MUSIC COMPOSERS’ ROLES IN CURBING YOUTH RESTIVENESS IN NIGERIA: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

Youth restiveness is a social phenomenon with a negative influence on national development and security. This is because the youths are potentially the greatest investment for a society‟s sustainable development. The means of curbing youth restiveness has always been a great concern in Nigeria and many other countries of the world. Studies on this issue have been carried out in different ways forming part of the literature review for this work. Through library, internet, observation and interview sources, it was discovered that at various points in time, different programs under different names have been set up by government and non-governmental bodies as a way out. These programs have made some positive impact; in this regard music has also played some vital roles. This paper therefore, reveals some of the efforts made in the past towards solving this problem by government and individual bodies with particular attention to the vital roles Nigerian composers played. It revealed that through music arts, Nigerian composers have the capability of capturing the attention of the youths and making them have focus. In conclusion, the paper suggested various ways Nigerian composers could make more inputs on this issue.