Abstract

This paper explores the socio-cultural relevance of traditional musical instruments in Ejagham culture, describes the types of traditional musical instruments in Ejagham society, investigates the role of traditional musical instruments in Ejagham culture as well as determine new trend in the use of traditional musical instruments in Ejagham culture. The traditional musical instruments in Ejagham society mirror the deep cultural heritage of the people. They are use for diverse purposes in Ejagham cultural setting and play a crucial role in many cultural activities especially, Communication. The study hinged on the indigenous knowledge systems theory for its analysis and also adopted the qualitative research design using the semi-structured interview to gather data during field work. The finding of the study reveals that Ejagham society has a variety of traditional musical instruments that reflect its unique cultural heritage. Also, the carving and playing of the traditional musical instruments require a high level of skill, demonstrating the ingenuity of the people. Finding also shows that some traditional musical instruments are the inheritance of specific families which serve as the custodians of the skills of carving or playing them and in turn hand down this knowledge from one generation to another. The finding also indicates that these instruments play a crucial role in the cultural activities of the people as a means of entertainment and tools for communicating cultural nuance, a cultural role that is being eroded due to global force of change. This study hopes to stirrup and awakens the consciousness of Ejagham people on the need to make meaningful effort towards the preservation of the culture in face of global influence