I love the fact that the Nigerian Entertainment Industry has progressed so much in the last decade. This is specifically true of the music industry. I remember some years ago, we didn’t have DJs dishing out 100% Nigerian songs at events (be they secular or Gospel); a trend which has drastically changed today.

Now, if one doesn’t make particular efforts to follow genres of music at the international level, one simply gets buried deep in Nigerian music. This ought to be good. Right? After all, we should be proud that our artists are recording and promoting purely Nigerian content.

I love Nigerian music. The vibes; the rhythm and the flows; the beats… But while there’s always something very interesting and exciting about the rhythm of many of our songs, a large percentage of the lyrics are mostly nonsensical, at the very least, and outrightly scandalous and demonic, at the worst.

In an earlier writing, I made reference to Nigerian secular song writers that are doing amazingly inspiring songs; songs that promote values, encourage positive principles and showcase our rich cultural heritages. God bless these talents. But as the saying goes, “news spread fast; bad news even more.”

Does it not worry us that most of our songs today are so banal and vulgar, they are outrightly demonic? Does it not bother us that our kids are so entrenched in these songs, they learn them faster than they read their books?

Not all songs are meant to entertain. Some are instruments of the devil and his agents. Speaking on the subject of ‘Satanic Rock’, in his book, “An Exorcist explains the Demonic,” Fr. Gabriele Amorth, an erstwhile chief Vatican Exorcist, gives his perspective thus, “Without a shadow of doubt, the most diffuse method of transmitting the principles of Satanism is satanic rock. This makes Satanism live through music, which, in itself, is a common and beautiful form of entertainment…” (Amorth 2016, p.54).

Above, Fr. Gabriele tries to respond to a music genre from another cultural background – satanic rock. We may argue that we are not so affiliated to Rock music in Nigeria. Nonetheless, many of the genres of songs we hear are satanic; in the sense that their lyrics generally encourage irresponsible behaviour, and make us believe that we are not accountable to anyone but ourselves. How did we get here?

Don’t we realize that we are poisoning our minds and hearts by listening to songs that do nothing at all to glorify God? Don’t we realize that satanic music is fraught with lyrics that can provoke one to violence, suicide, sexual perversion, and acts of destruction against the state, the civic order, and the Church of God (cf. Amorth, p.55)?

In my neighborhood, I have kids barely old enough to spell their names singing and dancing to songs that promote all kinds of sexual perversions, internet fraud, inordinate desire to acquire wealth, abuse of hard drugs, etc. We seem not to realise that the “obsessive repetition of these messages literally changes the way one thinks of and understands life, poisoning the soul and the spirit and, as a result, ruining lives” (Amorth, p.55).

So dear friends, be a lot more selective in the kind of songs you listen to, and the kind of songs you let your kids hear and dance to. It might not be very easy to put a ban on these negative songs, after all they sell faster in the secular world. It’s a lot easier to choose not to remain within their circles of influence.

Prayer

Almighty God and Father, grant me the grace to break the influence of Satan in my life and in the life of my family, relatives and friends. May I find the courage to constantly work against promoting the kingdom of darkness, Amen.

God bless you!

© Oselumhense Anetor, 2019.

Credit @PIXABAY