Fela objected to this dictation, went ahead to release the album, and thus signalled the birth of his own label -"Kalakuta Records"- with "STB" and "Colonial Mentality" as its first vinyl (LP Kalakuta KK001-A). There were however other forms of radical music censorship, more veiled but equally as pervasive in the course of Fela's musical advocacy. There were instances of hurriedly cancelled contracts by agents who got pressurised to delimit public space for the expression of Afrobeat practice. There were equally other times of bare-faced roguish occupation of outdoor venues of performance, or the boarding of the Afrika Shrine by government agents even in defiance of court orders. Rather than be cowed, Fela would retort in his traditional sarcasm: how can a government of rentiers appreciate hard labour; how can a government claiming to reduce unemployment be depriving a community of artists its legitimate means of income?

Just in case this is taken as an isolated case, other instances of younger musicians can equally be cited. In the mid eighties, a nation-wide tour including the pop star, Sonny Okosuns, and reggae musician, Majek Fashek, was hurriedly cancelled because certain entrenched interests within and outside the government had threatened violent disruption. The ostensible reason this time around was that the musicians were likely to corrupt the innocence of northern youths. The local authority also complained that par tof the musical repertoire included the bell gong, deemed to be un-Islamic and capable of aiding incipient Christianity. The authorities were also particularly irked by the Majek's lyrics: "Send down the rain." What rain? They smelt a hidden transcript of an invitation to radical solutions.

For an ostensibly raidal reason, the Nigerian Television placed an NTTB--Not-To-Be-Broadcast on Femi Anikulapo-Kuti. The reason this time around was that the track "Bang, Bang, Bang" was capable of corrupting youth innocence for its alleged lewd lines. Also less politically combative thanhis late father, Fela, Femi continues to stoke the embers of resistance against corruption in high places. Besides, he has also evoked a pan Africanist consciousness by relaunching the "Movement Against Second Slavery".

The most recent of these assaults on cultural pluralism comes from Zamfara and other states where the Islamic code of Sharia has been adopted. Following the declaration by the state governor, Alhaji Sani Yerima, other public institutions in the state have commenced implementation. In the first place, the social context under which secular music is played such as ceremonies of rites of passages was banned. "It is un-Islamic", pronounced the governor. Not even the traditional griots, with centuries of their art, are spared. During my visit to the state mid last year, a couple of them noted the anger of cultural effacement as a result of the state government's pronouncement.

Yet, the federal authority, so eager to quell dissent amongst the oil-producing minority states of the Niger Delta, has simply looked on. The President of the nation, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo merely says: "The Sharia moment would simply fade away." As a result of such non-commitment to cultural rights, many musicians have begun to migrate eastwards. But theiris no respite even in this move as almost all the states in the Sahelian belt have also joined the Sharia crusade. But today, non-religious music, and their promoters, in these states remain endangered on their art. So also are cinema houses: they have been boarded.

Beyond the shores of Nigeria, the hostility to critical renditions continues. As a result, composers have resorted to a subtle of language. Highlife music is equally replete with such disguised texts. Nana Kwame Ampadu's "Ebi Te Yie" ("Some are favourably positioned"), which was released during the military regime of the National Liberation Council in Ghana is a case in point in this resort to the proverbial as a means of commenting on cotemporary experience under such a testy political atmosphere. One of such are the lines:

“There was once a meeting of all animals to discuss the concerns of the animal world. All the animals were present, including Leopard and the orphan Antelope. It so happened that Leopard took a seat directly behind orphan Antelope and started mistreating him. He clawed Antelope's tail to the ground, making it impossible for him to actively participate in the discussion. No sooner would orphan Antelope begin to speak than Leopard would silence him, with the warning that the meeting was not meant for skinny creatures. The mistreatment went on until orphan Antelope could bear it no longer. He plucked up courage and made a loud plea to the presiding chairman, "Petition on the floor, point of order," he said. "Mr. chairman, secretary, elders here assembled. I move for an immediate adjournment of the meeting, because some of us are not favourably positioned. Some are favourably positioned, others are not." As soon as the meeting saw through the wordsof the orphan Antelope, there was an immediate adjournment.”