MUSIC AND LIFE

MUSIC AND LIFE

Today, our popular musicians like Dbanj, Wizkid, Davido,in their songs preach how rich and famous they are and living the party life. They seem to have forgotten the true essence of music. But come to think of it, what is music?

People may define music as any sound that is pleasant to the ears or any pleasing or interesting sound. Music is so much more than that, it’s a means of communication, it’s a way of reaching out to people, it also serves as a rehabilitative means of healing people with trauma,  fear, anxiety and so on.

Music is history, This isin the sense that it reflects the environment and times of its creationI.e its origin, often even the country and racial feelings. An instance can be drawn from the time of Fela and Bob Marley, who lived and breathed music, who saw music as a of communicating to the people. Fela sang mostly about the situation of Nigeria and the corrupt roles Her Political leaders played.He was inspired to sing great songs about the predicament of Nigeria and hands that She was left in because he loved his country and wanted to share his view, not because of money and fame and he was persecuted for it but still that didn’t stop him.Bob Marly sang about freedom of oppression, love and togetherness amongst his countrymen and the world.

The music industry has adapted to flaws that need rectification.Because a young man is good looking,has a nice voiceand goes to the studio, doesn’t make him an artist or musician, in other words this is catigorised as "lack of talent and personality". Signed artists no longer have the staying power, personality or song writing abilities of their predecessors. They may be more marketable initially, but they’re just not talented.

Today, focus is on beat over melody.Which is not meant to be. The loss of melody is a major contribution to the decline in music’s standing in every culture (which is a way of life). Traditionally, songs have comprised of four ingredients namely; melody, rhythm, harmony and lyric.

Music is not just a means of making money and fame, but it is a way of life. “She” should be treated like a lady, with respect.

                                                                                                                          By Banjoko David

ONE'S BLACK DOG

One’s black dog simply means depression. DEPRESSION the silent killer, it is eating away most people today both young and old. Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person’s thoughts, behavior, feelings and sense of well-being. People with depressed mood can feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, angry, irritable, ashamed, or restless. They may lose interest in activities that were once pleasurable, experience loss of appetite or over- eating, have problems concentrating, remembering details or making decisions, and may contemplate, attempt or commit suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, aches, pains, digestive problems or reduced energy may also be present.

     Depression is not a sign of weakness, it just means you have been strong for far too long. A lot of things can cause depression either a very bad childhood, sexual abuse, physical abuse and verbal abuse too, a relationship gone wrong, jealousy( maybe you are not as rich as some of your friends, you want all what they have and you are wondering why your parents are not rich as theirs), low self-esteem, loneliness, stress. Sometimes the use of substance can cause depression, both legal and illegal drugs.

    Depression is a great battle, people get depressed loose the battle and either become useless or die but you can choose to win the battle and become motivated. The hardest part about depression is finding a way to tell people. It is like you are hiding a terrible secret. You will feel ashamed for getting depressed like you failed somehow, that’s what depression makes you feel like…a terrible failure. A lot of people have overcome depression, I have a friend Bimpe who was depressed, I didn’t like being around cause she made everyone around her too sad, she never smiled after secondary school we parted ways then I saw her again three months ago, Bimpe looked younger, fatter, she was glowing, she even wore a smile! I had to ask her how she overcame her depression. She explained why she was like that in secondary school, she said ‘’ depression is hard to explain, I actually didn’t know what’s really wrong with me, its like a disease that tears you apart. The activities I loved doing like hanging out with my friends, playing video games, designing things, did not matter to me anymore, I didn’t find joy in it again.

       I didn’t smile much because I felt there was no reason to, Depression makes worthless and hopeless. Some people can be destroyed by the disease while on the other hand some people can be cured from the disease, I was part of the people that were cured from the disease because I FOUGHT! I fought hard against this silent killer, I didn’t like the way I was looking, because of the fact that I didn’t smile I looked a lot older, my parents were so worried about me so they to me to see a counselor at Oshodi after a few sessions I began to feel better because I had so one to talk to, someone to won’t tell other people what I had discussed with her, she encouraged me to keep her journal so I would write all I was thinking in my head down so I won’t explode.

     After a few months, I became bold enough to interact with people, I realized it wasn’t so bad there are still a lot of good people out there, I started exercising to keep fit and I began to eat healthy food. I asked my mum to take me the saloon because I wanted to start make my hair, I was on low cut because I didn’t even care about my hair too. My ‘new friends’ invited me to the mall at lekki called ‘the palms’ I had so fun much, A guy even came to talk to me, he said I was pretty, ME BIMPE!.I love the way my life is right now “.

    

  HOW TO OVERCOME DEPRESSION

First, you have to seek help- You have to talk to someone if you depressed its really important to, if you don’t trust someone enough with your problems go and see a counselor, they have a patient-doctor confidentiality, they wont tell anyone you are depressed.

2. Divert your mind away from what is making you depressed- when you think about things and other people, you will think less about your depression. Doing this will take away some of the power it has in your life.

3.  Keep a journal- This could be an escape but it doesn’t have to be. You can write about fiction, and transport yourself to another world, or you can write about what’s going and let your thoughts carry you through to a solution. Many great books were written by people who were at least at the time going through a period of pain and suffering.

4. be healthy- if you are physically capable, exercise daily, eat right, sleep well for at least 8 hours per day, getting the right amount of sleep is healthy for our body and mind.

5. Forgiveness- Many times we are making ourselves sad for no good reason at all. People have been known to keep grudges for a lifetime. When you forgive, you remove this weight off your shoulders and put yourself in a position to be happier.

 You can overcome depression like my friend Bimpe, just keep holding on , be strong and most importantly FIGHT against it!

INDECENT DRESSING AMONG BABCOCK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

INDECENT DRESSING AMONG BABCOCK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Worried about the fashion trends among students? Babcock University has mapped out strategies to control what they wear.

Indecent dressing has become a fashionable thing among students of Babcock University. Bu as a whole is uncomfortable with this trend of dress code and has mapped out strategies to control what the students wear. One of the strategies is through inculcating in them moral virtues.

Babcock University has prohibited students from wearing crazy dresses on campuses and any student caught with such wears will be suspended from the school.

Meanwhile, an uninfluenced group in school have shared their view on the effect of the fashion craze among the students in school.

Sarah Ojo, a student of Babcock University said that indecent dressing particularly among Babcock University has created a negative trade mark. According to her indecent dressing is a mark of irresponsibility and radicalism that is common in the campus. “You lose your decency when you dress indecently, it makes you look cheap”, she said. These days you can no longer walk on the street without seeing someone dressed in a stupid manner and this is particularly common amongst ladies.

Dunsi Kehinde, a fashion designer in Babcock University said that fashion is a good thing because it makes an individual unique and classy. According to her, fashion has been abused by BU students. ‘’It is good to look good, but when your look has negative influence on the people around you, it becomes bad”.

Pastor Rowland Nwosu, a pastor of redemption chapel said that religious leaders have a role to play to stop the ugly trend of indecent dressing among students. He believes that pastors should come together to enforce dress codes among their congregation to change the dress code among students.

Mrs Ojo, a lecture of BU said she wasn’t impressed with the sense of fashion by the students. Her disapproval steps from the fact that it exposes the critical body parts of women. “I visited the saloon at BUSA house recently and there were about four girls inside before i came in. They were all backing me, i didn’t see their faces immediately, but I could tell the colours of their underwear. “This trend needs to be tackled urgently before it influences the younger generations” she said.

As a result of indecent dressing, it has increased cases of sexual harassments and rape attempts in Babcock University. There’s a saying that “You dress the way you want to be addressed”. With the strategies Babcock University has come up with it will be possible to tackle and shape the dress code in Babcock University. 

SPORT BETTING - is it healthy or unhealthy

SPORT BETTING – is it healthy or unhealthy?

Sport betting is risking a sum of money or other valued item against someone else’s on the basis of the outcome of an unpredictable event such as a race or game. It is a win or lose affair. You can bet on different games like football, baseball, tennis, volleyball, swimming, track race, high jump, long jump, hockey, javelin, basketball, sumo etc.

Sport betting has become a major thing in Nigeria. There are different agencies like NAIJA4WIN, MERRYBET, NAIRABET, BET9JA, BET365NAIJA, 360BET, SUREBET247, 1960BET, BETCOLONY, LOVING BET, and BETREPUBLICAN that engage in sport betting.

These agencies are said to help people get revenue and reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. Revenue can be gotten from the money dropped for the placing of a bet;it could be referred to as trying one’s luck. For instance, there are about a 100 clubs for different games, if a person chooses 10 games on his ticket depending on the number of odds they have, they all must win the game. If one of the clubs the person chooses loses, he loses his money and if they all win he gains more than he drops. He might have dropped 500 Naira; if he wins, he might get a half a million, a million or even more. And if he loses, he gets nothing in return.

Yasir Biobaku, a student of Babcock University said that sport betting can also be referred to as gambling and that when people bet they either lose money they had or gain money they didn’t work for.

“Sport betting is addictive” Toluwaniyin Longe, also a student of Babcock University said. He explained that the probability of winning or losing a bet is of the ratio of 50:50. If a person doesn’t have luck on his side and he is desperate for money he would keep trying over and over again till he wins, which he might not and he ends up losing the money he could have put to better use.

“It is an avenue for people to make money online” Alao bimbo, an accounting 500 level student of Babcock University said. He also stated that it helps people think and use their instinct to make predictions.

“It’s gambling and what comes with gambling is not pretty. If you place a bet on a game what is the guarantee that the club you are vouching for would win.” Esther Afolabi, a staff at hope FM said. She further stated that most of this betting ends up in a heated argument which may result in a fight and sometimes death.

Mr Akin Adisa, a French lecturer at  Babcock University said, he loves sports and everything about it but he would never bet.  He backed this up by saying it was against his belief as a Christian.

He further stated that,he is not against the betting agencies because they serve as a medium for eradicating poverty in Nigeria.

Ayodeji Taiwo, a computer science student of Babcock University said, even though sport betting can be said to be gambling which is a sin in the bible, it is good in terms of business because it is a smart way of generating income.

Summarily, Sport betting can be both healthy and unhealthy. It can be healthy in the sense that it is beneficial to people and helps to generate income and revenue. It also helps to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. It is unhealthy because it is gambling and gambling can lead to a variety of problems like fights, loss of properties or even death.

Written by BANJO BOLUWATIFE K.