MUSIC IN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD IN ANNANG CULTURE: THEN AND NOW

Abstract

Annang society places importance in education of the child and sees it as a necessary factor in the development process of the child. It is their belief that education enhances the ability of the child to face challenges of life and grow into an adult that is not a threat to the society. One of their ways of achieving this is through the use of music. The type of education the Annang child receives informally, the methods used and how music contributes to the general education of the Annang child in Annang society - then and now, are some of the highlights of this paper. This research tries to bring to the fore, the importance of traditional music in general education and development of the Annang child as some suggestions advance towards effective use of traditional music in contemporary Annang society and beyond in a recessed Nigerian economy.
Annang society refers to the geographical area and the people who speak Annang as their language. It is the third major ethnic group in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The Annang-speaking people occupy the western part of Akwa Ibom State in the South-South Zone of Nigerian geographical region. They are bounded by the Ngwa and Ndoki (Igbos) in Abia State in the North; the Isuogbu on the East; on the South by Ibibio and on the West by the Adoni and Ogoni in Rivers State. The Annang now occupy eight out of the thirty-one Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State. These are Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Obot Akara, Ukanafun, Abak, Ika, Etim Ekpo and Oruk Anam (Udoh, 2012).
The Annang traditional society had and still has its ways of training its children. Human beings live in either their traditional societies of modern society.