AFRICAN FOLK SONGS AS TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS FOR EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT

Abstract

The study of African songs have moved beyond dispassionate inquiry and the antiquated perspective that considered it a subject fit only for speculation by idle minds. With the present development in the area of African renaissance, acknowledging and claiming the African cultural heritage, the occasion has arisen to once again study African traditional songs to see their contributions towards the development of education in Africa. The burden of this work is to study African traditional songs, its dimensions or types and its contribution, particularly, to the area of African traditional education. To achieve this, the phenomenological and hermeneutic methods of inquiry were employed. This research discovered that African traditional songs, handed down from one generation to another orally, permeates every facet of African life, and thus occupies a fundamental place in the African traditional educational heritage.