The Roles of the Arts during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Nigeria: Music, Nigerian Films, and Visual Arts

By: Florence Ewomazino Nweke, Oluwatoyin Olokodana-James, and Chinyere Ndubuisi

There is no denying that the prolonged quarantine, a resultant of the breakout of COVID-19, has affected all aspects of human lives and endeavors. The COVID-19 pandemic’s presence is further complicated by the inability to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter; this has consequently ushered in different feelings of anxiety and depression in individuals and groups, particularly adults.

There is a famous saying: “Once there is life, there is hope!” Rather than fuming and mourning all day long during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Nigerians found ways beyond repression to break the chain of boredom and anxiety occasioned by the inability to negotiate usual paths terrains physically.

A Study of Impact

Through questionnaires sent via Google forms and interaction on phones, respondents were randomly selected from three geopolitical zones in Nigeria with data showing that 87% contribution came from South-West participants, 11% from South-East, and only 2% contribution was garnered from South-South participants. In the adulthood classification distribution, evidence showed that most respondents totaling 51%, were in their early adulthood, 40% in their mid-adulthood, while 8% were in their late adulthood. Further, on the participation, data collected showed that 53% of females and 47% of male participants participated in the survey.  

As part of its findings, the study shows that the majority of respondents from Nigeria resorted to using different art forms during the lockdown to assuage loneliness, depression, and boredom. These art forms include music, dance aerobics, visual arts expressions such as painting, sculpting, and ceramics. Simultaneously, the majority relied on the Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood for its cross-cultural heritage and entertainment transmissions. 

 The study quantitatively shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, about 95% resorted to music with a significant proportion of making their selections across gospel, classical, traditional folk, rhythms and blues, and pop music.

In the same vein, the study shows that one of the methods radically employed by parents during the lockdown to keep their children and wards actively engaged indoors aside from reading exercises, was to engage children in different visual art forms such as painting, molding, and crafting.

This is equally evident in the data collected, which shows that 54% of children mostly participated in drawing and 46% in painting. Authenticating the importance of the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, this study shows that during the lockdown, about 79% of the respondents relieved boredom and lockdown anxiety through Nigerian film or home video productions for entertainment in the face of the uncertainties accompanying the period. The available data suggests that some of these movies not only educate people about preventive measures that can be employed during viral infection breakouts, but the effect posed by the lockdown was also cushioned with the timely broadcast of movies. 

The Impact of the Arts

These sources, therefore, show that the art played a vital role in reducing depression and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The arts became essential in supporting the Nigerian people’s mental and social well-being; hence, different forms of art should be encouraged to thrive through teaching and practices. It is also worthy of note that Nigerian artists engaged younger people in creative competitions that reflect what people go through during the lockdown.

For example, Channel TV views selected works by young artists and prominent artists revealing a sense of hope to the world’s people during the COVID-19 pandemic via paintings and sculpting.

The arts go beyond what medical practitioners would tell us about keeping safe; the arts restore one’s confidence and assures one that there is hope! The arts are precisely what youths in Nigeria need. The arts should be taken to the next level in the nation and should not wipe off from the curriculum. 

Dr. Florence Ewomazino Nweke (Ph. D.) is an avid researcher and lecturer in Music at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, a co-investigator on a study of COVID-19 Adaptation Strategies for Residents of Multi-Tenanted Housing in Lagos, Nigeria, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC-GCRF urgency grants). Contributor to the development of research toolkits-University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Florence is also a fellow of the Ife Institute of Advanced Studies (Summer School, 2020). Florence was a speaker during the International Art Education Week in 2020 organized by the World Alliance for Arts Education and UNESCO. She is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the University Of Lagos, Nigeria. She has presented papers at local and international conferences. A member of Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC), International Society for Music Education (ISME), Association of Nigerian Musicologists (ANIM), Music Therapy Association of Nigeria (MUTHAN).

Dr. Oluwatoyin Olokodana-James (PhD.) is a Lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) with the Department of Creative Arts, an Associate Fellow of the Institute of African Diaspora Studies (IADS - UNILAG), and member/ Principal Investigator of African Multiple Cluster Centre of Excellence, Bayreuth, Germany (Lagos ACC). Oluwatoyin specializes in African Theatre, Film and Gender Studies. She is a member of the Society of Nigeria Theatre Artists (SONTA), African Theatre Association (AFTA), International Federation of Theatre Researchers (IFTR), (Dance Studies Association (DSA), she has presented papers at local and international conferences.

Dr. Chinyere Ndubuisi is a Drawing and Sculpture lecturer at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria. She has PhD, MA, and BA in Visual Arts, majoring in sculpture from the University of Lagos. She has written books on cultural and creative arts (“Learn Africa”), and edited cultural and creative arts-books for Tanus Books. She has published widely, both locally and internationally, and participated in 12 group art exhibitions. She is the immediate past Head of Department of Fine Art, Yaba College of Technology and a member of the major art body in Nigeria: the Society of Nigerian Artist (SNA). She is also a member and the first Vice President of the Female Artists Association of Nigeria (FAAN).