Beyond Mere Entertainment: Moral Reorientation in Ogundare Foyanmu’s Ijala Song-Texts

Abstract

One of the indigenous African popular music genres among the Yoruba people of Nigeria is ijala, a form of Yoruba poetry. There have been lots of studies on ijala in the areas of form, style and cultural beauties. Societies are beset with the challenge of value system from the family to the larger society. There is a need to promote core values, transform negative attitudes and behaviours and commit the people to the renewed values. However, there is a dearth of scholarly attention on the moral reorientation functions of the ijala. Hinged on the cultural norms theory, the researcher purposively selected five tracks of Ogundare Foyanmu and qualitatively analysed the song-texts textually to determine the presence of the moral reorientation messages. The study contributes to the body of knowledge in the area of ijala, indigenous African popular music and moral reorientation. It revealed that there are copious moral reorientation messages in the song-texts. It is, therefore, recommended that further researches should be carried out on ijala and communication messages therein and, on the other, the ijala artiste. The findings of the study would benefit agencies of government at different levels in a bid to inculcate morals in the members of the society.