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Welcome to the Association of Nigeria Musicologists (ANIM) Website

Like many of the current members of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists (ANIM), I was part of the inaugural meeting (you may call it conference) in 1993, at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State, organized and hosted by the Department of Performing Arts, with the then Dr Olabode Omojola, now an eminent professor of music, as the leader and organizer. That first meeting had Professor Lazarus Ekwueme as the Keynote Speaker, while other important guests included Pa Olaolu Omideyi, Richard Okafor, Tunji Vidal, Meki Nzewi, Olayemi Olaniyan, Lucy Ekwueme, Dan Agu, Joshua Uzoigwe, Emeka Nwokedi, Femi Faseun, Ayo Ekunwale, and many of the older and younger generation scholars, students, enthusiasts, and friends of music and Performing Arts in general. I recall that the host department, being a performing arts department, had people from Theatre Arts as participants. This changed later as many of them pulled out. At that time, I was a Graduate Assistant and a Masters Degree student under the supervision of Late Dr Joshua Uzoigwe who was later awarded a posthumous promotion to the rank of professor of music at the University of Uyo. I recall playing the Okpokolo (wood block) accompaniment to Uzoigwe’s performance of Ukom for piano. As I write this note, I am, understandably, filled with nostalgic feelings of that initial experience of the first meeting, the big names and musicologists that came together to deliberate on the need for the Nigerian musicologists to come together under one umbrella and the fact that, like many musicologists who were at that meeting, I have risen through the ranks to become the President of the association that emanated from that meeting. Indeed, many of us the young have grown, one may say. The meeting adopted Musicological Society of Nigeria (MSN) as the name going forward, and Dr Achinivu Kanu Achinivu, was appointed the Interim Chairman, while Dr Olabode Omojola was appointed the Secretary to plan the next conference that held at the Department of Music, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1994, in recognition of the institution’s position as the foremost indigenous university in Nigeria. The next conference held at the Department of Music, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1995. Thereafter, other institutions hosted and still host our national conferences in turn. The Society later changed to its current name and has since been registered with Corporate Affairs Commission.

center Being the President of the Association in a Covid-19 year, haven been elected with the current executive members on August 19, 2021, placed a huge burden on me and the executive members. The economic downturn, the challenges of insecurity in the country and many social vices threw on us the greater challenge of being extra resourceful to move the Association forward. It is now very critical for us to leverage on different sources to make the Association more visible, thereby motivating greater participation by members and music enthusiasts. One of those resources is our website. Given the digital trend in global research, teaching, communication and general activities, it has become quite perforce for us to explore and leverage technology in various aspects of our engagements in our Association. In our thinking, the Association is the strongest mouthpiece of musicologists in the country and deserves visibility across the globe. We are therefore updating the website to serve as our professional outlet to showcase activities in the various Departments of Music, achievements of individuals and research opportunities that abound in the country in music. It is expected that with deliberate resourcing of our website, high traffic would be attracted to it from within and from without to the benefit of members and researchers globally. It is our intention to continuously and deliberately provide needed resources on our website and we invite you to take out time to go through it to access relevant data that you may need.  As a professional body, we have no choice but to compete with the rest of the world in resource and data updating which would enable us to take our place in global music scholarship. The website of a professional body does not just exist for its sakes. It is relevant to the extent it provides needed and rare data to scholars globally. This is the greatest burden of our Association which must be given concerted attention by all members of the Association. Every member must rise and support the need to provide needed resources to update our website. We welcome all soft copies of materials that exist on music in Nigeria.

Despite the daunting Covid-19 pandemic, with the attendant economic and social challenges, we are confident that the Association would play its critical role as a platform for music resource and data on musicology, musicologists, institutions and musical activities in Nigeria. We are working to ensure that our website become a one-stop site for research on Nigerian and African music. Members are requested to login from time to time to keep the website active. International scholars of African music and musicologists in general are also encouraged to access data on music (particularly Nigerian music) through the website.

It is my pleasure therefore to welcome all musicologists, researchers, musicians, students and enthusiasts to the Association of Nigerian Musicologists Website where we are confident you will find the resource you need for your engagement in music.

Thank you and remain blessed.

Professor Christian Onyeji FANIM,

President.