SWEET MOTHER BY PRINCE NICO MBAGA

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SWEET MOTHER BY PRINCE NICO MBAGA
ANALYSIS BY EGURIASE S.M. OKAKA
In the early 1980s Prince Nico Mbaga a high life singer from equatorial Guinea stormed the Nigeria music scene with a thought provoking album track titled “SWEET MOTHER.” I was in my tens when I first heard this song from this great singer. This music was a bomb which exploded and unfolded the importance of motherhood to the world.
Nico Mbaga narrated the story of motherhood and stylishly shows us the sufferings which mothers go though when rearing their children. His narration also gave hope to the would-be mothers. This is one of the best of Africa music that told the story of a complete Africa mother.  Indeed, this is one story told in the language that all can relate with that is, the pigin English.
            Nico seized the opportunity to tell the world of his experience and sufferings his mother went through in bring him up. We can understand that he first tasted and drunk from the cup of water before giving us to drink. From this story we learn that Africa fathers most times stopped their work at conception or at where they impregnate their wives and leave her to continue from there. It is the woman who holds the responsibility of taking care of the child before and after birth. This is not too good though, what should we do? Well the simple answer is to change that fact.
What endears people to his style of music is the effective use of percussion instruments to send his message across to his audiences. He uses sounds and his powerful vocalization in a stylistic manner that drives home his point. This gave him an edge over other high life musicians of his time. Nico Mbaga was a household name in the high life music industry.
His music passes an important message to the world through it themes: Mother is supreme, you cannot get another mother like your mother so respect her, our mothers are special. These are many other themes you can find in the song “Sweet Mother”.
The song also bring hope to mothers when he advised that they should stop crying on account of their children that there is hope for them, that there is this statement which is true in all spheres of life: that the child they suffer to bring up today will in turn bring them hope tomorrow. That is to say that, “one good turn deserves another.”
His song is true of us because we have mothers and we can testify that what he said of mothers is the truth and nothing but the truth. There are bad mothers of course, in this case they learn to be true because no mother wants to be tagged as such.
The song is good! The lines are good! The rhythm is good too! Great lyrics!

By:
Eguriase S. M. Okaka

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