‘Imagine There Is No Heaven’: an African Freethought Festival
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/07/26
Dr. Leo Igwe is a board member of the Humanist Association of Nigeria and of Humanists International. He holds a masters in philosophy and a doctoral degree in religious studies from the University of Bayreuth in Germany and wrote his doctoral thesis on witchcraft accusations in Northern Ghana. Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches and Critical Thinking Social Empowerment Foundation.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, in Lagos 2024, between October 14th arrival and October 18th departure, there is the “Imagine There Is No Heaven,” an African freethought music and art festival. This is a great idea. People should do it more. What originally brought this idea of bringing music and arts to a freethought African community? What was the original inspiration for this idea?
Dr. Leo Igwe: First, I’ve been looking for facilities and mechanisms to convey the message of freethought, spread and promote freethinking values. The idea is that people should not just exercise their minds freely but use them in a way that can be entertaining and facilitate social and political change. Too often, when we use music to send a message, people feel entertained. Sometimes, a message that people might ordinarily find offensive becomes more acceptable through music. So, it is an effort to use another form of art, another way, instead of writing, but now using rhythm and songs to promote the same ideals. We can think freely; by thinking freely, we can help build a society, inspire people, and celebrate ourselves. That is one aspect.
Another source of inspiration was travelling and attending freethought meetings in Germany. I was at one of the conferences, there they sang a song. It’s “Die Gedanken sind frei,” a German folk song. I liked it and thought, why can’t we, here in Nigeria or Africa, come up with lyrics along that line that celebrate freethought and give people the opportunity to exercise their minds? I was also in Copenhagen, where we had the humanist choir from Norway. I’ve also been to the UK, where they have a humanist choir. On my return to Nigeria I thought I could create a forum or an activity to inspire people to convene and organize themselves. I thought we could have a humanist choir, we could have a freethought band. All these experiences came together to inspire and motivate me. I also talked to some of my colleagues so that we could have what we call a freethought festival.
Jacobsen: Do you have keynote performances, presentations, or panels?
Igwe: We are still working on those keynote presentations. But we are sending out invitations. We have invited the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka. He’s marking his 90th birthday this year. So, he’s busy at the moment. They’re organizing events around the country and the continent. So I don’t know whether he will have time to attend, but we have extended an invitation. We have also invited another professor, Niyi Osundare, one of our humanist scholars here. We have also extended an invitation to Professor Anele, who also spoke at our skeptics lecture. So what we’re doing at the moment is extending invitations. By August, we will have a program based on those who have confirmed that they will be there. So, right now, the program is a work in progress.
Jacobsen: Could there be an industry within Africa, or even more specifically within Lagos and Nigeria, that broadly deals with some of the popular or traditional musical rhythms and instruments overlaid with more freethought lyricism, as opposed to Christian or Islamic music?
Igwe: We’re working towards that. This will be the first time; it will be groundbreaking. Many people are going to come around. We are trying to get it right so that people will begin to understand that it could be a part of the musical industry. We want it to be a part of the music festival program so people can choose to attend a freethought music festival. They could also go to other music festivals because much of what we see here is more of what we call gospel music, Christian music, and, of course, Islamic music. We think that some other people might get inspired, and we might have a kind of music industry that is freethought oriented. That is my goal, and I hope there will be people who may want to look in that direction. We’re also thinking that we can inspire young talents. Yes, because we will highlight some of the freethought musical lyrics we already have from Nigeria. We hope to get some from South Africa and Congo, and we might also get a few from Europe to inspire young freethought talents so they could get into freethought musical performances. We are hoping that could happen. But as I said, we are working hard to make it succeed. I hope that someday, 10 or 20 years from now, people will look back and say it all started with this inaugural edition of the African Freethought and Art Festival. So, yes, we are hoping, and I’m hoping that it could happen that way.
Jacobsen: One of my favourite songs to come out of Nigeria was “This Is Nigeria” by the artist Falz. He is critical of the political system and some of the religious dogmatism or hypocrisies. If they’re reading this, should popular artists with particular hit songs come and attend that event at some point in the future?
Igwe: Yes, yes. I need to become more familiar with the lyrics, even the musician you mentioned, but I will search for it and see how we can get that on board. We’re going to get more. We have Femi Kuti. We have, of course, Fela Kuti. Many people have issues with their personal lives and things like that, but I always want to separate this and ensure we don’t throw away the baby with the bathwater. But I know he is one of the musicians we resonate with here, and some of his lyrics are critical of religious dogmatism and hypocrisy. So, I am sure many popular musicians and artists will join. We are going to see how it is going to play out. I hope that many popular artists will come on board.
Jacobsen: We’ll keep this short. How can people get involved? How can they donate their time? How can they attend? What are the quick points of contact there?
Igwe: Yes, we are holding this event at the University of Lagos. And, of course, Lagos is popular not only as a commercial city but also as the place where the Kutis have their base and where they perform. We are organizing at the University of Lagos. We are working to collaborate with the music department there and the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies. We are trying to unite academics and practitioners to see how we can inspire young talents. So, people can attend. We are still finalizing the arrangements. But I know that our date is fixed. October 15th to 17th this year, we will be meeting there. We will be happy to have people from around the world join us. This will be groundbreaking, and we look forward to people supporting and sponsoring the program.
We look forward to having some of our local humanist freethought groups coming around and tabling at the event.
Regarding the campaign we’re doing, we will have a table to explain what they’re doing. We hope people can also develop lyrics that will help send the message against witch-hunting. We’re expecting our humanist association to have a table at the event where they can explain what they’re doing. From there, we hope to meet young music talents and students interested in starting a freethought choir or band. We are looking forward to other music schools attending. We are extending invitations to them so they can all participate. They can understand the concept of freethought music and art and eventually integrate it into their school and departmental programs. As students, researchers, or as scholars and musicians, they will know that freethought music and art should be part and parcel of the musical enterprise. We are looking forward to bringing these people together, and we hope that they can reach out to us, send us emails, and offer support. Right now, we need more support. People can sponsor, send donations, or find a way to partner with us. Let us make this happen, and we hope it will become part and parcel of our African music industry going forward.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time today. I hope you become the next Nigerian Dr. Dre, inspiring all these new artists.
Igwe: Okay, I hope so. There is an opportunity not only to inspire people but also to celebrate these talents. There is an opportunity to use the mechanism and facility of freethought music to send a message of critical thinking, anti-dogma, and social reform and to tackle some of the menaces in society that people are afraid to talk about because of satirical repercussions. We can use freethought music and art to communicate this message and achieve a better society.
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