By Ayo Dada
In Yorubaland, social events are more than a form of acknowledgement; it is an evocation of personhood and an affirmation of social belonging. When I first began attending social events in Yorùbáland. At such events, much time were spent addressing esteemed members of the audience. Often accompanied by drumming and praise singing, acts of personal recognition dominated public occasions, leaving comparatively little space for what I would have considered “substantive” content.
In Yorùbá society, praise singing, poetry, music and dance have always been an important part of their culture for those living in Nigeria as well as in the diaspora. Praise songs, poetry are important ingredients in Yoruba music and dance and are used for many different occasions in life, such as religious festivals, royal occasions, and entertainment. Yoruba traditional music focuses on Yoruba deities. Drums and singing are the main element.
What is oblivious to most is where, indeed, the practice originated from. Though some claim that money spraying can be attributed to earlier foreign traditions that are similar in nature. A few names resonate as follows: the “Money Dance, Apron Dance, Bridal Dance, or Dollar Dance”.
In other climes in the early 1900s, wedding guests – both male and female – who wishes to dance with either the bride or groom must take permission and pay for the privilege. During that time, only female guests danced with the groom and only male guests danced with the bride and they would have to form a queue and wait their turn. Interestingly, permission to dance with the groom was obtained from the bride and vice versa, while the maid of honor and best man were charged with collecting these payments respectively. In addition to Poland, this dance is commonly practiced, with slight differences, in Ukraine, Hungary, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, and most Slavic countries.
The tradition of money-spraying in Nigeria has a rich history rooted in Yoruba culture. This can be traced back to court poetry/praise singing which was one of the most developed and elaborate oral poetic genres among the people. By court poetry, I mean specialized forms of praises that are directed to paramount rulers either publicly or privately. These are ambitious praises composed and recited by professional bards attached to the kings’ courts. The most formal state praises are usually rendered by the official male bards known by various appellations, such as: Akigbe oba (the-ones-who-acclaim-kings), Akewi oba (the kings’ poets), Apohun oba (the kings’ bards), Onirara oba (the kings’ praise singers), Arokin oba (chroniclers of kings’ genealogies), Onisekere oba (the-ones-who-chant-to-the-accompaniment-of-gourdrattles-for-kings), or Alaro oba (the-ones-who-chant-to-the-accompaniment-of-metalclavicles-for-kings).
Also, there are female royal bards known as Akunyungba in Oyo whose performance is restricted to the inner chambers of the palace. As royal wives (ayaba and ayomo), yungba chanters are forbidden to perform in the public, unlike their male counterparts (Akinyemi, “Poets as Historians” 143). In precolonial Yoruba society, all court bards were “kept in royal service” and “well supported” by their patrons and, in return, the bards “repeat daily in songs the genealogy of the kings, the principal events of their lives, and other notable events in the history of the Yoruba society” (Johnson 125-26). – Akintude Akinyemi.
Whenever the heads of the kings, the chiefs and the elites that were being praised swelled, they would give ewu etu, aso oke, royal clothes, cowries, yam tubers, all manner of raw foodstuff, cowries to those singing their praise in appreciation.
As time went by during the pre-colonial and the colonial era, Yoruba music which is deeply rooted in praise singing and poetic culture, juju music in particular, a popular Yoruba music style that originated from talking drums and percussion instrument played a vital role in the rise of Nigerian music on the global stage and the new culture of spraying.
In the 1950s and 1960s, highlife became the preferred genre among southern Nigerian elites, dominated by Rex Lawson, Bobby Benson, and Victor Olaiya. This era marked a shift in performance style, incorporating dynamic dancers to engage the audience, unlike the previous seated performances.
The late 1960s and the 1970s Juju emerged as the dominant genre in Southern Nigeria owing to three key factors: the departure of highlife musicians from eastern Nigeria during the civil war, the growth of a middle class due to the oil boom, and the introduction of new instruments such as pedal steel guitars at a time when jazz-funk was in demand led to the explosion of spraying at parties becoming not just for the rich and powerful, but also for the Nigerian middle class. This tradition persisted and became a hallmark of the Yoruba party scene popularly known as owambe.
The problem started in the 80s when 419 boys, Babangida millionaires, drug dealers, and shady characters who didn’t know the culture well enough or understand the origin, started to bastardize it by obscene amount of show off of their ill-gotten wealth at parties, throwing bundles of money at musicians and at party goers which today has metamorphosed into obscenity.
While we focus on the money spraying aspect of the Yoruba culture, the law makers have forgotten that Yoruba people still give out presents at their parties, ranging from cups, tea cups, Ankara, adire, aso oke to foodstuff and so on, in continuation of their age long culture of appreciation by giving at events.
These musicians celebrated and praised, successful, wealthy and esteemed elites, and members of the society and their audience. In line with Yoruba customs, the individuals being praised reciprocated by showering the performers with banknotes as a gesture of appreciation for their artistry and praise songs.
The Nigerian wedding industry in the recent past has become synonymous with ostentatious displays of wealth, luxury, and extravagance. It’s no longer just about celebrating the love between two people but also about showcasing one’s affluence and social status. From hiring the most expensive decorators to booking the most luxurious venues, many couples spare no expense in creating the perfect wedding day. This is done in the hopes that their friends and relatives will be impressed by the grandeur and luxury of the occasion and will generously “spray” them with money as a sign of their appreciation. My advice on this is to cut your coat according to your size.
Before I close, the government and the law makers must realize that spraying celebrants, attendees and musicians at parties and other events has a lot of economic advantages in our society. This is a big part of how band members of musicians are paid, assist the host in getting some of the money spent back, and how money is generally spread around. Spraying of money at parties and events has it’s positive economic, cultural and social cycle that must not be touched by the government. Nigerians love to show off, wealthy or not, if they are not allowed to spray, our musicians will suffer for it. The Nigerian government needs to rethink this law. Afterall, we wear suits and ties, they are not our culture, if other cultures have bought into spraying their money, so be it.
Let the government enact a law that guides spraying at events and (laws)that will investigate party sprayers who show off wealth without means.
COMMENT: Wọn fi ẹtẹ lẹ, wọn npa lapalapa.
The waste in governance, the misuse and mismanagement of our mineral resources, and the excessive compensation plans of elected officials, to name just a few are 1000xce bigger than spraying money, imo.
So let the focus be redirected towards cleaning up from top to bottom. To rebuild our culture, there’s gotta be an exemplary mind shift – OB Ajayi.
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