As Lagos-based artiste, Seen Olota, makes his song, ‘Alaafia’ (peace) to speak to xenophobia and other phobias rocking Africa, he speaks on his music, politics and culture in this interview with phenomenal.com.ng
PHENOMENAL: Why did you decide to produce the song, ‘Alaafia’?
This song is a reaction to many things among which were the Arab Spring in 2015, the sit-tight leaders who were about to and had been forced out of office and the after-effect of the wars and unrests thereof. It is appalling to find that one man or a family has ruled or is ruling for 20 to 30 to 40 years. In addition to this dangerous act, he or she leaves and installs his or her spouse or siblings. This risky trend summates that other villagers’ or community members’ heads do not count. So, we began to perform the song in 2015.
Thanks to the ExTaSi Gang, my team who saw the drive and vision in the common cause to make music as they appeal to each member’s soul. We did a live stage recording of ‘Alaafia’ in 2015, followed by a studio recording of it in 2017. The song was just left in the coffers because the songs to accompany it in the Why Worry Album were still undergoing editing. The disturbing trend of Xenophobic attacks, random shootings by some sick souls around the globe who just wake someday and decide to feed on flesh or laugh over people’s agonies by shooting or throwing explosives are the concerns in the song.
This song is instructing all at different levels, as regards Xenophobia. Its idea is that there are “…no wrongs, no rights but a humanity bound by the duty-of-care to achieve and maintain peaceful existence in the world.” We just have to fix it. This is to avoid the blame game syndrome that tends to push people into deliberate denials and intentional acts to justify self’s position even when it is silly. We are aware that many people are in battles twhose origins they know nothing about. This is where the political class, the ruling class and the elite that exploit the ignorance of the uniformed so as to maintain status quo, remain in power or stay close to the cookies jar have to be careful because the table must surely turn. How, when and at who will be the victims? No one knows but, surely, this will turn because it is a natural law.
Further on this, we have seen various fierce rulers, brave warriors and even tyrants and dictators being reduced to chickens and babies when captured or disgraced out of office. To see such people at the point of their capture begging and excreting in their pants show that even the powerful can be baby-like when stripped off power, position and those enjoyed privileges. It is not a problem if a stubborn-headed or a greedy person decides to choose that path of self-perish but the concern is that they do not perish alone but with a lot of innocent citizens.
PHENOMENAL: Your perspective in the message is that of peace, not ‘fight them’. Why?
Peace is it. At the end of the day, anything that goes up must come down. At the end of it all, every burning fire eventually must come down. The song is self-explanatory. It is only where there is rest that one can carry out business activities, party, think of creativity among many other things. We cannot afford to add one more second of disturbance or unrest to what we already have in our hands globally. Syria is still wallowing in what looked like “it will soon in be over in a matter of weeks, Al-Assad would step down” and on and on it continued. Libya has not recovered, Yemen, Iraq, Rwanda, South Sudan and Afghanistan are still counting their losses from unrests. How much more a full-blown war that no one knows where it will end even if one knows the beginning?
In fact, the stubborn-headedness of those sit-tight leaders breaks one’s heart more seeing them still insisting on holding on to power even when their citizens that elected and supported them for years or decades then begin to clamour for their exit. It is sickening to see that such protests degenerated before their very eyes into wars, loss of lives, injuries and destructions. They drag our children, our women and our mothers along through the burdens caused by their greed and stubbornness yet the insist on holding on to power.
Hence, we decided to put this song together as a note of warning to the sit-tight actors and those calling for wars or igniting one around the globe by their actions to learn from Adolf Hitler, Lauren Gbagbo, Al-Assad, Gaddafi, Mugabe, Yahya Jammeh, Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and others. I believe it is enough when the citizens that elected a leader jointly say it is enough but, greed, stubbornness and appetite becloud their reasoning and by the time they get to their right senses it is most times late. At the long run, they leave but disgraced or killed. Especially when and where war generals start to beg like babies or wee-wee in their pants when captured. It then moves one beyond comic relief but pity for them and there is a lesson for everyone to learn from in all these – knowing when to quit, exit or take a bow.
PHENOMENAL: Do you believe in Africanism?
Yes I do however it depends on our agreed syntax of measuring Africanism. Africanism in the African’s definition and it must move with human development and social demands. One not driven by other world’s judgment of what is ideal for the African but what Africans want as their own ideals based on their manual, culture. We see this copy catting a lot in many of our policy makers where we get to hear statements like “we want to make our state a Dubai of Africa or I am African Michael Jackson.” That means if there is no Dubai or Michael Jackson your destiny will not be in existence? Your state already has its own character and a flavor that cannot be replicated anywhere except a counterfeit of it just like the charcoal or firewood rice’s taste cannot be achieved by the gas. That is just what it is and that is why we have to be involved in the participatory democracy and not leave policy making or governance to what we refer to as “what some people or certain aliens do.”
Leaving transactions of such magnitude on behalf of the people and a nation in the hands of just about anybody or actors with inferior mindsets will debase the efforts of highly intellectually sound persons in the society if they do not participate in governance. We need representatives that have the psyche and ability to see through the motives of agenda-setters as well as push through their agendas on the negotiation table at international summits and transactions where everyone has come with his own agenda and interests. Likewise, the civil society must get involved in the process of policy making and electing their policy makers. Then, we can start having the intellectuals, independent, developed and well exposed representatives that we want.
The point that I am driving at with this is that, I believe that the Africanism best for the Africans is that defined and channeled by Africans themselves and not those defined by the syntax or metrics of those colonialists that constructed their views about Africans based on bias judgements. Thanks to the works of scholars who give at par analysis and weigh the rationale behind many historical accounts written about Africans from the outside world. This brings us to historicism which is the philosophy behind a historical account because there is history of history which is the history of how history began and the history of philosophy is the history of happenings in philosophy while the philosophy of history also known as historicism is interested in questioning the rationale, psychology and motif behind a historical account. This should guide our consumption of the reports that we see in foreign media about Africa and should guide the history we that we teach in our schools and what some of our researchers and film makers build their works on.
For this reason, our Africanism should represent, tell the stories and define the metrics of Africans set by Africans else the definition of us by the constructivists who are simply passersby will continue to hold based on their own outlook. One of such is the tag of Nollywood on the Nigerian film industry and the lumping up of various music categories from Africa under World music and now the Afrobeats cliche. It is bizzare to ask someone what his or her name is and before his or her response you are already answer the question yourself by saying “Mr. Wood? Or Mr. Smith?” In such cases, I say “no, have another guess” and when the person finally responds that his or her name is “Jagunmi,” the questioner goes further again by asking “don’t you have an English name?” Africanism is only natural to the African, Europeanism to the Europeans, Asianism and Arabianism to their respective owners. So why should the African man’s own be different, raise an eye brow or look as a novel or a super excellent idea? Be that as it may, globalization has opened up the world and connected all ends together such that not only the privileged can see or get connected to the world but everyone at least with the click of a mouse.
PHENOMENAL: What’s your opinion on Nigerian artistes who are cancelling their events in South Africa due to the attacks?
It is a matter of choice, opinion and principle and so, they have the right to decide on what to do or how to react. For some, situations like this present itself to know those standing with the masses and for some others it is an opening for some publicity stunts. Therefore, we applaud it and do not also applaud it depending on the motive behind such action and decision. Some might be grumbling to take such action which means that it was not out of personal will but for those who stood with the masses due to compassion and empathy, I doff my hat for their sacrifices in responding to what the authorities of the countries involved dragged their feet over initially.
Voluntary giving and donation without compulsion has its reward but those who give only where there is media coverage will be revealed by the testy of time. We all saw what happened at the Fuel Subsidy protest where some persons saw it as a platform for publicity and career relaunch. They soon forgot the main cause of the gathering and the protest slipped off. We have seen cases where some persons brag before an audience, a congregation or a crowd to make donations only for the recipients to be chasing after them to make them redeem their pledges.
I am referring to all these just to say that it might look heroic or iconic on the surface but beneath various motives, there might be at play other things that only the test of time can justify or nullify. Be that as it may, I must say that sanctions on countries, persons and institutions that fall short of proper conducts in the company of civilized beings are welcomed because if there are no consequences for such actions the perpetrators will continue to get bold in their criminal acts. Therefore, it is a plus for artistes to be taking the lead where governments are slow to step into the matter. I am happy that my industry is contributing its quota to humanity with the little voices and opportunities that we have in our various little corners. This is a great achievement for my industry.
PHENOMENAL: Would you do the same thing if you had a pending engagement there?
The circumstances might be different in which such will be done nevertheless I would do the same to send a message to the authorities and in empathy with the affected persons. How can one be in merriment when one’s blood are in distress? I have South African friends who are loving, kind, well read and exposed and were against such barbaric acts. They felt really bad about the shameful situation because the notion being spread around about the situation is not a definition of who they are as a people and so the wrong doings of some gangsters should not define their country. I can understand the pain of these great minds and their state of powerlessness of not being able to achieve much compared to the efforts that they are making in harmonizing partnership, collaboration and cultural exchange with people across their own boarders. For example, Music in Africa (MiA) is a South African cultural industry brand and organisation that is at the forefront of opening up opportunities for across boarder collaborations, cultural exchange, information sharing and talent and business showcases. The MiA hosts its annual event that incudes music conferences, workshops, trainings, industry networking events, performances and showcases which always hold in the capital city of another African country each other year and has held in three other African countries in the last three years.
Therefore, to describe the actions of a whole country by the actions of gangsters and miscreants can be depressing. It is the same heartbreak that we have when some miscreants who happen to be our countrymen misbehave outside the country and the whole country is tied and personified with their actions. This should not be, that is why the law must take its cause on offenders – they must be brought to book. It is like using the situation that often erupt in the motor parks to define Nigerians as a whole. I also have Nigerian friends who live in South Africa and they confirmed that classes occur but the situation as reported and amplified on social media are most times not as bad as reported. Information is blown beyond proportion or is completely false but just because the bloggers want to get trendy they go sensational. It is silly and risky which is the reason why the law and ethics of journalism must be enforced by the authorities else they will cause what will blow in our faces.
Just this month, we saw a Nigerian blogger that posted the 2015 picture of a telecoms operator’s outlet that got ravaged by fire but the blogger reported that it was a retaliation by Nigerian protesters against the September 2019 attacks in South Africa. Street gangs’ and drug peddlers’ clashes in South Africa are now masqueraded as Xenophobic attacks as highway robbery and kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria are recently tagged herdsmen attack that even when someone slumps in his bedroom it will be tagged a herdsmen related accident. The picture of what we see in the media can be the report of an event in Shomolu and it is seen outside the country as if it is the whole of Nigeria that is having the unrest.
Similarly, the reports on Boko Haram in 2015 and 2016 made Nigerians in the diaspora to keep calling home by the hour based on the scary information reported in the media. Also, the video of a South African Police chief making some dangerous remark before in a press conference was said to be a 2017 video and just last week Friday, a friend from a Francophone country sent me a video of an attack that got a lot of people injured and buildings ravaged with explosives asking me to confirm if it was true that the South African embassy had been bombed in Lagos-Nigeria. That video was one of the videos of terrorist attack on a motor park in the North. In other words, all kinds of untrue stories are shared on social media to the detriment of our development as a society and so artistes have a role to play and are gladly stepping in to harmonize and put in equilibrium what politics have not been able to achieve or neglected due to interests, ambition and greed.
PHENOMENAL: What next on the song?
This song is part of an unreleased 12 tracks album and so the release of two more singles before the final release are queued already. The plan is to continue to make more music, organise other performances to promote our new project, actualise collaborations that time has not permitted we the parties involved, showcase and spread the message of our projects and what we stand for. The ExTaSi Gang team is ready and getting the music tighter by the day. We are also concluding with what we need to do with the remaining parts of the song because it a long episode of different scenarios which cannot fit into one song nor album. Like I said earlier, the song came in response to the Arab Spring, the causes, the actors who were majorly the sit-tight leaders, the outcomes and the after effect of all these protests and wars are still being chronicled till date. Incidentally, the after single was released when I realised a day after that its release coincided with the day Robert Mugabe passed on.
