The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. K. O. Adebowale, mni, FAS, has said that elders are ‘living ancestors’ who carry institutional memories that speak large volumes about their associations.
He made this statement when he received members of the Association of Nigerian Musicologists (ANIM) on a courtesy to his office.
Prof. Adebowale said that the existence of elders in a professional body brings cohesiveness and helps the body to make a profound impact that will greatly affect research and improve the status of the association.
He stated that any association that does not have elders that can speak of memories of the past, historical perspectives will fade, and the level of impact will be very small.
The VC praised the ANIM for its high level of organisation and cohesiveness as every member of the association was represented.
Speaking on the theme of the 19th conference of the Association, “Music in a Digital Economy”, the VC cautioned that though AI will be very easy to bring into music, the association should take steps to study the digital world in detail so as to draw boundaries that will avert the dangers associated with AI.
He stated, “the rate at which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going, if we are not very careful, the negative tendencies that we will get from there will be more than the benefits.”
In his address, Prof. Christian U. Onyeji, President, Association of Nigerian Musicologists, appreciated the Vice-Chancellor for granting the association the opportunity to hold its 19th National Conference in UI.
He informed the Management that ANIM is made up of musicologists who are lecturers, practitioners, and experts working in different institutions in the country that practice and promote art music.
Prof. Onyeji noted that as the association also marks its 30th anniversary, the 19th conference will consider the digital economy and key into the process, analyse how much of that process has impacted music so far, what music is contributing to the economic processes involved in the digital process and believed that the conference will make substantial contributions that will impact the processes from the Nigeria standpoint.
