THE RISE AND FALL OF HIGHLIFE MUSIC IN NIGERIA (II)

The age of Highlife music in Nigeria is a little short of seventy years, since it started in the early fifties. Most of its major practitioners are no longer living. These Highlife stars include Cardinal Rex Lawson, Charles Iwuegbue, E.C. Arinze, Inney Uguseh, Celestine Ukwu, Chief Osita Osadebe, Prince Nico Mbarga, Sam Akpabot, Orlando Owoh, Bobby Benson, Bala Miller, Inyang Henshaw, Eddy Okonta, Oliver de Coque and Victor Olaiya just to mention a few. This lends credence to the fact that the big names in Highlife music in Nigeria belong to the old generation.

OLIVER DE COQUE

The decline of highlife music in Nigeria could be attributed to three major events in the country: the African tour of the Twist ‘King Pin’, Chubby Checker, in the early 1960’s, the dislocation of Lagos-based highlife musicians in the civil war period (1967 – 1970) and the Geraldo Pino ‘Pop’ revolution of the 1970s. Nevertheless, the issue of Highlife’s decline has become an institutionalized fact among musicians, patrons of Highlife, entertainment journalists and academic scholars.

GERALDO PINO AND HIS HEARTBEATS

After the Nigerian civil war, frantic efforts were made to revive Highlife music, but were unfruitful because Highlife patrons have switched allegiance to other forms of music such as Juju and Apala.  By the end of the 1980s, the musical entertainment scene in Western Nigeria was typified by a proliferation of Juju and Fuji bands and a corresponding decline in the profile of Highlife music.  The concern about the decline of Highlife was also shared by Victor Olaiya and Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah in 1983/1984. This culminated in a series of ‘revival’ concerts at the Papingo Nightclub of Stadium Hotel, Lagos and the eventual release of the ‘Highlife Giants of Africa’ album in the same year.

E. T. MENSAH & VICTOR OLAIYA

However, it is clear today that young musicians in Nigeria do not want to play Highlife music in its original form. The youths look at the old generation as living in the past and have therefore continued to re-interpret existing musical styles to suit the demands and technological innovations of the modern Nigeria and the world at large.