeria’s political and social decadence. Ten songs were analyzed, including Eedris Abdulkareem’s “Jaga Jaga” and “Tell Your Papa”; Burna Boy’s “20.10.20”, “Another Story”, “Monsters You Made”, “Common Person”, and “Wetin Man Go Do”; Falz’s “This Is Nigeria” and “Johnny”; and Teni’s “Uyo Meyo.” I’m Findings show that these artistes use Afrobeats as a medium for advocacy, self-expression, and societal critique. Their songs confront issues such as bad governance, state violence, social inequality, unemployment, and moral decay while inspiring resilience and hope among listeners. The study concludes that Afrobeats functions as a voice for the people. It educates, unites, and awakens social consciousness; thereby placing the genre as a vital tool for political and social transformation in contemporary Nigerian society

Through Ideation, interpersonal and textual meta-funtion, we have been able to write on the importance and significance of Fela Kuti’s song making use of Micheal Halliday’s systemic functional linguistic because it makes use oflanguage in analysing the text. This theory views language as a network ofinterconnected systems and meaningful alternatives , options or choices for creating meaning. Fela through his songs speak against corruption, nepotism and favouritism.He exposed a lot of wrong done in the society through his music and speaks to the consciousness ofthe poor masses. He sensitize them abou the danger ofnot waking up and accepting reality and fighting for their freedom as these government is not ready to save the masses rather, the government is stealing from them big time.

This paper explores the social and cultural significance of select songs by Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, a pioneering Fuji musician. Through a critical analysis of his music, this study examine how his songs reflect and shape societal values, cultural norms, and political consciousness in Nigeria. Specifically, I focus on songs that address themes of love, morality, social justice, and political commentary, demonstrating how Barrister's music serves as a platform for social critique, cultural preservation, and community engagement. This research highlights the importance of Fuji music as a cultural expression and its role in shaping Nigerian society, contributing to the understanding of the dynamic relationship between music, culture, and society

This study examines Ten stories and songs in Ẹdo: A case study of Ora, by investigating the cultural significance of these stories and songs, analyzing the content and meaning of the stories and songs in Ora, and lastly, promoting the understanding and appreciation of the Ora culture. The study relied on oral and documented data collected from primary sources. The oral data which made up the primary data were elicited from competent native speakers of Ora language. The interviewees were residents of Edo State whose ages range from fifty years and above. The respondents are: old people (3 man and 2 women), who are competent speakers of Ora language and also vast with the history, traditional stories and songs of the land. The data collected were recorded using a voice recorder which were then written down for organization and categorical analysis. The ethnography of communication, Hymes (1964) theoretical framework was used, several methods of data analysis was employed to explore the intersection of stories and songs in Ora. . Findings revealed that there are cultural significance of the stories and song in Ora, the stories and songs in Ora have content and meaning, and lastly, these stories and songs can be promoted when they are sung and thought especially to the younger generations as it will help in preserving the Ora's culture. The researcher recommends further studies in this particular area and any aspect not touched in this study be treated by linguist, scholars or any other researchers who have interest in the documentation and preservation of the stories and songs in Ora or any other Edoid language.