CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

The emphasis of this chapter is the reviewing of existing materials relating to the project

tittle. However, the following sub-topic gives greater emphasis and close scrutiny. This helps to

put further the benefits, which may accrue to the reader and the country if necessary follow-ups

are made.

2.1 Culture in Modern World History

A definition of the term culture remains a hard task because the specific concept is

elusive in practice and depends on context. Chris Jenks in his book Culture, quotes Raymond

Williams, a Welsh academic, to the effect that “culture is one of the two or three most

complicated words in the English language.” Omar Abdolall in his article Misconceptions about

Culture agrees with this statement. He says, “Culture is a vague concept, and it is complicated

even more so by the fact that what constitutes it can change across space and time.” (2) Jenks

says further that rather than experiencing solely nature as the dominant aspect of life and society,

humans experience culture in its many forms. The difference is that in the end a human leaves

the world with representations of themselves and their ideas in some tangible and enduring form.

This type of culture has also allowed the unification of people throughout nations and the world.

Some believe that culture is a system that is not inherited by genes that it is what we learn from

society. President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s said, “I believe that a world of creation and

thought is at the very core of all civilization, and that our civilization will largely survive in the
works of our creations.” He also said that as we struggle to uphold art, “the stakes may well be

the survival of our entire society.”

For the purpose of this study, culture will be used in two meanings that is: a) being the

shared values and traditions from one specific group of people and b) refer to the fine arts and

humanities.

Culture has the power to control and influence the public mind and civil society and with

the age of industrialization and the diplomatic revolution since the late nineteenth century it has

become a tool of diplomacy. According to Bihikhu Parekh, in his article, “A Commitment to

Cultural Pluralism,” he states:

All societies today are culturally heterogeneous in different degrees.

Thanks to such forces as industrialization, the easy mobility of goods and

people, and the global reach of the multinational media, members of even

the most traditional and isolated societies are daily exposed to new ways

of life and thought. The influence on their language, aspirations, patterns

of consumption, life-styles, self-understanding and innermost fears is often

so subtle and systematic that they do not even notice it. (8)

The world that is experienced by the world’s nations today is different than the world of a

century ago. Today, with the exception of small aboriginal tribes almost all cultures are mixed.

There is no such thing as a pure national culture. Before industrialization, traditional societies

such as they were, had limited exposure to outside cultures or even to the high culture of the

ruling estates in the case of Europe. Culture and especially high culture did not expand beyond

towns walls. Today, within one city or town multiple cultures reside provoking a plea for unity
among them which is never really possible in a pluralistic society of the past and present. In a

sense a new culture has been born in the past century, one that can be defined as a melting pot

that includes diversity and individualism within a variety of people. However, this melting pot

has a problematic character. Parekh explains it as:

When a cultural community feels threatened, it panics and tends to

become self-obsessed, suppress internal differences, avoid all but minimal

contacts with other cultures, and to spawn a fundamentalist orthodoxy

which fragments the wider society and undermines its cohesion and unity.

(9)

Culture has the power to unsettle a society when it becomes more diverse, but diverse

societies also must find a balance in order to work. Exposure to other cultures is nearly

impossible to avoid in the present day. People from different ethnic backgrounds, dress, music,

and language, are encountered everyday by modes of literature, television, and radio. Yet, certain

people still prefer to live, eat, and socialize separately. If we are unable to live harmoniously

what does this say for our future? According to Neil Rudenstine in his speech Free Expression in

a Diverse Society, given at the Commencement Day Address at Harvard on 4 June, 1992, he

states:

when the populations of the world have quarreled and fought for millennia

in order to protect their religious, ethnic, national, linguistic, and other

characteristics or symbols of group identity, why should we expect

thousands of younger people-even when working with faculty and staff- to

create easily or swiftly the kind of community that virtually all humanity

has tended to resist? (10)

 Although his speech is directed toward the university such stands true for people in every

nation. Wars have begun due to differences in culture and its effects on politics. History is

replete with examples that do not allow the younger generation freedom to collaborate with

different societies instead it encourages its resistance. Rudenstine goes on to say:

Indeed, to see the continuing strength of the world’s resistance, we need

only read about what is taking place in the streets of what was once

Yugoslavia, or in regions of the former Soviet Union, or Northern Ireland,

or the Middle East, or parts of Africa, or elsewhere. (11)

Since the America of the 1950s, diversity has definitely expanded and grown, but there is

still a long way to go in order to overcome or understand the differences in the world. We need

to rise above the differences that are shared in the world and use that power genuinely to accept

one another or at the very least live peacefully in each other’s neighborhoods.

The power in today’s world is the understanding of other cultures and the ability to live

amongst them. If people lack in their culture education of one another, they are building an

avenue of animosity and creating a wall of oppression in one another. (12) It is thus even more

important of governments to understand this power of culture and use it to establish relationships

for the common good of its societies rather than to divide mankind. (13) Parekh says:

cultural diversity enriches and vitalises collective life, and is desirable not

only for minority communities but also for the society as a whole. It adds

a valuable aesthetic dimension to society, widens the range of moral

sympathy and imagination, and encourages critical self-reflection. Since

no culture realises all that is valuable in human life, each needs others to
 correct its inescapable biases, to appreciate its specificity, to help it arrest

its tendency to absolutise itself, and to deepen its appreciation of the

nature and possibilities of human existence. (14)

Culture is power in the modern experience of society. We have the choice to be

enlightened and educated in ways that were not possible in centuries past. People need to learn

and to know what is available to them in the realm of the arts and culture in order to create a

collective life without bias or the thought that the unknown is the enemy.

2.2 Preserving Culture

Theatre allows us to enter difficult and dangerous territory of thought and symbols. (42)

Governments and political institutions should make available opportunities for citizens to

interact with one another. In providing these opportunities, it will present exposure to other

cultures encouraging cooperation and understanding.

Phil Bartle, in his article “Preserving Culture,” would argue that there is a difference between

preserving culture and empowering it. He states:

The process of preservation is one which modifies something so that it

will last, so that it will not change, so that it will not live. To be alive

requires something to move, to change. So if you want to keep something

from changing for a long time, kill it. It will change eventually anyway

(just ask any Buddhist) no matter how it is preserved. (11)

In this idea of life and death Bartle is correct. Culture is living, if we try to conserve it in

a locked imprisoned and nostalgic state, it will stay the same and never have the chance to grow.

Preservation is impossible in a changing and evolving world. If we allow communities, which

are poor to stay stagnant we are allowing them to be weak, but at the same time we cannot force

them to change their culture. They have to want the change and be willing to be enlightened and

stimulated. Culture is what people learn and what causes them to be strong; therefore, we must

provide guidance to grow if they so choose.48 Since culture is living, it must change just as a

child becomes an adult.

It is important to have a policy in which protects theatre as a living art, but theatre is not

the only aspect that has had difficulties surviving. All forms of art have been financially

attacked, cut, and eliminated both in education as well as in non-profit organizations. Often times

these non-profit organizations is the only chance that lower income citizens are able to see this

form of culture. Although many countries, states, and or counties have a policy on providing

funding to allow art to survive, many times it is not effective. In the United Kingdom, an

announcement was made by Chancellor George Osborne that the arts would be taking a decrease

in funding for FY2011:

On Monday, cuts were announced to organizations funded by the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport—3% across the board. Except,

inexplicably, Arts Council England, which must absorb a 4% cut, picking

up the extra percentage from its own reserves. That injunction—the extra

1% amounts to £5m—has baffled and angered ACE, and understandably

so. (49)

The Arts Council England (ACE) will be required to take not only take a percent budget

cut but are expected to cover the loss by using their savings. The Department for Culture Media

and Sport (DCMS) has claimed that the savings made by the Arts Council is because of under

spending of previous governmental aid.50 In an article written by Will Gompertz, the BBC’s
editor for arts journal, he compares what the DCMS is doing to ACE by relating it to a normal

organizations employment. He says:

Put another way, it would be like an employer reducing the salaries of all

its employees by 3%, then cutting the salary of Shelly Jones from IT by a

further 1% because she has saved a bit each month and put it aside. (51)

When put this way the reasoning for the budget cut seems ludicrous and preposterous, but

England is not the only area in which arts are being cut. The same is happening in the U.S.

In New York, Governor David Patterson announced that there would be a major cut to

the arts budget. This budget cut is so large that it would place New York just above Arkansas

and Minnesota.52 New York will be substantially lower than the national average by 23 cents

per capita, taking a $1.71 per capita hit.53 In an article entitled “Arts Leaders Blast NY Gov.

Paterson’s Proposed Slash of Culture Funding,” the author, Leonard Jacobs, includes a statement

given by New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Chairman Danny Simmons, he states:

The arts provide over $25 billion of economic impact to our state and are historically part

of the solution when it comes to community and economic revitalization. Powerful examples of

this fact exist in every county of New York State. From Brooklyn to the Bronx, from Lower

Manhattan to Harlem, from Westchester to Schenectady, from the Hamptons to Buffalo,

Syracuse and Rochester, the arts drive tourism, enhance quality of life, and create economic

stability. The rich diverse culture that NYSCA supports is what makes the state unique in the

nation and is often cited as a reason why people and businesses locate in New York.

The article goes on to explain that a 40 percent cut to the arts budget would severely

damage the well-being of the state. The revenue received to local business such as hotels,
restaurants, and shops that survive off of tourism will be severely impacted by this budget cut.

As of right now there is a $25.7 billion economic impact in which the arts have brought to New

York in the form of tourism. With the proposed budget cut it is hard to say if the same impact

will continue to occur.

2.3 Nigerian Cultural Heritage

Globally the importance of heritages to countries and even in developing nations like

Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. This is due to its economic, historical, tourist, aesthetic,

educational and research significance. For a critical and comprehensive understanding of

Nigerian Cultural heritages, the approach adopted in this chapter is anthropological,

archaeological, and historical and the pattern of presentation is purely descriptive. Heritages are

cherished characteristic features of a society passed down from generation to generation through

conscious preservation. Heritages refer to the riches of extinct and extant societies which are of

historic, educational, recreational, and economic importance, preserved and handed over from

one generation to another. Put differently, heritages are significant endowments emanating from

man and nature. Following from the above, heritages could be categorized into two, based on

their sources namely: ecological/natural heritages and cultural heritages. Nigeria is endowed with

both types of heritages. “Nigeria is a country located in the Eastern part of West Africa”,

(Aremu, 175).

Geographically Nigeria occupies a space of 923,768 square km. It is the most populated

(over 140 million based on the 2006 census figures) multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country in

Africa, with over 250 ethnic groups. It has the Igbo to East, the Yoruba to the West and the
Hausa-Fulani to the North as major ethnic groups among other perceived ‘minor’ ethnic groups.

Ecological or natural heritages emanate from nature and environment. Ecological heritages can

be defined as the relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with its wild plants

(flora) and animals (fauna) and its geomorphic features (caves, rivers, lakes, hills, mountains,

cataracts) conserved for the specific objectives of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery

which it affords (Eluyemi, 11). Nigeria is endowed with ‘about 29 game reserves, 1129 forest

reserves, 4 game sanctuaries, 2 strict nature reserves and 8 national parks’ (Marguba, 37). It is

pertinent to state that ecological heritage is outside the scope of this paper, therefore we are

going to concentrate on the second type of heritage mentioned above which is cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or

society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the

benefit of future generations. Cultural heritages evolve from man’s ingenious activities,

preserved and transmitted through oral traditions or in written concrete forms across generations

of human societies. Oral tradition is the body of information concerning history, culture and

environment of a people at any given time and space. This information is often obtained through

the words of mouth. It is also a set of verbally transmitted pieces of information about the

experiences and worldviews of a people. These experiences and worldviews are preserved in the

memories of the group of people and are transmitted from one generation to another (Ogundele,

14).

Oral tradition remains an indispensable cultural heritage management strategy among

pre-modern and pre-historic Africans which continues to be relevant in contemporary Nigeria.

Most oral traditions obtained through ethnographic studies have been confirmed by

archaeological and historical findings (Fasuyi, 1973). The clan & village heads, kings, chiefs,
deity priests, aged/older men and women serve as repositories and custodians of their oral

traditions. They include traditional proverbs, tales/dance by moon lights (known as

akukoifo/egwuonwa among the Igbo of eastern Nigeria), adages, lullabies, poems, riddles,

incantations, praise songs such as oriki, recitals of traditional religions like the Ifa verses among

the Yoruba of western Nigeria and other facets of their individual community’s cultural

heritages. Oral tradition has proved to be a useful instrument to professionals like the

archaeologists and ethnographers in locating and identifying cultural heritage sites/areas for

further studies and preservation. Cultural heritage is, however limited to man-made artifacts and

ideologies (Eluyemi, 2002). Cultural heritages can be defined as the sum total of the people’s

cherished arts, customs, festivals, sacred or worship sites, norms, values, ideologies, dress and

dress-patterns, traditional monuments & architectures, technology and technological sites and

other artifacts which are cherished and conserved for their historical, political, educational,

recreational and religious significance among others. Cultural heritages are therefore the sum

total of material and non-material cultures of a particular society transmitted across generations.

The need to preserve Nigerian cultural heritage is best explained through the functionalist

perspective as enunciated by Bronislaw Malinowski. Functionalist emphasize that society consist

of inter related parts which work for the integration and stability of the whole system.

Malinowski’s functionalism assumes that all cultural traits are useful parts of the society they

occur, in other words; all customary patterns of behavior, belief attitudes, and social structures

perform a function within the society they occur. He emphasizes that social structures and social

institutions exist in societies to meet or perform psychological and biological needs for the

people. It provides cohesion in the social order by promoting a sense of belonging and collective

consciousness, a point fervently argues by Emile Durkheim. Preservation of Nigerian cultural

heritages is capable of promoting collective consciousness in terms of unity, oneness,

nationalism and fostering peaceful co-existence among Nigerians. For instance, cultural heritages

can be categorized into two namely material/tangible and non-material/intangible cultural

heritages. This is because culture in itself is “both physical and non-physical in character”

(Ogundele, 12). Tangible cultural heritages include man’s physical ingenious products which

can be touched and seen such as architecture/buildings, defensive walls and ditches, crafts, tools,

ivory, cowries, paintings, textiles, pestles, mortars, iron furnaces, knives, food, wooden objects,

tombs & grave goods, temples, dresses, pottery & potsherd pavements, monuments, books,

works of art, and among other artifacts.

Artifacts as a broad concept are objects and/or features made and/or used

by man/humans in an attempt to cope with the challenges and problems of

social and natural conditions. It is therefore important to state that man

cannot survive without the construction and use of artifacts (Ogundele, 5).

This further gives a deeper explanation to the function of cultural heritages to society. On

the other hand, non-material or ideological cultural heritages include all intangible and invisible

aspects of a peoples’ ways of life such as ideas, folklore, kinship, norms, values, worldviews,

philosophies of life, religious beliefs and practices, music, dance, festivals, traditions, language,

and knowledge among others. The above enumerations show the complexity of cultural

heritages, but for simplistic purposes they could also be classified as moveable (artifacts) and

immoveable cultural heritages (monuments) based on their nature of portability which requires

different specialized skills for their preservation. It is however pertinent to stress that most of

these Nigerian cultural heritages are threatened due to faulty efforts at preserving and conserving

them. For instance, in south eastern Nigeria, the current status of the following cultural heritages
should best be described as “endangered”: Ikoro (slit drum) is a traditional medium of

communication. Oriko- a traditional practice of re-integration among the Igbo through which

social deviants are welcomed back to society after punishment such ostracism. Iru-mgbede- an

Igbo traditional indigenous educational institution through which young maidens are initiated

into womanhood (Mathias & David, 2014). There are a host of other cultural heritages among

communities in Nigeria that are under threat of extinction. There is therefore a need for a

conscious preservation of some useful Nigerian cultural heritages, while negative ones should be

discarded.

2.3 Historical Dimensions to the Preservation of Nigerian Cultural Heritages

Nigeria is distinguished in sub-Saharan Africa because of her “rich manifestations of vast

cultural heritages” of the past (Sowunmi, 77). Most of the artifacts and collections from

remarkable culture areas in Nigeria are displayed in museums and galleries all over the world.

This is because they were consciously preserved. Preservation has been defined by Eluyemi, as

“the promotion of cultural property whether of concrete or non-concrete nature, past or present,

written or unwritten/oral” (2). He further posits that preservation involves the identification,

documentation (appropriate registration) and proper storage of cultural objects whether in private

hands or in museums. The preservation of Nigerian cultural heritages is arguably threatened by

human activities, natural forces, biological and chemical agents among others (Ogundele &

Okpoko, 284). However, the little successes made over the years in the preservation of Nigerian

cultural heritages has been attributed to conscious systematic and scientific efforts, and

researches conducted by professionals in the disciplines of archaeology, cultural anthropology,

linguistics, ethnography, palynology, paleontology, geology, geography, museum studies, among

other cultural resource managers (Ogundele, 2014; Onwuka, 2002; Andah, Okpoko & Folorunso

1993; Okpoko, 2011). Preservation is very vital because of its capacity to promote the past

ways of life that are useful to contemporary societies. Arguably, the past is essentially the key to

the present and platform into the future. An understanding of the preservation of Nigerian

cultural heritages can best be described in three dimensions namely the pre-colonial, colonial and

post-colonial. Nigerian cultural heritages during the pre-colonial era were preserved in royal

palaces of tribal kingdoms and empires by kings, heads of families and kindred, deity priests in

charge of shrines and sacred grooves among others (Fasuyi, 172).

The cultural activities, arts and festivals were managed by the traditional rulers and chiefs

in council through delegation of powers to talented specialist. For instance, the carvers made

masks for masquerades, the traditional costume designers made royal regalia, beads and dresses,

other crafts makers made baskets, local talking drums and other musical instruments; the music

and dance specialists made music, praise songs to celebrate valiant warriors and trained dancers

for annual festivals. These skills were preserved through oral tradition and training of this crafts

men and women; and then the skills were handed over from generation to generations. This

generational pattern of preserving Nigerian cultural heritages was completely or partially

truncated in most parts of Nigeria due to unsolicited incursion of colonialism. Colonialism

ushered in an era of unrestricted negative human activities such looting, vandalism, thefts,

unscientific excavation of grave goods, iconoclasm, wars, illicit trafficking of cultural objects

among others. The period 1900 to 1960 marked the era of colonization in Nigeria (Fasuyi, 173).

The most remarkable of these destructive human activities on Nigerian cultural heritage

occurred during the punitive expedition in 1897 when the British colonial administration

attacked the Benin culture area, looted the rich bronze works and art treasures of the Benin royal
palace and exiled the King to Calabar where he later died in 1914. Colonialism thus, waned the

influence of traditional rulers and their role in preserving Nigerian cultural heritages. For

instance, during the colonial period western educational systems were introduced to replace

traditional educational systems such as Irumgbede among the Igbo. In schools, English language

and foreign literatures were taught and read at the detriment of Nigerian indigenous languages

(Fasuyi, 1973).

The current status of Nigerian indigenous linguistic heritages is best

described as endangered and they are arguably almost at the verge of

extinction. Also Missionaries introduced Christianity which relegated and

designated Nigerian traditional religions as idol worship and branded

practitioners as heathen and unbelievers (Eluyemi, 2002).

In the entertainment industry, the traditional poets, praise-singers, clowns, comedians,

dramatists, in the king’s courts, traditional dance and dancers, songs, music, and local costumes,

musical instruments such as drums have been replaced with western music, foreign dance styles,

foreign dress and dress patterns, western musical instrument such as bands, microphones, guitars,

pianos, etc. All these mindless replacements continued without Nigerians knowing its

implications until a few expatriated sensed the need to preserve Nigerian cultural heritages

during the colonial era. These foreigners advised the then colonial government on the need to

preserve Nigerian cultural heritages, they suggested that museums should be created, also

Nigerian arts, cultures and history should be taught in schools. For instance, E.H. Duckworth

wrote in 1937, Help to build up an appreciation of old things; do not be afraid of them. Respect

the past, record its history, treasure its sign posts, and help to build museums in Nigeria. The day
may come when people will voyage from all parts of the world to see the museums and

exhibition rooms in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ife and Benin City (Fasuyi, 24).

Another expatriate known as K.C. Murray on the other hand also made this suggestion;

“Make a list of all works of art and gather them whenever possible into the safety of museum”

(Eluyemi, 6). “E.H. Duckworth who was the editor of the colonial government owned Nigerian

magazine, this magazine was first published in Nigeria in 1923 as the Nigerian Teacher, its title

latter changed to Nigeria in 1927 and later became the federal government cultural information

journal” (Fasuyi, 23). Also other British colonial civil servants such as K.C. Murray who was an

art teacher, B. E. Bernard Fagg, and S. Milburn among others also made contributions for the

preservation of Nigerian cultural heritages;

One result of wanton exportation of Nigerian antiquities was the

emergence of museum creation in Nigeria, creation of Nigerian

Antiquity Service in 1943 and the Office of the Surveyor of

Antiquities in the same year (Eluyemi, 6).

Systematic preservation of cultural heritages therefore gradually began with suggestions

by colonialists and finally metamorphosed into a well formulated cultural policy in 1988 which

necessitated the creation of museums.

A museum is an institution that collects, studies, exhibits, and conserves artifacts or

objects for cultural and educational purposes (Okpoko, 2). According to Eluyemi, “the first

museum in Nigeria was created in 1945 at Essie known as Ileere (house of images)” (7),

followed by other museums such as Jos museum in 1954, Ife museum built in 1954, Lagos

museum in 1957, Owo museum in 1958, Benin museum in 1959 and Kano museum in 1960
among all others. In summary, preservation of Nigerian cultural heritages during the colonial era

is remarkable that some commendable land mark achievements were made such as the creation

of the “Nigerian magazine, establishment of museums of antiquities, the creation of the post of

the federal art adviser, the creation of the department of art” (Fasuyi, 23).

In the post-colonial period, the Nigerian Antiquity Service metamorphosed into what is

now known as National commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). Museums are

currently managed under the National commission for museums and monuments (NCMM), with

its administrative headquarters at Abuja but the national museum at Onikan, Lagos used to be the

headquarters of NCMM. The Onikan museum houses the collections and exhibition of

archaeological discoveries and documents of our recent pasts. There are 3 main galleries in the

Onikan museum – One housing Benin arts, another on treasurers of ancient Nigeria and a third

one on contemporary Nigeria. There is a museum kitchen and theatre for staging plays, recitals

and cultural festivals (Aremu, 208). According to Okpoko “Museums are institutions for

research, teaching, exhibition and conservation in one or more fields of human activity” (111). It

is an institution that collects, studies, exhibits and conserves objects for cultural and educational

purposes. Nigerian museums are part of Nigerian historic and cultural heritage and are found in

almost all states of contemporary Nigeria. Apart from national and state museums, Nigeria has

lots of other types of museums such as privately owned museums like the obuofonri, Igbo-ukwu

museum and odinaani museums all at Anambra state, University museums, war museum at

Umuahia, medical or anatomy museum in Jos, among others.

Contrary to the Eurocentric assertions by early European explorers, travelers and arm

chair anthropologists, that Africans and by extension Nigerians had no history, and culture, but

are primitive, lazy, cursed, inherently evil, heathen, corrupt, beyond redemption, doomed and
third world. Through detailed ethnography, scientific research and archaeological excavations

and findings has revealed that Africans and indeed Nigerians have rich cultures, earliest evidence

of humans, architecture, and technology. Thus, Africa remains the cradle of humanity and

cultures. This reflects a true identity of Africans who are hardworking, intelligent endowed with

cherished cultural values and other unique heritages to preserve. This is manifested in numerous

antiquities and finds from some remarkable culture areas in Nigeria such as Nok in Plateau Jos

dated to (5th BC), Daima North-western Borno south of lake Chad, Igbo-Ukwu in Anambra state

(9th AD), Ife (12th-14th century AD), Benin (13th-15th century AD), ( Fasuyi, 1973; Ugboaja,

2010; Aremu, 2008; Eluyemi, 2002).

Some Cultural Heritages of Nigeria

Marguba in Aremu identifies the following cultures of Nigerian people which have been

described as most memorable cultural destinations in Nigeria today. They include:

Northern Nigeria

1. Annual Argungu festivals in Kebbi state.

2. Annual Sallah Durbar in Katsina State

3. Gidan Hausa in Kano state

4. Farribachama Annual festival of Adamawa state

Southern Nigeria

1. Eyo masquerade of Lagos state

2. The Bakor Yam festival in Cross River state and others

 3. Osun – Oshogbo festival in Osun state

4. Imo Awka masquerade ceremony in Awka, Anambra state.

Apart from the above, Nigerian societies are known for their unique new yam festivals

celebrated in almost all communities in Nigeria. New yam festivals depict the agricultural

prowess of Nigerians and their cultural value for hard work. Nigerians practice unique traditional

marriage ceremonies such as the Igba-Nkwu among the Igbo and fattening festivals that help to

educate young maidens with virtues and chastity for womanhood. Other Nigerian indigenous

festivals that need to be preserved are: Eyo festival in Lagos, Lagos state, Fattening festival in

Calabar, Cross River State. Pategi Regatta in Niger State, Moremi Festival at offa, Awon mass

wedding at Shao in Kwara State, Epa festival at Obo Aiyegunle Ilorin, Agemo festival Ijebu

Ode, Igogo festival at Owo in Ondo state, Boat Regatta in Rivers state, Epe Boat Regatta

(Aremu, 278).

Other Nigerian cultural heritages were the blacksmithing industry, brass-casting, bronze

works and metal-working industries practiced across Nigeria, terracotta; wood carvers

constructed beautiful stools and doors, engravings on walls and rocks etc. All these skills which

served as good entrepreneurial and income yielding jobs have been abandoned for foreign ones

in the quest for civilization (Anigbogu & Onyima, 213). For instance, Aremu, reports that after

mining in traditional metal-working industries, the spongy mass of metallic iron known as the

bloom is often sold to blacksmiths with which they fabricate several objects ranging from farm

implements, hunting and fishing materials, palm wine tapping tools, weaving implements,

household utensils, wood carving tools, ceremonial staff, military weapons, political royal

swords, seats and scepter among others. This implies that the blacksmithing industry permeated

most sectors of the society and as such its relevance and significance to pre-colonial Nigerians
was not in doubt. It is also evident that this local industry created an avenue for employment and

entrepreneurship beginning from the miners, to blacksmiths, distributors and even to users of

products from the blacksmithing industry. Considering the avalanche of benefits that could be

derived from Nigerian cultural heritages, there is need for a clarion call to consciously preserve

Nigerian heritages in spite of the daunting challenges facing its preservation.

2.4 Nigerian Drama

Indigenous Nigerian theatre developed from masquerade performances, as evidenced in

African theatre history. I believed ritual is a very significant factor in masquerade theatre. Ritual

in itself is, in most cases, associated with religious belief and performance. Early Nigerian

theatre and indeed drama is not guided by the Aristotelian model as most others are. This is

because “drama is far more complex and universal a phenomenon than Aristotle could ever have

construed.” (52) Within the traditionalist African context, it becomes difficult to distinguish

drama from ritual because if the context of the performance is to be taken into cognizance “a

ritual becomes entertainment once it is outside its original context or when the belief that

sustains it has lost its potency.” (53)

Drama evolved from ritual and, in some cases, it is also a part of the ritual enactment as

there are situations where dramatic traditions have developed alongside rituals without any

separation from their origins. Theatre or drama, whichever term we choose to call it, has always

existed in one form or another in Africa societies. They both have their foundations in “festivals

and religious rituals.” (54) There is no doubt regarding the existence of a robust theatrical

tradition in many African societies. Performance of this theatrical tradition, predating

colonialism is often executed by actors who regal in masquerade costumes. Masquerade theatre

in Nigeria predates colonialism. Until 1914, there was no Nigerian nation, although around 1900,

virtually all the regions or ethnic nationalities of what later metamorphosed into Nigeria had

come under British domination. Lagos, the Northern and Southern Protectorates were

amalgamated and administered as one country, Nigeria, in 1914. The theatre of these individual

regions or ethnic nationalities consisted of a different formation before the advent of colonialism.

With which of these different theatres did the Nigerian theatre practice begin? In order to make

an educated guess, one must examine the formation of the Nigerian state and the development of

theatre in the different regions that later make up Nigeria. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to

come under colonial domination. Its ports were annexed in 1861 due to the restriction on trade in

slaves by the British and the desire to stop the passage of slaves from the hinterland to pirate

ships on the coast. The Oil River Protectorate, formed in 1891, which later became Southern

Nigeria with its headquarters in Calabar, was formed for the purpose of controlling trade coming

down the Niger River. Benin, Bida, and Ilorin were firmly under colonial control by 1897. The

Northern part of the country had earlier come indirectly under British rule in 1886, but it was not

until 1902 that the whole country came under the rule of colonialism when Lord Lugard became

the governor with a determination to rule the whole of the Niger area. Drama and theatre in this

period could be referred to as precolonial theatre and drama.

Pre-colonial theatre refers to all theatre practices associated with indigenous pre-colonial

polities in Nigeria before 1900. A reference to a vibrant theatrical tradition long before colonial

rule is found in the writings of Olauda Equiano, one of the few black writers of the slave trade

period who wrote in 1789 that: “We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians and poets.” (57)

The introduction of the masquerade is attributed to Sango, the Alaafin (paramount ruler) of Oyo
who reigned sometime in the fourteenth century. He is thought to have introduced the

phenomenon of the ancestor-worship initially called baba (father) and later as egungun

(masquerade), which sometime in the 16th century evolved as court entertainment. Sango set up

masquerade to represent the spirit of his departed father, Oranyan. Joel A. Adedeji writes that, at

a special ceremony, Sango “brought the reincarnated spirit of his father to the outskirts of Oyo,

set up the ‘Bara’ (royal mausoleum) for his worship and placed ‘Iyamode’ (the old woman of the

palace) in charge of the mystery. Her duty was to worship Oranyan's spirit and to bring him out

as a masquerade during an evocation ceremony.” (59) According to Ogunbiyi, “By the middle of

the sixteenth century, the institution had become formalized into a festival” where different

groups presented performances to showcase their lineage’s history. Ogunbiyi notes that, “The

refinement and perfection, ostensibly for purely entertainment purposes, marked, by 1700, the

birth of professional Yoruba theatre.”61 Adedeji traced the development of the performances,

thus:

The festival phase began when Ologbin Ologbojo, an official at court and

a member of the egungun Society, inaugurated the festival… During the

festival all ancestors or dead lineage-heads were evoked, and they

appeared as eegu’nla (lineage-masquerades), allowed to visit the

homestead and walk the streets of the community for a certain period in

the form of a pageant. The pageant was marked by a procession to the

king or natural ruler and a staged performance before him which took

place at the ode (the open-space in front of the palace). The performance

took the form of a ‘dance-drama’ with choral-chants provided by the

omole (children of the compound) of each lineagemasquerade. After this

 formal salute and presentation to the ruler, each pageant receded to their

different homes for feasting and merriment and later danced round the

community and received gifts. The theatre phase emerged from the “All

Souls” festivals. The development started when, at the instance of the

alagbaa (the cultic head of the egungun Society), a special or command

performance was called for the last day of the festival. This became a kind

of ludus [sic]. (62)

He further states that:

The masquerades were expected to act plays in a form of competition. The

contest was voluntary and merely intended to raise the voltage of the

festival. Presents were given in appreciation of the performance of the best

masquerade. The Ologbin lineage was remarkable for its ‘oje’ group of

ballad-mongers who displayed acrobatic dancing and acted masques. The

group was based at court. It was led by Olugb’ere ‘Agan as its masked-

actor and acrobat and with the akunyungba (praise singers at court) as his

chorus. Ologbin Ologbojo was the animator and iyamode was the ballad

instructor. The group was renowned for winning the contests of the annual

festivals. (63)

Nigerians were already accustomed to the use of satire in the treatment of political and

religious matters in their drama even before there were contacts with Europe’s colonialism as

evidenced in the above narrative. Performances reached the highest state of artistic richness and
“excellence during festivals at which certain central myths and rituals were re-enacted by the

people as a whole.” (76) In the words of Ndukaku Amankulor, this provided opportunities for the

treatment of purely social issues through the use of masked characters, puppets, and other

techniques. According to Ndukaku Amankulor:

the use of masks for character representation had the effect of liberating the actor

from psychological inhibitions and imbuing him at the same time with sacred

essence that, by convention, enabled him to be unique and to project a role that

nobody would dare challenge or contest. (77)

Nigerian playwrights over the years have written several plays that influence the society

socially, politically, religiously and culturally. In this manner Nigerian drama has contributed to

the nationalist discourse from the precolonial era till date.

2.5 Cultural Preservation in Nigerian Drama

The Nigerian culture has been invaded by the foreign cultures through the use of

communications systems like films. History has shown that the intrusion of Western culture into

the third world nations (like Nigeria) through the use of communications facilities has always

been rampant.

This is because the Nigerian people have been exposed to a high range of programs and

communications content which have in turn molded their thought pattern, belief, system and

actions. This means our culture has been twisted and contaminated by interference of Western

values and beliefs; cultures which have been defined as the total way of life, is an integral part of

any society and stands for the sum-total of existence of a particular group of people dealing with
their past, their present and a projected insight into their immediate and distant future. It is

reflected in their way of life, ranging from religion, system of government, language, attitudes

their dressing code, their expression of emotion and sadness. In essence, culture is the totality of

the way of life of a people.

Nigeria is some country rich in land, people and culture. Its uniqueness lies mainly on its

culture. It is not only the most populous country but also the most culturally diverse black nation.

This brings us to the issues of the role of drama in preserving culture in Nigeria. The Nigerian

culture has suffered untold damage over the past years due to cultural imperialism which has

crept into the society via communication facilities like radio, films etc. Due to this the Nigerian

people have been forced to embrace the Western culture. Since culture is an integral part of the

society and cannot be forgone, this study expresses the important of the medium as an instrument

for the preservation of the Nigerian culture through drama and theatre.

Culture is as old as man. It was probably created out of man’s desire to live in an

organized world. Every society has a culture which they hold on to. Nigeria perhaps is one of the

most culturally diverse countries in Africa having well over 300 ethnic groups each with their

own uniqueness. An x-ray of the Nigerian society will reveal a picture of cultural infection which

is gradually decaying. All these are borne out of the fact that we have not understood our culture

enough to uphold its values. Apart from the fact that this has brought untold crises, pain and

hardship upon Nigerian people, it has also stunted the growth of this sector (culture). There is a

need to look into this problem and proffer solutions. This brings us to the issues of the role of

drama in preserving culture. The introduction of drama into our society has seldom failed to

shake centuries old cultural practices, simple lifestyles, social integration and economic pattern.

Often the benefits of modern communications which disseminate unfamiliar, vivid, absorbing
information and entertainment originated in urban centers and more often than not from foreign

places have been accompanied by negative influences which can dramatically disturb established

orders. It should be noted that it is not only the drama but the messages that is important and

conditions must be created for national mass media and communication system to carry the

cultural message of the nation. Communication system and the way they are used can pose a

threat to cultural identity in most countries; if not all because communication is a part of culture

as much as an influence upon it. The development of a national communication system can help

to foster a thriving national culture. The importance of any organ of the mass media in the

society cannot be underestimated as it stands as a medium of communication. Drama and theatre

is perhaps the most universally, appealing and more effective. A well planned drama rises above

certain barriers by its use of language, music and actions conveying messages to people or

audience of different background. What this means is that what we fail to understand through our

traditional media we understand through drama, No wonder Enahoro writes;

that, they are concerned with distribution of power in the society and the

domination of certain interest over others. Therefore, if films are a

powerful media of communication it means that it could be effective in

communicating a people’s culture to them. (235)

For a long time, the Nigerian people have been exposed to a lot of foreign cultures via

communication media. It is therefore assumed that to correct this, an effective tool of

communication must be utilized and drama is that medium. Drama has also been viewed as a

potent medium of communication through which messages ranging from indoctrination,

education, entertainment, integrations, information, mobilization etc., can be relayed to people to

achieve certain objectives. They have the power to re-direct and reposition the psyche of an
average man. Drama have an inexplicable bond between itself and their audiences willing

suspend disbelief when it is performed. The power of drama on its audience makes it a viable

tool for preserving culture. Nigerian drama with its intrinsic message can reposition Nigerian’s

dented image by dramatic piece that will promote Nigeria’s culture abroad.