Read About The man, His Music & Message
Famous Hausa musician, Alhaji Adamu Dan Maraya popularly called Dan Maraya Jos died yesterday, at his Layin Zana residence, along Bauchi road, Jos, in Jos North local government area of the Plateau State capital. He was reportedly aged 69.


The Hausa musician, who in his life time, represented Nigeria in many international and local cultural festivals, was buried immediately according to Muslim rites. Unconfirmed sources said he died after a protracted battle with a cancer-related ailment.


Dan Maraya’s last known public outing was at a public lecture organised by friends of Governor Simon Lalong on May 26, as part of activities marking his inauguration. A frail-looking Dan Maraya was held by two aides as he was led out of the podium after offering a wonderful rendition to the admiration of the guests. In December 2014, when he performed at the Peoples Democratic Party’s fund raising dinner in Abuja, before the 2015 general election, before former President Goodluck Jonathan and other stalwarts of the party, where he shook hands with the former president, after his performance.


The philanthropist who played his musical instrument called Molo, played his string for former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang and a host of others.


Some of his popular songs include Dan Amalinki (Motor Conductor) and Likita (Doctor) among others.


Announcing his demise on his Facebook page at about 4pm yesterday, Alhaji Ladan Salihu, the Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and a long-time friend of the deceased, wrote, “Inaa Lillaahi Wa Innaa ilaiHir raaji’un. One of Nigeria’s foremost Hausa musicians, poet, philosopher and philanthropist, Dr Adamu Danmaraya Jos has answered Allah’s call about an hour ago.”


“He died in Jos after a protracted illness. When I visited him two weeks ago, he spoke passionately about the unity of the North and of one Nigeria. I remember when he insisted that my late father gave out his (Danmaraya’s) adopted daughter’s hand in marriage some 15 years ago.


“We shared many moments. He was to me a brother and a friend. I am devastated. But I am proud he lived a very useful life, transforming society through music and silently through Islamic endeavours. May Allah grant him Aljannatul Firdaws. Amin. For the record he was a recipient of the National Honours of MON, OON and United Nations Peace Medal.”


Many of the deceased artiste’s fans took to the social media yesterday, mourning his demise.


One of them, a lawyer, Liz Asabe Ikilama, wrote, “a couple of days ago, I was telling Dami my son about him and his songs. I said to him ‘Dan Adam mai wuyan gane hali, ‘in anyi rana yace anyi, in anyi dare yace anyi dare’! I said when you are given hot potatoes and carrots; you’d say why is it too hot. If you are given the cold one, you’d complain too.


“I told him how philosophical Dan Marayan Jos’ Songs were! He asked if I have met him and if I know his house? I said when we were kids; he was staying around/off Bauchi road. I wasn’t too sure. But I told him that I met him when I was in Law school Lagos at 1004 housing estate in Uncle Ladan Salihu’s house,” she wrote.


“A colossal loss to the whole of art, entertainment, and humanity in general. He was a musician with a unique character and talent,” another fan, Mukhtar Abubakar Usman, wrote. “His was unparalleled.”


In a tribute, Anglican Bishop of Jos, Bishop Benjamin Kwashi described Maraya as one of the best faces of Jos Plateau and prided himself as such.


The death of Dan Maraya Jos came to many Nigerians as a shock because except for the younger generation, most Nigerians from the age of 40 would either have heard his songs or heard of him. His style of music and message, which he embedded in his songs, made him one of the most sought after musicians in the North and Nigeria as a whole.


Adamu Wayya popularly known as Dan Maraya Jos was born in 1946 in Bukuru, a suburban of Jos south local government area of Plateau state. Dan Maaya which means an orphan, lost both parents at a tender age and was taken in by the then late Hausa Emir of Bukuru because his father was the Emir Court musician.


Dan Maraya showed an early interest in music and during a trip to Maiduguri as a teenager, he came across musicians who revived his interest in music and he decided to make a kuntigiki, a small, single-stringed lute with a large, oval-shaped sardine can covered with goatskin that became a apart of him for the rest of his life
[ads4]

The musician, originally from Zamfara State, would later get a group of musicians like himself, who were experts in playing the kuntigi, and they started by praise singing at local events.


Like most local musicians of his time in the North, the style of Dan Maraya’s repertoire involved praise singing, but the main difference between Dan Maraya and other musicians was that he would sing about people who were making impact in the society or those he felt were heroes in the society. His songs also include messages or lessons on daily living. Some of his famous songs song include Wak’ar Karen Mota, Gangar Ciki, an Adam, Talakawa, Mai Akwai Da Babu, Waar Sana’a, Gangar Malamai, Siyasa, Hauri, Malalaci, Duniya, Ina Ruwan Wani, Isahara, Waar Aure and Bob Guy.


The recipient of the National Honors of MON, OON and United Nations Peace Medal became popular during the Nigerian civil war when he produced songs in praise of soldiers of the federal army and incorporated vivid accounts of scenes from the war in his songs. The lyrics of the late Dan Maraya’s songs were crafted to inculcate the importance of our culture and the need to live in harmony and respect for each other, without sentiments for both religion and ethnicity.


His death has left a void that would be difficult to fill, judging from what is being dished out daily as music by some Nigerians.


Dan Maraya Jos can be categorised in the class of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti who tried to change the system with their music.


The late Dan Maraya Jos travelled wide during his life time, performing in many countries including the USA, Cuba, Brazil, Jamaica, China and many African countries. He also visited the United Kingdom for music performance on the invitation of the Nigerian Students Association, through the BBC in London.


The renowned Hausa musical Icon was also a recipient of an honorary doctorate award.


“We should teach our children to love our country rather than wearing another country’s type of attires which only portray their culture and not ours,” he was once quoted to have said in an interview


Ibrahim Sani, an engineer who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday on the late music icon, said, Dan Maraya Jos’ shoes can never filled by anybody because his type of music was a gift to this country and humanity as a whole. We will really miss him. When I heard he was sick, I thought he would get better with time but instead, we heard this evening that he passed away. May his gentle soul rest in peace.”


Wikipedia’s entry on the late Dan Maraya Jos
Dan Maraya Jos (born Adamu Wayya in 1946 – 20 June 2015) is a Nigerian Hausa Griot best known for playing the kuntigi. Dan Maraya Jos, whose name means “The Little Orphan of Jos”, was born in 1946 and Died Saturday, 20 June 2015 in B’ukur, near Jos in Plateau State, Nigeria. His Islamic name is Adamu, but his father died shortly after his birth and his mother died while he was still an infant, hence the name by which everyone knows him. Dan Maraya’s father was a court musician for the Emir of Bukur, who took Dan Maraya under his care when his parents died. Dan Maraya showed an early interest in music and came under the influence of local professional musicians. During a trip to Maiduguri while he was still a pre-teen, he was impressed by musicians there and made a kuntigi, with which he has accompanied himself ever since.


The kuntigi is a small, single-stringed lute. The body is usually a large, oval-shaped sardine can, covered with goatskin. Dan Maraya and other kuntigi players are solo performers who accompany themselves with a rapid ostinato on the kuntigi. During instrumental interludes they repeat a fixed pattern for the song they are playing, but while singing, they will often change the notes of the pattern to parallel the melody they are singing.


Like most professional musicians, the mainstay of Dan Maraya’s repertoire is praise singing, but Dan Maraya singles out his personal heros rather than the rich and famous. His first and perhaps still his most famous song is Wak’ar Karen Mota (Song of the Driver’s Mate) in praise of the young men who get passengers in and out of minivan buses and do the dirty work of changing tires, pushing broken down vans, and the like. During the Nigerian Civil War, he composed numerous songs in praise of soldiers of the federal army and incorporated vivid accounts of scenes from the war in his songs.


Many of his songs incorporate social commentary. These include the songs on marriage in the study here, which probably date from the early 1970’s. One might argue that they are really one large song, and in performance, Dan Maraya incorporates lines from each of them. However, the recordings that serve as the basis for this study have three distinct musical settings, and the songs themselves have three different themes.
Jawabin Aure (Discourse on Marriage) lists the problems attendant in divorce and admonishes married couples to try to patch up their differences. Auren Dole (Forced Marriage) decries the practice of families arranging marriages for their daughters rather than letting them decide on their own mates. Gulma-Wuya (The Busybody) describes a neighbourhood gossip who works in collusion with a boka (a practitioner in casting spells, removing evil spirits, etc.) to disrupt marriages by sowing dissension between women and their husbands.
The latter song is amusing in that Dan Maraya performs it as a drama, imitating the voices of the different characters as they speak, a technique that he has used in other songs as well.
Dogara, Wada Mourn Danmaraya Jos
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and the Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada (rtd) have expressed shock over the sudden demise of Dan Maraya Jos.


In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, Dogara said the North and indeed Nigeria had lost one of its most talented sons.


“Danmaraya’s sudden death came to me as a shock and I want to use this medium to condole with the Danmaraya family, the government and people of Plateau state and all Nigerians over this irreparable loss”, Mr. Dogara said.


“The late Danmaraya has written his name in gold in the annals of Nigeria`s history as a talented musician, poet and a philosopher.


“His music was full of wisdom which will not only outlive him, but will continue to be a reference point for generations to come.


“I pray God almighty to give his family the fortitude to bear the loss,” Dogara said.


Also in a statement by his adviser on media and strategy, Jacob Edi, governor Wada said the late Dan Maraya Jos’ contribution to African folklore could not be forgotten.


“Nigeria has lost a rare gem. His contribution to African folklore and traditional music is indelible.


Source: Leadership