‘Why Africa Must Rebuild Its Music Education System’

Long regarded as the continent’s living archive of history, identity and collective memory, African music is now at the centre of an urgent conversation about reforming and strengthening music education. In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, Music scholars warn that while global interest in African sounds is rising, weak structures at home threaten the transmission of this heritage to future generations, making deliberate investment in indigenous music education more critical than ever

Across Africa, music has always been more than sound. It is memory, identity and instruction, an enduring archive of social values, political history and communal life. Yet, despite this deep-rooted heritage, formal music education on the continent continues to struggle for structure, relevance and recognition. Today, the conversation is no longer about whether Africa has music education, but about how to perfect it through deliberate, far-reaching reforms.

Speaking on the state of Music Education, renowned Professor of Ethnomusicology and African Musicology, Adeoluwa Okunade, paints a picture of promise under threat. According to him, while colonialism introduced Western formal education, including music, the post-colonial era has, ironically, witnessed a gradual erosion of structured music learning.

“Presently, music education in Africa is not where it should be. In Nigeria, recent curriculum changes have merged music with other creative subjects under cultural and creative arts,” he told THISDAY. “In that arrangement, music has been drowned.”

He argued that the loss goes far beyond classroom timetables. Music, he insists, is the keeper of Africa’s collective memory; its political struggles, economic realities and social values.

“If care is not taken, these histories will die,” he stated. “Music preserves the soul of a people.”

One of the most pressing concerns, Okunade explained, is that formal music education now effectively ends at the junior secondary school level. This, he believes, wastes the immense creative potential evident in African children from an early age.

The don, who is a member of professional bodies such as the Association of Nigerian Musicologists (ANM) and the Society of Music Educators in Nigeria (SOMEN) noted that they have intensified advocacy efforts on it, adding that delegations have been sent to the Federal Ministry of Education, calling for music to be restored as a distinct and robust subject, much like history,  was once removed and later reinstated after public outcry.

Okunade stated that the right kind of music education “is structured, formal learning that develops talent into expertise”, noting that “just as agriculture goes beyond subsistence farming to scientific improvement, music must move beyond informal exposure”.

Beyond government engagement, he said that scholars are also leveraging immediate spaces such as churches, communities and cultural institutions to sustain music practice, recognising religion as a powerful platform for musical transmission.

Okunade’s work has taken African music far beyond Nigeria, to the United States, Brazil, Malaysia and other parts of the world. In global classrooms, African music has become one of the continent’s strongest cultural ambassadors.

“If there is anything that projects Africa’s image positively, it is music,” the don said. “People abroad are tired of hearing only Western sounds. They want something different, something African.”

Speaking on the evolving global perception of African music, Okunade noted that from Yoruba music lectures in Brazil to world music festivals across Europe and the Americas, there has been a dramatic shift in how African musical traditions are valued and presented.

He cited the growing prominence of African pianism, the practice of playing Western instruments such as the piano using African rhythmic and aesthetic principles, as a clear example of this transformation.

“When Africans play the piano, we play it like drums,” he said, noting that musical elements often rejected in Western harmony, such as parallel movement, are in fact central to African musical expression.

According to him, sustained research into African music in the diaspora has also broadened global conversations about African identity. He pointed to festivals, academic conferences and religious practices in countries such as Brazil and Cuba, where African musical traditions survived slavery and displacement, evolving into powerful cultural and spiritual symbols.

“These interactions have changed the narrative,” Okunade said. “Today, if you go to a world music festival and perform Western music, audiences are no longer interested. They want African music.”

He added that religion has played a crucial role in preserving African musical heritage abroad, with African-derived spiritual music in the Americas functioning as a living archive of the continent’s history and culture.

On the home front, Okunade acknowledged that Nigerian universities have made notable progress by introducing African choruses, ensembles and orchestras, as well as indigenous instruments such as the djembe and the oja flute, into their curricula.

However, he stressed that significant challenges remain, particularly in practical training, which he described as essential for fully grounding students in African musical traditions and performance techniques.

“The renewed global interest presents an opportunity for African institutions to deepen investment in indigenous music education and strengthen Africa’s voice in global cultural spaces,” the don stated.

Former Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists (ANM), Dr Samuel Ajose, expressed optimism about the state of music education in Africa, noting a gradual but clear shift away from Western dominance towards indigenous knowledge systems.

According to him, music education on the continent is expanding, with growing recognition of African musical traditions as valid systems of knowledge.

“Music education in Africa is growing,” he said. “There is a clear shift away from Western hegemony towards indigenous knowledge systems.”

He emphasised music’s central role in social development, describing it as a powerful tool for promoting health awareness, civic responsibility, national unity and the dignity of labour. Ajose also restated the sector’s economic value, noting that music remains one of Africa’s most successful cultural exports.

From sold-out concerts across Europe to significant foreign exchange inflows driven largely by Nigeria’s popular music industry, he said the continent’s music economy continues to record impressive growth.

Despite these gains, Ajose warned that preservation of African music heritage has become increasingly urgent, particularly in the era of Artificial Intelligence and digital content aggregation.

He stressed the need for the systematic digitisation of African music.

“African sounds are not sufficiently represented on global digital platforms,” he noted. “We must populate online databases with our music so future technologies reflect our identity.”

Meanwhile, efforts to strengthen music scholarship and practice in Nigeria continue through institutional recognition and professional honours. The Association of Nigerian Musicologists annually confers its highest honour, the Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists (FANM), on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to teaching, research, performance, leadership and community service.

Among recent recipients is Prof. Adeoluwa Okunade, who was honoured for decades of scholarship, leadership within Pan-African music education bodies and pioneering research, including the renowned Yoruba Art music project, widely regarded as a landmark study of indigenous and contemporary Yoruba music.

The FANM award, which is granted only after a rigorous nomination and review process, Ajose noted, is reserved for a select group of academics, chief lecturers and accomplished music directors whose work has significantly shaped the development of music education in Nigeria and beyond.