By Chris Ihidero
Sometime in March 2008, I picked up a free copy of the London Metro newspaper as I walked into the subway to board a train. Flipping through the pages on the ride, I exclaimed joyfully when I saw a piece on Asa in the paper. I caught some stares from my fellow passengers but I couldn’t be bothered in my delightful mood; I had been following Asa’s impressive development for a while. As I read the story, I wasn’t even perturbed by the reference to Asa as a ‘French-Nigerian’ singer. It was enough for me that Asa had come so far that a British newspaper deemed it worthy to do a piece on her and announce her forth-coming concert in London in May of that year.
However, I have been miffed every time I see the same reference ever since. Really, how hard is it for Asa to just be Nigerian? Is it that she can’t be that good and be Nigerian? Whenever the western press write about Asa and refer to her as a ‘French-Nigerian’ or ‘Nigerian-French’ singer, I always feel like throwing something at the ill-informed journalist who wrote that piece. Why must Nigerian global stars have a second National identity? Remember how Seal is ‘Brazilian-Nigerian’ and Sade Adu ‘British-Nigerian’? See, I am not talking about dual-citizenship here…can’t Asa just be a NIGERIAN musician that happened to have been born in Paris?! Aggghhhh!!!!
Recently, I have begun to rethink my strong desire for Asa to be just Nigerian. Sadly, the more I learn about Asa, the more I realise that maybe, just maybe, the French do have a right to lay a claim to her. Consider this: Asa was born in Paris and was brought back to Nigeria as a baby. To the best of my knowledge, she did not live in France again until she started her music career. However, if you trace Asa’s music career, it has French written all over it.
I first met Asa at the Arts Theatre of the University of Ibadan sometime in 2004 when she came to perform with a touring French band. She did vocal and dance imitations of Fela that night. It was obvious even then that there was something special about her. On my return to Lagos in 2005, I ran into her at the French Cultural Centre in Ikoyi. Afterwards, she had a stint as a student at Peter King’s music school in Badagry. As you may have suspected by now, the French had something to do with that school: the school’s musical instruments had been donated by the French Cultural centre! So, at every point of Asa’s musical development, the French have played a part. The important question to ask at this point, perhaps, would be: beyond being a place of birth and upbringing, what other part has Nigeria played in Asa’s musical development? Where is the Nigerian Cultural Centre in all of this? Oh wait; we don’t have a Nigerian Cultural Centre!
Asa is but one example of the abundance of talents scattered all over our blessed nation. For every Asa that is discovered and nurtured, thanks to the French in this instance, a million more remain in oblivion, lost in the wilderness of non-discovery, unable to make their potential contributions to our cultural heritage. Between the French Cultural Centre, the British Council, Goethe Institut and the United States Information Service (at its prime), more has been done to discover, develop, nurture and expose Nigerian arts and artists than all Nigerian cultural agencies put together. This is a crying shame in a country that’s as blessed with human and material resources as Nigeria is. The federal ministry of Information and Culture has been headed by one visionless minister after another for decades.
So here I stand, on the one hand wanting to claim an industrious daughter of my land fully, and on the other hand realising that such a claim might be hypocritical at best, seeing that those who have invested in nurturing talent and giving such talents a better chance at global exposure and excellence, should also have a claim.
Therein lies my conundrum.
*Ihidero is a Lagos-based writer and filmmaker
17 comments
Nice post. Until we push sentiment/cultural pride aside in order to put some money behind our talents, I don’t think we really have a claim at all 🙂
I have noticed it too. I believe on the ineternational scene it helps these stars to be referred to as having dual nationality. We might not like it,but so long as people like Asa continue to identify with nigeria not just in name,I don’t have a problem with. Let them do what they feel is best for their career.
I like these…
I suspect you wouldn’t have a lot of people cooing over this article like the Dban’j one! But a very pertinent question is raised in this article.
This part of the article is profound. Unfortunately the case for thousands ==============>
“For every Asa that is discovered and nurtured, thanks to the French in this instance, a million more remain in oblivion, lost in the wilderness of non-discovery, unable to make their potential contributions to our cultural heritage”
Interestingly insightful..
You said it all though, the French have a right to claim the beautiful piece of creativity that is Asa’s music.
I really wish Entertainment could be taken more seriously by the Nigerian government. Even if they can’t handle it, foreign investors should be let in.
Most of our seasoned acts have fled the nation for better pastures.. I really hope Genevieve, Omotola, Stephanie Okereke, D’banjo etc after they’d have blown up internationally one day be termed Nigerian-American acts.
i believe asa should be the one to correct the said ill-informed journalists and if indeed she doesnt and she’s ok with it let no one say shes unpatriotic. The French have helped her with her music, maybe more than Nigerians have…
Asa never denied of being a Nigerian!She probably has dual citizenship now.Asa in one of her songs ‘IYA’Featuring K.jones in a carnival in france,she says (where i come from lagos Nigeria all over the world anyway)Asa is comfirmed omoluabi and she was proud of it.some of songs enjoy airplays in Germany here and i watch a german film that had her songs in it!
ur comment makes a whole lota sence to me man,i think this should be a wake up call to the so called ministers……..but woteva man,ASA knows who she is and where she is from.
I cant but agree with Chris write up on ASA. I feel his patriotism and wish our leaders will wake up to giving us the pride we deserve as a nation.
This makes for quite interesting reading but I’m confused about your position. Are you asserting a point that Asa ought to be referred to as fully Nigerian or are you leaning toward her right to be addressed as French-Nigerian. You can’t straddle the fence and lean both ways. It’s gohe other.
You have African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans. And just like Asa, I am British-Nigerian and have friends who are British-Nigerians, British-Ghanians, British-Kenyans, etc. It would be different if she were born and partly raised in Nigeria and partly raised in Paris. Her place of origin is Paris and her ethnic origin is Nigerian, both countries define her and who she is.
Even if she is ‘whatever-Nigerian’,the fact still remains that she is a complete Nigerian. And i dont think she ever contradicts that…
But please allow the french to have a piece of her, her talent is too good for the consumption of Nigerians only.
I think often than more times, these issues are not the very important ones.(That wouldn’t make the Ministry a better one or solve any immediate problems). I don’t think that would be worth an issue with her. The basis for that will be or high influence to compliment the “helping hand” i mean NIGERIA, but it doesn’t have any serious reward….so why would she.(Having in mind that so many of these people have bigger issues to deal with per-time) and besides that, She loves NIGERIAN and still associate with her…That okay bro.
I love these Blog…..I feel so great reading these.
Though, we can say that Asa is from Paris in France, or from Nigeria, this is because she has dual citizenship of both france and Nigeria and that is what is require from every nations. Asa has automatic citizenship of Paris in Franc, she was born in Paris and brought to Nigeria when she was a baby.
Asa u re ours, Naija lv u
a female wit gud legacy