Dear Nigerian Artist, Your teachers were right, you did not make it in life

They didn’t make it in school. But yes, they did flourish outside the demands of the academic structure of Nigeria.

One of the favourite themes of Nigerian musicians is a celebration of their success, despite all the evil machinations of their haters. A Nigerian artist can find haters everywhere. It’s a bit like a special requirement. If you have to blow up and become a successful Nigerian artist, then you must have your special brand of haters. And if you don’t have, you have to create them. A simple way to create them is simply brand everyone who criticises your work, or pushes you to be a better musician as a hater.

That’s the category that journalists and teachers fall into. They are haters of the first degree. The journalists who report the misdemeanours of musicians, and the critics who push them to the edge of standards are the chief haters. But they aren’t the original haters. They simply started ‘hating’ when the musicians became prominent. The chief haters come from a long time ago, even before they fully understood that they were musicians.

 

The original haters are the teachers. Those people tasked with the most crucial jobs of giving them an education and helping them prepare for a life of literacy and understanding. These people are the leading haters. And why? Because they identified long ago that school was not for most of these musicians. They saw the future and told them to their faces that they weren’t cut out for anything scholarly or academic.

“You will not make it with this attitude,” the teachers said. Or “With your low level of intelligence, you will not make it in life.”

These statements weren’t made with the intention to witch-hunt the Wizkid and Davidos of this world. This statement was made at a time in this country where the standard process for success involved scholarly pursuit. They were speaking about a time in the 80s and 90s when everyone’s desire was to get a professional job as a banker, lawyer, doctor, engineer or teacher.

But times have changed. We have seen the internet revolutionize our country, and also people have made strides. Those teachers didn’t see this future when Wizkid could sell out the Royal Albert Hall. They existed at a time when local pop music was at its formative stages.

 

And as for the musicians who weren’t good in school, didn’t they get an early pointer that their destiny lay outside the walls of a college? Did they not seek solace in their talents, nurtured it and became superstars?

So yes, those teachers were handicapped in their knowledge, but they forced the musicians to admit that they were built different, and would find salvation elsewhere. That is a crucial kindness that many of these artists failed to acknowledge.

So while they drink their Henny, fly private jets, and perform at the largest venues, they should understand that although they became successful, they still didn’t get to succeed at academics.

So their teachers were right. They didn’t make it in school. But yes, they did flourish outside the demands of the academic structure of Nigeria.