Mr Gyedu Blay Ambolley – a Ghanaian highlife musician, songwriter, producer, and composer has said that misinformation and inconsistencies in the educational system of Africa, are the reasons for the slow pace of development in the music industry in Africa.
He said this at the 20th-anniversary celebration of the African University College of Communications (AUCC), in Accra, on November 28, 2022, on the theme “Re-imaging AUCC: Excellence in education within the context of Pan-Africanism and digitalization”.
Mr Ambolley said Africans feel reluctant to promote the knowledge of their ancestors and the impact they have inculcated in them, but rather what had been handed to them by their colonial masters.
He said culture was very important because it gives you the knowledge and power to know who you are and where you originate from.
“The white man introduced education to Africans and whatever they want us to believe is what they thought us, so if we don’t ask questions then we follow suit.”
Mr Ambolley said, “The Whiteman says, “heaven on earth”, “heaven on earth” is here in Africa, but because of misinformation we think it’s in Jerusalem”.
“The white man is bathing us with our own water, but we do not know that they are bathing us with what belongs to our ancestors due to misinformation and education,” he added.
He said Africans need to be informed properly to avoid any misinformation and lies, adding that this would inculcate knowledge into Africans to also produce good products to elevate the continent.
“Teachers and families need to educate children from their infancy to help them acquire basic knowledge about their ancestry and life as a whole”.
He said Africans should go back, reflect, and change their education system, changing the curriculum and books they read.
“Where are the black man’s books, where is the black man’s form of education?” he quizzed.
He said every country has its music; Ghana has highlife. Jamaica has dancehall, and America has Jazz, but Africans have left theirs to copy the westerners due to misinformation and lack of education among Africans.
“Africa must organise workshops and seminars to educate and pass on the information from generation to generation”.
He advised students to portray some Africanism in their lives to help build one Africa as a whole.
Mr Ambolley is regarded as the first musician from Ghana and the world to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms.
