Igbo Folk Music: A Thematic Study of Mike Ejeagha’s Igwe Okada

Abstract

This paper seeks to help in the preservation and reappraisal of one of Mike Ejeagha’s works which has hitherto remained undocumented and thus disposing it to little study, research, accessibility, appreciation and reference. It seeks to revive the Igbo folk music, which modernity is fast eroding, and add it to the music repertoire of the world and by so doing give the Igbo people something to contribute to modernity and to the global family. The paper also aims at giving a new lease of life to the work of this music icon who has contributed a great deal in the preservation of the Igbo culture through his educative, informative and entertaining narratives that expose eternal truths of life and help in molding the character of the Igbo person. To achieve these objectives the researchers adopted a qualitative research design, conducting an interview to get the autobiography of Ejeagha and using an analytical method of musical research where the music is considered in its prosodic form with an attempt to note its thematic impact to the life of the Igbo society which originated it. It was discovered that the documentation and thematic study of folkloric compositions of the likes of Mike Ejeagha will go a long way not just to document our Igbo values that modernity is fast eroding, but also help in the rebirth of the Igbo values that mold the Igbo person. This work is recommended as a didactic tool for the exposition and preservation of some Igbo values.