Music and the Challenges of Socio-Economic Inequalities in Nigeria: ‘The Small People’s Anthem’ By Sẹ́gun Akinlolú as a Case Study

Popular music scholarship has tended towards romance, wealth accumulation. Adequate attention has not been paid to the contributions of popular music to fight against socio-economic inequalities of various forms in Nigeria. Inequalities of various forms are part of the realities of life across climes. However, challenges of socio-economic inequalities in Nigeria and other developing countries are particularly more problematic considering the ever-widening gap between the haves and have nots in these countries. While many of the advanced countries of the world have introduced several efforts to mitigate the effects of inequalities on their citizens through the introduction of social safety nets in the area of conditional cash transfer, housing and educational system, the same could not be said about Nigeria and other sub-Sahara countries. The introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programmes of 1986 and the concomitant retrenchment of welfare services in Nigeria has since, exacerbated socio-economic challenges in the country. In addition to the efforts of the constituted governments at various levels in Nigeria, several attempts are also being made between the country and the developed countries of the world both at multilateral and bilateral levels to combat the problem of socio-economic inequalities. This study, therefore, employed archival and library methods of data collection to thematically analyzed the roles of music in combating the ever-increasing socio-economic inequalities in Nigeria, using Sẹ́gun Akinlolú’s music, ‘Small Peoples’ Anthem’ as a point of reference. The study concludes that awareness of the populace about the menace of socio-economic inequalities and their various forms remains inadequate among Nigerians. Improved advocacy and deliberate government actions are viewed as a panacea to the problem of inequality in the country.