This study examines literary (written) Church music in Nigeria.It focused specifically on the emergence of Ibibio Church music and how it has developed into the style of Ibibio Native Airs (INAs).
The study employs a qualitative research method.The primary sources of data were gleaned from unstructured interviews with church leaders and indigenous literary composers selected for the study.In addition, participant observation in the performance of the genre was carried out.Secondary sources of data were garnered from books, journals, and the Internet.Findings show that the Ibibio Native Airs (INAs) emerged principally as an oral genre as a postcolonial strategy to indigenize music in the Ibibio church.
Its trajectory has been popularized as a literary genre with the use of tonic sol-fa notation, and most recently, the use of staff notation.Its stylistic trend began with the translation of Western hymns into the Efik-Ibibio language and has advanced into locally nuanced compositions, which intersect Western models with Indigenous ones.Importantly, this new genre has also contributed to new versions of oral-written synergy in the Ibibio Church music.