Oguega Divination Poetry In Edo State, Nigeria

 Oguega is a divination apparatus which is in common use among Esan people of Edo State, Nigeria.  Oguega diviners are consulted irrespective of religious leanings in this culture. The use of this divination apparatus is concomitant with exclamations, songs, narratives, chants and poetry. This study investigates a handful of its poetry and discusses them as they relate to contemporary tendencies and dynamics in this culture. This paper employs a mixed method approach in eliciting information from three diviners each from the five local government areas in Esan. Although Oguega terms are esoteric, one notices that the poetry which goes with the codified language is worth examining so as to emplace its relevance in contemporary scholarship. It is thus thought that a study of this sort is likely to enrich studies on the connection between the indigenous and the modern in African studies. Key words: Oguega, divination, Esan, culture, Nigeria                  

Towards the documentation and archiving of selected Esan Musical Instruments, Edo State, Nigeria

The focus of this paper is to examine the etymology of some Esan musical instruments, their nature and musical/extra musical functions so that they could be properly documented and archived. This is in tandem with the paper’s title which tries to talk beyond sound to the objects of sound creation. There is a gradual wilting of information relating to some Esan musical instruments. This development is caused by the strong factors. First of all is the penchant for western musical instruments as new sources of sound generation and secondly the new thinking of the indigenous people who feel that their musical instruments are no longer fashionable and are now ersatz when put side by side foreign ones. The craze for alien musical instruments and modern life styles has made it possible for the natives to source for new sounds and at the same time put away their traditional ones. In eliciting data for this presentation, a mixture of research methods was employed and they are: library search for relevant literature, interviews and active participant observation. In the course of this investigation, it was discovered that there is a plethora of musical instruments in this locale which are under-reported either due to some of the factors already mentioned above or as a result of certain social taboos and human made restrictions. In order to preserve some Esan musical instruments before they vanish into the oblivion, this study pilots a preliminary survey of some of them whose information on their documentation and archival procedures are captured and disseminated. It is therefore reasoned that this effort is a way of enhancing our knowledge in ethno-organology

Music and Dance Therapy in Nigeria: The Task before the Potential Nigerian Music Therapists in the Twenty First Century

The use of music and dance as a palliative measure, diversionary means, audio-analgesic and to control pain, is found in the musical practices of Nigerians. These different categories of the use of music can be put into two classifications: the use of music as medicine and the use of music as accompaniment to other healing rites. This paper examines: definitions of music therapy, the concept of illness in the contemporary Nigerian society, and music therapy and its social relevance. While highlighting the emerging issues before the Nigerian music/dance therapists, this paper ends by making some suggestions aimed at enhancing the present level of practice in Nigeria