Statistics have proven to us that a sizeable number of artistes who are making waves in the Nigerian Entertainment Industry are drop-outs from school. This trend has gone a long way to throw questions at whether or not education matters in one’s quest to become an entertainment star. Quadri Yahya and Olatunji Misturah met with some artistes in Moshood Abiola Polytechnic to get their take.
To talk about Nigerian music industry is to talk about the educational background of our artistes, especially the Hip-Hop artistes. Like a trumpet, it sounds well to some and quite horrible to others when they get to know that a particular yet popular artiste is a school drop-out. Some are always quick to reiterate that such explains why some artistes are bunch of singing-nothingness in their career. To the industry experts and music critics, they are not left out as they have overtime played down on the songs of the so-called uneducated artistes.
That said, some upcoming artistes themselves have seemingly irretrievably pitched their tent with the notion that education is a drop in the ocean of one’s development as a performance artiste – either as a music artiste or a dancer.
At the manifesto event organized in preparedness for the SU Election, these reporters engaged some artistes who performed at the event on issues pertaining to music and education.
A dancer, Samuel Efiok from the department of Computer Engineering, 100 Level explained that a certificate is nothing but a paper to have and be kept in order to pursue a career in music.
He opined that educational certificate cannot fetch him money as dance does, judging with the situation of the country.
The Akwa-Ibom born artiste with the stage name Neutronizesam further said that when he is done with school, he would keep his certificate aside, and pursue his career.
“I am going to pursue my career because after leaving school, I will go and keep my certificate. Certificate cannot give me money, it is dance that can,” he said.
Neutronizesam revealed how he has been singing since he was age seven, adding that combining education with his dancing career has been a rock to chisel.
Neutronizesam who also disclosed that he is the role model of himself said, “I saw the attribute in me and I have been dancing since I was 7-year-old.
“It is not easy. Sometimes, I will come to school and I will receive call for performance. I just have to create time for everything; merge everything together.
“I am looking up to myself. I want to be the mentor of myself. So I am working toward it.”
Alike is the opinion of Hassan Olamilekan popularly known as Omo Rector on campus. A finalist and a music artiste from the department of Pharmaceutical Technology. He goes by the stage name Fresh Leakaz. He started singing right from childhood at the tender age of ten, he claimed.
In his own view, Fresh Leakaz said that the Nigeria situation is unfavorable to graduates as finding a job is a Herculean task.
In his view, once a man cannot find what he so wishes, he falls back on what he is naturally endowed with, which is talent.
“To be precise, we all know how things are in this world now especially in Nigeria. If you are educated and you try to look for a job, it is hard to find a job. And since music is what is in me, I just feel like focusing on music more than education because music goes a long way compared to education,” his words.
A common motivational pidgin slang among youth is ‘man no go die’, Fresh Leakaz concurred as he exclaimed that the combination of school work with his music career has made him to stay up at night to exercise his music prowess.
“It is not something that is very easy. In fact, it is very tough. But I try to make everything balance 50/50. At times, you go to lecture during the day and go to the studio at night to do one or two things,” he said.
Fresh Leakaz seemed to agree that the future is blur as only God can decide it as he expressed that, “I can only pray for where I want to be in the next five years because only God has the answer for that. I am hoping to just go global.
“I have like five single songs now. I have a lot of mentors in the music industry. I have Olamide, Vector and Lil Kesh.”
As everyone cannot sleep and face the same direction, an upcoming music artiste in the department of Science Laboratory Technology, ND 2, Olumide Adewale popularly known as Teewalex argued that passion is pivotal and peculiar in everyone, and as such, everyone has to have passion for one thing or the other.
Still he disputed the point in sacrificing an immensely significant thing for another that is unpredictable.
Teewalex who started his career at age 18 being a Church choir to an artiste agreed that education is as vital as one’s career as an artiste.
Teewalex detailed, “Actually, in this life, you have to have something else that you have passion for. Even not everybody has passion for education. We still have something we have passion for. The time I started music was when I was 18-year-old, and it started from Church. I was a choir in the Church and one day when our Choir master was not around, I was able to compose a song for the church, and it was good. From there, I now thought that aside using my talent in the Church, I thought of making it an E=property (to make money from singing). So I tried and composed my first song titled: Wake-Up Nigeria and people said it was good. And that’s what really motivated me.”
Teewalex who now has three tracks of songs added that nothing can be predicted, thus, disposing a significant thing for another is like sitting on a dagger point.
“All we know about is today. We don’t know about tomorrow. That’s why you don’t just leave something, sacrificing it because of something else. You have to always strive to motivate yourself to do the two, and I believe when I get to a stage, I will know which one to go for.
“You can’t leave school to do other thing. Look at some artiste in Nigeria that abandoned education for their music career. The thing is affecting them now. You’ll see on Twitter, you see them blasting each other. And you see them going to their previous institution to dig up one another’s result and they’ll get to know that he/she did not finish school. He/she is a drop out. So I don’t want to be a dropout student. I want to achieve what I can achieve in the two: education and music career,” he explained.
Teewalex’s role model, Fire boy, as he said, was a graduate from the University of Lagos. Teewalex dreams to become a popular musician.
You need the right education – Career Expert
To play the guitar from the tip of an expert’s finger about music and education, Tolulope Mankind, a career expert with over a decade experience consulting for professionals in various sectors explained how truly the educational curriculums in schools today are outdated, making education irrelevant.
“The major challenge we have is that majority of the courses we have in our higher institutions today are no more relevant in this 21st century.
“That is the main reason some people are saying that education is not important because what they will be educated in is no more relevant in this 21st century, added to the fact that some of our curriculums and courses are outdated.”
He, however, emphasized that education is yet important regardless of such characteristics of the Nigerian Educational system.
Advising, Mankind maintained that education is beyond the four walls of a building, noting that it extends to personal development.
He said, “Education is not even about the walls of your tertiary institution, it goes to personal development. It is both your development from your environment. It is both from your exposure and the institution you are going to. Get an organized education about your career path.”
Consolidating, the expert established that education gives a solid foundation to one’s flair needed for one to be at the peak of one’s career.
“If you have a career path, for instance music, you need education. There is a difference between someone who is talented in music and someone who went to school of music to understand the rudiments of music.
“All these young music stars singing rubbish, using beats to cover up. You cannot compare them with people like Dare Art Alade, like Cobhams. So, if you want to be outstanding in your music career you still have to go to school. But the question is: which kind of school do you want to go to? You go to a music school. Not just a school that teaches you what you don’t need. If you want to be a fashion star, you go to a fashion school. If you want to be an expert in agriculture, you go to a school of agriculture, same with nursing, you go to a school of nursing. The results of those who went to those specific schools would be better than those who went to general institution because universities have been overhyped. It just gives you status, After your university tenure, you would still have to go home to train yourself.
In conclusion, Mankind charged, “Education is important. Don’t let anyone deceive you. You still need education but the right education. You need to train yourself. Although you don’t need your certificate as music is about capacity and results, but how do you get results if you have not trained yourself? And for you to be outstanding and to have results, you need to have specific education and not only general education.”
