IMBALANCE IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' EXPOSURE TO NIGERIAN ART MUSIC HISTORY: ITS EFFECTS AND LESSONS FROM COVID-19 EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The idea of acculturation is quite stimulating and beneficial as it tends to help in boosting, balancing and increasing the repertoire of the borrowing culture but at the same time, it can be proven to be destructive when it overshadows the culture it ought to be helping out, thus, stripping it of its original cultural identity. Music is one of the most unique ways or means of cultural expression and preservation in any African society, transmitted by means of oral tradition from one generation to another (Abegunde, 2015). This has always been the bedrock of Nigerian music until the contact with European Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century bringing about the advent of formal music education and the introduction of art music in Nigeria. Due to the imperialistic nature of the country at that time, being ruled by the Western nation, the Nigerian lifestyle and culture were subjected to so many changes influenced by the Europeans to suit their own cultural practices and beliefs, with our musical life being one of the many at the forefront of these changes.