COMPOSITIONAL PRACTICE IN NIGERIAN MUSIC EDUCATION: EMERGING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The predominant emphasis on the study of European music, which obtains in the Nigerian music curricula at the moment, is untenable. While the study of European music in Nigerian schools and universities should not be completely discouraged - given the enormous impact of European culture on different aspects of Nigerian society - the development of an academic and educational system which addresses itself to the artistic and economic needs of contemporary Nigeria should be the dominant objective of any music curriculum in the country. One of the ways through which this objective can be· met is by examining the Nigerian society, the music industry, and contents of the music curriculum in the university. In the examination of the contents of curriculum from primary, secondary to tertiary levels of education, a lot of issues regarding contents and relevance to modern society have been raised (cf. Ekwueme 2000, Omibiyi-Obidike, 2001, Olusoji, 2013, etc.). Other scholars have raised challenges bordering on a balance between the Western and African content in the bi-musical curriculum of the Nigerian universities (cf. Okafor 2005; Adeogun 2006; Faseun 2008; and many more.). Apart from the universities, Ogunrinade‟s (2013) study on Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) reveals that the curriculum impacts little or no learning of Nigerian music to the learners. While most of these studies have been advanced on the general content of the curriculum, the present assessment effort is geared towards the specifics – focusing on theory and composition as an area of specialization within the university undergraduate music curriculum. Also, this paper argues that issues bordering on curricula and their contents have been unresolved for years; hence, other emerging issues have continued to evolve.