A call rang out from the gold city of Ilesa in Osun State, on Sunday, for organisations and all tiers of government in the country to exploit the power of music to help Nigerians who may have either fallen into depression, or suffering diverse mental health issues as a result of the prevailing economic problems in the land.
During a special musical orchestra on the third day of activities marking his 70th birthday, the Asiwaju of Ijesaland, High Chief Olayinka Fasuyi explained that the transformative power of music which has, for centuries, formed an integral part of human culture, has a special place in people’s lives.
Fasuyi, who is also the Founder of the Ibadan Business School, was speaking during an evening of scintillating classical and contemporary musical orchestra by the renowned kapellmeister, Prince Abiodun Lufadeju, the composer of Ijesa anthem, and his ensemble of musicians.
The Chairman/Founder of the Supreme Management Training and Consultancy Services Limited said: ‘Music has great powers in its effects. It is therapeutic. When optimally harnessed, it has great potential to heal those Nigerians in depression occasioned by the struggling economy or causes that distress the soul.
‘When people sing, or dance, sorrow flees. No song has sour taste. In Biblical times, David used the power of music to heal King Saul who was struggling with serious mental health issue. David used music to curry favour from God. Even after committing murder, and other sins, remorseful David sang high praises to God, and God not only forgave him, God still maintained that David was a man after His heart’.
He went down memory lane to recall how music rescued him from looming failure in his undergraduate days at the University of Ibadan.
He said that Economics was his favourite subject in secondary school and at the advanced level, where he soared like an eagle. But when he gained admission into the University of Ibadan, the tide changed and Economics, his first love, almost became his Achilles’ heel. Mathematics, a major component of his course of study, became so hard that it constituted a serious weakness and threat to his overall strength, he recalled.
Fasuyi, who was then a party freak, realised that that might lead to his downfall. He then discovered the power of music.
He said: ‘Economics was tough for me in the university. But I found healing and an enduring solution in Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey’s music. Before reading, or attempting any problem, I would play Obey’s music, and pronto, the mathematical problem would be solved’.
Stressing that good music has been an integral part of his existence ever since, Fasuyi advised ‘governments, organisaions — religious and social — to explore the power of music to encourage and motivate, by organizing regular musical concerts’.
On health and other distressing situations, Fasuyi said: ‘It is not every problem that is solved through medication. Music has the power to solve the most intractable of all issues, especially depression or mental health issues. That’s why I use this occasion to urge governments — at the federal and sub-national levels — to invest more in music, and creative arts generally. They will be amazed at the results the efforts would produce’.
Fasuyi praised the Federal Government for the pragmatic way it has been helping Nigerian youths through its solid support for the creative industry, through the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy.
He said that the Ministry has been doing a great job in promoting and developing arts, culture, and creative industries in the country, providing gainful employment and respectable income for Nigerian youths.
