After reading the sensationalist piece titled Korede Bello’s ‘Mungo Park’ is another beautiful nonsense, which is available on several blogs, I think it is appropriate that the teaching moment presented by the poor representation therein is adequately utilized.

From the title, we immediately get a sense of the author’s allegiance to the gallery. It has become so popular in Nigeria these days to be critical, even if blindly so, of politicians, Nollywood and the popular music scene. So, on the very same day Mavin Records put out the visuals of Korede’s latest work, a supposed reviewer races in typical un-aristocratic fashion to lambast the piece; albeit from a view of limited comprehension.

While it is understood that certain bloggers wish to generate and sustain a following, this mustn’t be done at the expense of the labour of an artist whose work essentially crosses enough T-s and dots sufficient I-s.

The disconnect between the author of the piece and the message in ‘Mungo Park’ is so profound that PMB’s disconnect from the salient points of the issues raised during his recent interview with Aljazeera cannot compare. Let me state here that this deconstruction is done with a deep sense of pain; pain that comes from the miseducation that pervades these parts; miseducation that is copiously distributed across the review.

The author got it wrong from the scratch when he/she wrote that “Korede Bello…started the whole drama with his senseless question…“Who discovered Mungo Park?”‎ This only shows Korede Bello needs to read more and enlighten himself about the Scottish explorer.”

Really? I doubt I need to spend ink explaining this, but the sensationalist motive is immediately evident through the selective quote which was actually a follow-up question which in full, read: “…We were thinking: if Mungo Park discovered River Niger, then who discovered Mungo Park?” Having misread this bit – which is where the meat of the entire song is – the piece quite honestly should cease to be read; lest the miseducation spreads.

Indeed, the author demonstrates a peculiar ignorance with questions and reservations about the plot of the video. If the author knew any better, he/she would understand art and cut art some slack. The gibberish about rules and regulations in school premises, ‘manner-less’ (in an age of ‘ill-mannered’?), conflicted single, and a Vice Principal who needs ‘prior knowledge’ of an incident to take action on a wandering student who ran into him; is deeply depressing.

So, to respond to the author’s question; it is no racing video. It is you who comes across as one racing on a bloggers program. It is your writing that hops here and there, higgledy-piggledy like a toad’s motion lacking in coordination. Reviews have grown beyond an avenue for cheap, vindictive, discouraging and uneducated goals. And don’t get me started on the grading because it is clear whose art lies in the 20-30% bracket between yours and Korede’s.

I will now appreciate the well thought-out song in order for those experiencing difficulty in grasping its core message to appreciate it too, rather than being misled by attention-seeking reviewers who will do better as high school janitors. That is clearly one aspect in the piece where promise is evident. His/her foray into popular music analysis (reviews) is no more than poking his/her nose into Aboki’s hustle which Korede addresses in the third verse. So, a final word for the author would be to “go do your own” hustle.

‘Mungo Park’ is a song which is a subtle protest against colonial education and its contents which accompanied colonial administration across Africa. While I am tempted to explore this deeper, I presume there is a more appropriate context for a robust engagement on that subject. But the gist, which the song’s intro elaborately communicates, is that the man Mungo Park only discovered River Niger in colonialist discourse. However great an explorer the man was, it is an absolute insult to our collective sensibilities and those of our fore-fathers to continue to propagate the nonsense that Mungo Park, a Scot, discovered a river in Nigeria!

The logic is straightforward: since no Nigerian, among the many who fished in that river, could be credited for discovering it, it follows that these Nigerians were also discoveries. If they could be discovered as their river was, why not Mungo Park? Korede’s effort to build socially relevant and funny yet pertinent stanzas into such a solid plot cannot be reduced to reviews by ignoramuses. The artist manages to send across a gender-balanced message in the first two verses. My only criticism here is that he isolated financial wellbeing as solely a male necessity. Perhaps that is a societal observation.

Enough said at this stage; but I may add that ‘Mungo Park’ is not only a protest song against colonial mentality and extended bachelorhood/spinsterhood (hence a wedding song), but also against rundown, sit-down, armchair critics. Credit to Korede who has put Mungo Park in his place as an achiever of the unachievable. At this rate, Lord Lugard and Lady Flora should beware. You’ve been served!

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Opinion article written by Garhe Osiebe