A Literary Discourse of Nigerian Children’s Accretive Songs

Abstract

A general doubt about the artistic or literary usefulness of the Nigerian
childlore is still evident among Nigerian scholars. Confirming the situation is the paucity of literature or critical works in the genre. The most common
response to this lore however are studies related to pedagogical issues.
Observation in the past ten years or so shows that some systematic studies of the lore as a literary genre are gradually becoming obvious. The paper has chosen to discuss Nigerian childlore and specifically children’s accretive songs with a view to highlighting their socio-cultural, political and aesthetic values. Furthermore, the paper shows how children’s play culture reflects broader debates about creativity; thereby confirming the symbiosis between adults’ and children’s lores; and the significant contributions of the latter to the overall image of the Nigerian literary output.