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244 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 

 
244 

SUSTAINABILITY OF MUSIC FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN 

NIGERIA 

 

Ifeoma P. Okechukwu & Eunice U. Ibekwe Ph.D. 

 

Abstract 

his research investigates the sustainability of music for tourism 

development in Nigerian society. As such, music seminars, 

workshops, symposia and performances in and outside the 

country involve tourism which enhances material development. As a 

matter of fact, when music is well and duly sustained for tourism 

development, life will be more meaningful and attractive for travelers, 

transporters and tourist centres. Moreover, for tourism and tourists’ 

movements, the main need is for the travelers/guests to get 

satisfaction as well as security to be ensured. Likewise, there is serious 

need for quality improvement purposes for the nation’s development 

through tourism. However, the issue on how to handle and make music 

sustainable and useful in making tourism worthwhile has not been given 

credit and worthy recognition in Nigeria. Therefore, the work sets out 

to do an investigative study on how the sustainability of music can be 

of immense advantage for tourists in particular and tourism in general. 

The work hinges on the theories of sustainability, socio-cultural and 

tourism basis. Data collected was made through library, interviews and 

internet assets. From the findings, proof was made that when music is 

well sustained in life ramification for travelers and their agents, life 

T 

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Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 245 

will be more attractive and enjoyable because music is life for the 

Africans at large and Nigeria in particular because they appreciate 

music a lot in all their events from cradle to grave. 

Key Words:  Sustainability, Music, Tourism, Development. 

 

Introduction  

Music and tourism are inseparable, and both go on with life as long as 

the movement of people on transit in the air, sea, rail and on the word 

from one place to the other with their musical equipment is concerned.  

As such, music is a socio-cultural phenomenon which leads to cross-

cultural music interaction of people from far and near through tourism. 

Consequently, music is applicable in all spheres of life and gives quite a 

nice spices to life activities including tourists, their materials, touring 

agents, terminals, destinations and their agents for national 

development. Therefore, its sustainability and retention especially in 

the areas of travel is very important and cannot be over-emphasized. 

During transportation; drivers/passengers, captain/crew, 

pilot/passengers or cargo planes make use of music for their journeys 

to be enjoyable and stress free as well as knowledge acquisition, 

awareness and dissemination of information and for communicative 

purposes. As such, music is highly enjoyable during local and advanced 

movements and/or compounded travels across the globe because music 

awakens weak spirit and depressed souls through entertainment. 

Subsequently, the sustainability of music for tourism development is a 

phenomenon associated with industrialization and modernity which 

ranges from internal entertainment to broader/external pilgrimages. 

As a result, music which may be in form of song, dance or instrumental 

is sustainable towards achieving national development. Odogbor (2008) 

infers that; 

Music occupies a vital place in the life of every Nigerian. Its 
importance informs its integration into the day-to-day 
activities. Even in the contemporary Nigerian society, music 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 246 

functions in one form or another in the life of the individual 
groups or the entire society (p. 67). 

Likewise dance as an aspect of music can be a viable means of enhancing 

tourism for national development through inter-cultural relationship. 

Folorunso and Olusola (2021) state that; 

Intercultural relationship is another great influence of Nigerian 
dance. It causes people from every area, irrespective of age and 
sex, coming together to agree on a concept of dance. This has 
brought many communities in Nigeria to sustain their 
relationship which most often lead to marriage among members, 
educational development, technology, infrastructural 
development, etc (p. 329). 

 

Subsequently, the sustainability of general music content and its broad 

areas as in traditional, western and popular music areas attract and 

involve tourism from every area so as to enhance national development. 

Ogisi (2008) posits that;  

Contrary to expectation, the regionalization of the civil service 
did not reduce the migration of individuals to various parts of 
the country rather it stimulated migration to the newly created 
regional and divisional administrative headquarters that were 
developing into urban centres. Thus, popular music and musicians 
in general had a wider patronage to contend with. Thus, began 
regional trends in Nigerian popular music. Musicians who 
performed in such milieu had to sing in the lingua franca of the 
area so as to attract patronage (p. 82). 

 

Theoretical Framework 

The study hinges on the theories of sustainability, socio-cultural and 

tourism back-ups.  The theory of sustainability states that, it is the 

long-term viability of a community’s set of social institutions or their 

societal practices which is a form of intergenerational ethics in which 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

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the environmental and economic actions taken by present persons do 

not diminish the opportunities of future persons to enjoy similar levels 

of wealth, utility or welfare. For further clarifications, the theoretical 

dance sustainability rose to prominence with the modern environmental 

movement, which rebuked the unsustainable character of 

contemporary societies where patterns of resource use, growth and 

consumption threatened the integrity of future generations. As such, 

there is need for the sustainability of music for tourism development 

in Nigeria to enhance smooth and peaceful co-existence of individuals 

as well as the generational continuity of the society.   

 

Socio-cultural theory on its own states that both social and cultural 

interaction play important roles in the development of higher order 

thinking skills in human being as seen in the case of tourism. Moreover, 

human development and learning through music and tourism originate in 

social and cultural interaction. In other words, the way people interact 

with others through musical tours and the culture in which they live 

shape their mental and social abilities. As a matter of fact, the 

environment (surrounding) where the culture exist and the people that 

operate within that environment with selective norms, values, 

traditions, which make up and/or form the socio-cultural behaviour 

that positively attracts cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains 

of musical activities for sustenance.  The socio-cultural theory was 

propounded by a Russian Psychologist known as Gygotsky in 1978. With 

special reference, Allman (2020) posits that Gygotsky (1978), a 

Russian Psychologists and founder of socio-cultural theory believed 

that human development originated in social and cultural interaction (p. 

1). 

 

The topic on tourism theory was propounded by Raymond Cuervo in 

1967 in his assumptions, he states that tourism is a set system whose 

function combines travel with communication and that such 



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communication system is capable of transmitting positive and useful 

information to promote world peace. The system is based on five (5) 

prominent elements as follows: 

 The traveler-generating region (the origin or environment 

where the traveler usually lives) 

 A transit region that connects the region to the destination (on 

movement by means of rail, road, air or ship/boat). 

 The tourism destination region. 

 The tourist himself/herself and/or itself. 

 The tourism and travel industry (tourist information centres, 

accommodation, lodging establishment, etc.) 

The theories when related to the topic portrays that music as a socio-

cultural agent, phenomenon as well as performance, and an instrument 

of sustainability for tourism development in our society. As such Music 

and Tourism are bonded for better society. Therefore; 

 Music  -  for sustainability  

 Tourism  - for traveling, traveler, movement, tours, 

communication, socialization 

 Society  - community, culture, environment, etc 

 

The Task Ahead 

The modern trend in the area of sustainability of music for tourism 

development has many challenges facing it especially in these 

contemporary times. As a matter of facts, the issue is now on how 

music can be sustained to enhance tourism for national development. 

Therefore, the task ahead is the way forward for enforcement or 

reinforcements that music should be devised to encourage tourism in 

order to propagate progressive national continuity across present and 

future generation. In other words, the importance of keeping and using 

music in our tours and national performances so as to encourage our 

nation grow with stability in social, cultural economic, historical, 

educational, etc. In other to carry the task ahead to achieve the set 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

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objectives, music should therefore be encouraged and placed for 

sustainability as regards tourism development in the following areas: 

 

Socio-Cultural Carnivals and Music Festivals: Through cultural music 

carnivals, the sustainability of music for tourism development should 

be enhanced because different towns, states, groups, dignitaries and 

individuals will travel from far and near to grace the occasion.  

 

Moreover, patronage to some musical groups and scholarship awards 

will keep music to the desirable standard good for tourism. In addition, 

tourism centres, hotel accommodations, transportation, etc. will also 

get their amusement parks ready and/or renovated to welcome and 

make lodging accommodation conducive for performers and tourists. 

Vidal (2012) states that; “cross-cultural music interactions should be 

promoted through musical tours and musical concerts” (p. 209). It 

enhances social interaction of individuals. Odogbor (2008) posits that;  

Socio-culturally, traditional music helps promote group 
sentiments and the people’s ideals. During traditional festivals 
and other social gatherings for example, music generates an 
atmosphere of conviviality where boundaries based on sex, age, 
status, etc. are blurred into significance, and everybody 
celebrates as an entity. This is capable of providing forum for 
mending broken relations and providing common ground for 
development, (p. 69). 

 

Organizing Conferences, Seminars, Workshops and Symposia: With 

annual attendance of music conferences, seminars, workshops and 

symposia, music will be sustained for tourism development in Nigeria. 

As such, concerned individuals will travel from their abodes to lodge at 

the conference, seminar and symposia centres. Such travels give room 

for social interaction and discovery of some talented musicians for 

self-reliability that leads to independent job opportunity. Vidal (2012) 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 250 

postulates that; “Annual music festival should be organized and held in 

all categories of music as a means of discovering and identifying future 

talents” (p. 208). 

 

Music Competition in all Levels of Education: Music competitions should 

be organized and advertised to all the levels of Nigeria education. 

Winners should be awarded with gifts, laurels and talented individuals 

discovered for scholarship awards and academic excellent 

performance. This will install and inculcate better life in the individuals 

because the spirit of life is the spirit of music.  Vidal (2012) postulates 

that; “All over the areas inhabited by the peoples and societies of 

Nigeria the spirit of life is the spirit of music” (p. 81). 

 

Provision of Well-Equipped ICT Centres: Lodging accommodation of 

conference centres, halls and hotels should be well equipped with ICT 

gadgets for travelers who may want to use them. Hotel rooms and ICT 

rooms should be furnished with air-condition and well-constructed 

furniture for visitors as well, for music sustainability to beep up 

national development. 

 

Transport Facilities and Security Consciousness: For music to be 

sustained as regards tourism development in Nigeria, good transport 

facilities should be put in order to avoid accidents, plane crash, ship-

wreck, etc. Similarly, security consciousness should be maintained for 

travelers, hotel lodgers, and equipment of any kind. Amusement parks 

should be well tidied up by attendants, to suit the standard and the 

requirement needed for the tourists gathering. 

 

Benefits of Sustaining Music for Tourism Development in Nigeria 

We derive numerous benefits from the sustainability of music for 

tourism development in Nigeria. Some of the benefits are: 

1. Economic benefit 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 251 

2. Music globalization  

3. Music for tourist attraction 

4. Academic/intellectual/educational improvement 

5. Socio-cultural exposure/interaction  

6. Area or place indicator 

 

Economic Benefit 

Sufficient economic help is being derived from the sustainability of 

music for tourism development because performers make a lot of 

money and earn their living through music tourism. Echezona and 

Okezie (2018) posit that; 

The diverse cultural music has become part of the tourist 
industry and almost on daily basis, some performance or the 
other is carried out in different areas of the country in 
celebration of one festival event or receiving important foreign 
dignitaries (p. 114). 

Through music for tourism people will be gainfully employed and 

engaged in musical work and its performances for self, group or 

community’s reliability. 

 

Globalizing Music   

The world has become a global village through music and its 

sustainability enhances tourism development. Therefore, during 

musical tours, culture of different people’s music are portrayed. 

Johnson in Echezona & Okezie (2018) infers that; 

Tourism and globalization says that performance or composition 
of a culture’s music is not limited to the inhabitants or migrants 
of that culture, but is increasingly part of an array of artifacts 
readily consumed within globalized culture. Continuing . . . 
therefore, Nigerian music consumable as a tourist product could 
position her for globalization and leaves its imprint in the world 
of music (p. 115). 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 252 

Music for Tourist Attraction 

Psychologically, music by nature draws and commands attraction. People 

travel to places for music entertainment, performance, sight-seeing 

and/or for popularity. Hearing the sound of music attracts physical 

engagement. The sound of musical instrument is a powerful agent and 

point of attraction during musical display. Music artistes through their 

performances draw souls to hear and commend their work of music 

composition. 

 

Music as an Academic, Intellectual and Educational Empowerment  

Music trains people to be cognitively, affectively and psycho-motive 

alert wherever they are. The Africans in their communal way of sharing 

and enjoying music are serious music activists through their day-to-

day performances. They sing music, they ring music and they play music 

all through their life time and even to the grave with music through 

dirges. 

 

Socio-Cultural Interaction/Integration 

During music tourism, people interact with each other during 

performances and entertainments, seminars and symposia. They also 

feel free to make friends without minding where the person comes 

from. As such music tourism is a social and cultural unifier. Musicians 

travel to foreign land and their audience also travels to watch them, 

observe them and copy their styles of dance performances. Some 

receive awards and become popular as world figures. Culturally, they 

share and portray their diverse cultural heritage for world exposure 

and consumption. 

 

Area and/or Place Indicator 

Sustainability of music for tourism development is a place or area 

indicator. Towns, villages, cities, states and locations are made known 

and popular through music tourism. Many musicians had gone and known 



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 253 

places as a result of music tourism. Some of them have risen to level 

and are where they are today because of music tourism. Through music 

tourism, knowledge of some distant areas is exposed for 

acknowledgement. Geographically, some areas could not have been 

exposed if not for the sake of music performance and performing 

musicians that come from such timid and remote areas, as regards 

traditional, western, and popular music performances. Therefore, 

there is every need to sustain music for tourist development in Nigeria. 

 

Summary and Conclusion  

From the study, it is seen that the sustainability of music tourism for 

national development should be encouraged by individuals, government 

sponsors and the entire society. Music makes every place and its 

atmosphere good and attractive naturally. It changes things and life 

for better. Therefore, with tourism by its side, the nation will achieve 

greatness for the present and up-coming generations. As such, when 

we sustain music for tourism the nation will be grown and developed 

socially, culturally, economically, intellectually, historically, 

therapeutically, physically, recreationally, religiously, morally and 

educationally so as to achieve all-round greatness in the country, 

Nigeria. 

 

References 

Echezona, A. U. A. & Okezie, K. (2018).  The role of music to tourism 

development in Nigeria. Journal of Tourism and Heritage 
Studies (JTHS). 7, 110 – 117 

Folorunso, D. J. & Olusola, S. A. (2021). Musical art education, 20th 
century Nigerian dance styles and the morality of Nigerian 
youths: in I. O. Idamoyibo’s Festschrift (pp. 315 – 322). 

Odogbor, P. O. (2008). Towards the sustainability of Nigerian 

traditional    music: The role of the music educator. Awka 
Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA). 5, 67 – 80  



Okechukwu, I. P. & Ibekwe, E. U.: Sustainability of Music for Tourism Development in… 

 Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts Vol.15 (2021) 254 

Ogisi, A. A. (2008). The bustling fifties and popular music in Nigeria. 

Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA). 5, 
81 - 94 

Vidal, A. O. (2012). Selected topics on Nigerian music. Ile Ife: Obafemi 

Awolowo University Press. 

 
 


