I am yet to listen to a more penetrating account of the Midas touch, arresting power and talismanic power of the female gender as evocatively delivered by Mukaiba in the track he entitled Kurukere. He was a social crusader, commentator and musical prodigy, serenading Nigerian fans and the west coast with his very sublime, penetrating Apala music. He had a mellifluous and almost effeminate voice that singled him out among his peers. Mukaiba, widely known as Baba L’Epe, having been born in the riverine Epe area of Lagos, was a musical petrel of the 1960s, through 1980s. Children looked forward to the symphony of National Day orchestra, perfect chemistry of matching feet at stadia across the country and the arresting drums of police bands.Ī musical rendition of this October 1 ritual that succinctly captures its mesmerising glee is in the 1971 recorded vinyl of Ligali Mukaiba, Yoruba Apala musician. For decades, until the October 1 saturnalia began to lose its savour, successive governments made good job of conflating the frills of the rituals as representation of our national joy and unity. While some countrymen say the October 1 celebration rituals are worthy of flinging the cymbals, some others say it is a day to drench ourselves in sack clothes and ashes reminiscent of mourning moments for biblical Israelites. Yesterday, it was 62 years since Nigeria got her independence from colonial Britain.
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