Muhammad, Sharu
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FEMALE PRAISE SINGERS IN NUPELAND: A FORMALIST STUDY OF FATIMA LOLO BIDA AND HAWAWU KULU LAFIAGI’S SELECTED SONGS BY MUHAMMAD, SHARU DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY ZARIA. NOVEMBER, 2016 i FEMALE PRAISE SINGERS IN NUPELAND: A FORMALIST STUDY OF FATIMA LOLO BIDA AND HAWAWU KULU LAFIAGI’S SELECTED SONGS BY MUHAMMAD, SHARU BA (1992) UDUS, MA (2008) ABU (Ph. D/ARTS/1986/2011–2012) NOVEMBER, 2016 ii FEMALE PRAISE SINGERS IN NUPELAND: A FORMALIST STUDY OF FATIMA LOLO BIDA AND HAWAWU KULU LAFIAGI’S SELECTED SONGS MUHAMMAD, SHARU (Ph. D/ARTS/1986/2011–2012) A Thesis Presented to the Post Graduate School, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in English (Literature) Department of English and Literary Studies, Faculty of Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. November, 2016 iii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis has been written by me, and it is a record of my own research work. It has not been submitted in any previous application of a higher degree. All quotations are indicated and the sources of information are suitably acknowledged by means of references. ------------------------------------------- Sharu Muhammad ------------------------------------------ Date iv CERTIFICATION This thesis, entitled “Female Praise Singers in Nupeland: A Formalist Study of Fatima Lolo Bida and Hawawu Kulu Lafiagi‟s Selected Songs” by Sharu Muhammad meets the regulations governing the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Literature of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and is approved for its contribution to knowledge and literary presentation. ----------------------------------------- -------------------- Professor, Sani Abba Aliyu Date Chairman, Supervisory Committee ----------------------------------------- -------------------- Professor, Abu Aliyu Liman Date Member, Supervisory Committee ----------------------------------------- -------------------- Professor, Abubakar Tanimu Date Member, Supervisory Committee ----------------------------------------- -------------------- Professor, Tajudeen Surakat Date Head of Department ----------------------------------------- -------------------- Professor, Kabiru Bala Date Dean, Postgraduate School v DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to Almighty Allah (S.W.A.) for making things possible for me and to my family. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All praise and gratitude are solely due to The Almighty Allah for making the task of this research a successful one. I remain indebted to the team of Supervisors, Professor Sani Abba Aliyu, Professor A.A. Liman and Professor Abubakar Tanimu whose fatherly and brotherly guidance greatly nurtured this work to fruition. I also extend my appreciation to the team of external assessors in and outside the department and particularly the diverse but yet useful insights of observers during seminar presentations at the Faculty. I must mention Professor Tajudeen Surakat, the Head of the Department of English and Literary Studies, Dr. Edward Abah and Mr. Joseph Stephen all who went through my first presentation and offered me useful suggestions. The same special thanks go to Professor Jimada Idris Shaba and Dr. Sule Muhammad of History Department, A.B.U. Zaria who gave me materials on the Historical background of Nupeland. The same appreciation go to Dr. Aliyu Kawu of URP Department, FUT Minna, Arc. Bello and Surveyor Moses Kolo of the Environmental School, Federal Polytechnic, Bida for providing me with a Geo- Historical map of Nupeland. I also acknowledge with profound gratitude the wonderful role of the Postgraduate Co-ordinators of English and Literary Studies Department, Dr. Jonah and Mal. Isah Ibrahim not only for their valuable guidance but also for the encouragement they gave at all times. I wish in particular to thank Hajia Hawawu Kulu Lafiagi, Alh. Ndako Abubakar Kutigi and Alh. Katamba Ma‟aba Bida whose motherly and brotherly co-operation during the interviews provided very useful data for this research. I also wish to express my deep appreciation and thanks to the authorities of Federal Polytechnic, Bida for giving me the opportunity to undertake this course. I vii am thankful to the Director, School of Preliminary Studies, Dr. Fatima L. Muhammad for her unflinching support and encouragement both at the beginning and towards the end of this programme. Special thanks also go to Alh. Ibrahim Yahaya, Alh. Bello Yakubu, Alh. Idris Yabagi, Mr. Peter Kolo Daniel, Dr. Theophilus D. Sheshi and Mr. Philip Moses Audu all from Federal Polytechnic, Bida, for their wonderful support in my times of need. Finally, I wish in particular to thank my sister, Hajia Fatima Sharu, my wives Aishatu and Asmau and my children for their patience and endurance. And lastly, Mr. Nathaniel Alamu of Accountancy Department, Federal Polytechnic, Bida, for his total commitment to the production of this thesis. viii ABSTRACT This thesis is a formalist study of the selected Songs of Fatima Lolo Bida and Hawawu Kulu Lafiagi and the state of oral songs in Nupeland in general. It investigates the Nupe Praise Song by analyzing its structure, theme, content, form and other poetic devices deployed by the singers. This study of the Nupe Praise Song also highlights the inherent literary qualities. The research is premised on the fact that oral art forms, by their nature as unwritten materials are not always properly appreciated and documented in an environment dominated by the culture of writing and printing. Significant quantities of materials have been lost from the almost inexhaustible store of Nupe rich tradition of oral artistry. A reasonable number of Nupe performers lived and died without any attempt to document their works for posterity. Again, only little was done to portray the aesthetics of the people‟s culture. And the little too was anthropologically attempted by foreigners who were by all standards ill-equipped to understand and appreciate the African way of life. To this end, the major objectives of the study are: to illustrate the functional and literary status of the selected songs and to demonstrate that the study of Nupe praise song is not only academically challenging but also quite distinctive in its style of performance. The research deploys essentially interview approach in its data collection and analysis. The responses from the interviewees form the major findings and conclusions of this research. The songs were transcribed using an orthography that is as phonetic as possible and a translation that is near literal so as to maintain a balance between the original sense in the source language and clear meaning in the target language. The theoretical framework designed for this work was combined approach, that is, formalistic, humanistic and empirical. This is because the approach is more literary, analytical and descriptive in nature. ix CONTENTS Cover Page - - - - - - - - - - - i Title Page - - - - - - - - - - - ii Declaration - - - - - - - - - - iii Certification - - - - - - - - - - iv Dedication - - - - - - - - - - - v Acknowledgements - - - - - - - - - vi Abstract - - - - - - - - - - - viii Contents - - - - - - - - - - - ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 The Nupe Oral Praise Song and its Contents - - - - 1 1.1 Statement of the Research Problem - - - - - - 13 1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study - - - - - - 14 1.3 Significance of the Study - - - - - - - 14 1.4 Scope and Limitation - - - - - - - - 15 1.5 Methodology - - - - - - - - - 16 1.6 Geo-Historical Background of Nupeland - - - - - 17 1.7 Socio-Cultural Role of Nupe Orature and Praise Songs - - - 20 1.8 Formalism as Theoretical Framework - - - - - 32 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - - 39 2.1 The Problem of Definition and Concept Clarification - - - 40 CHAPTER THREE AN ANALYSIS OF THE SONGS AND CAREER OF FATIMA LOLO BIDA 3.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - - 63 3.1 The Life of Fatima Lolo Bida - - - - - - - 65 x 3.2 The Classification of Fatima Lolo‟s Songs: (a) Eni Etanzhi (Historical Songs), (b) Eni Dandanzhi (Occupational Songs), (c) Eni Zamanzhi (Songs of Topical Issues of the Moment) and (d) Eni Chichinzhi (Unity/ Love Songs) - - - - - - - - - - 70 3.3 Composition, Form, Content and Style of Fatima Lolo‟s Songs - - 73 3.4 Lolo‟s Career - - - - - - - - - 109 CHAPTER FOUR AN ANALYSIS OF THE SONGS AND CAREER OF HAWAWU KULU LAFIAGI 4.0 Introduction - - - - - - - - - 112 4.1 The Life of Kulu Lafiagi - - - - - - - - 112 4.2 The Classification of Hawawu Kulu‟s Songs: (a) Eni Etanzhi (Historical Songs), (b) Eni Dandanzhi (Occupational Songs) and (c) Eni Chichinzhi (Unity/Love Songs) - - - - - - - - - 115 4.3 Composition, Style, Form and Content of Hawawu Kulu‟s Songs - 117 4.4 Kulu‟s Career - - - - - - - - - 143 CHAPTER FIVE A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SONGS OF FATIMA LOLO BIDA AND HAWAWU KULU LAFIAGI - - - - - - - 146 CHAPTER SIX THE STATE OF NUPE ORAL SONGS 6.0 The State of Nupe Oral Songs - - - - - - - 158 6.1 Nupe Orature and the Socio-Political Arrangements, Advent of the Media, the Educational System and the Power of Religion - - 170 CHAPTER SEVEN SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION 7.0 Findings and Conclusion - - - - - - - 187 Bibliography - - - - - - - - - 191 Glossary - - - - - - - - - - 197 Figure 1 - - - - - - - - - - 199 Figure 2 - - - - - - - - - - 200 Appendices - - - - - - - - - - 201 xi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 The Nupe Praise Song and Its Contents There is hardly any occupation in Nupe society that does not require