National Arts Theatre complex, Lagos
CHUX OHAI takes a look at significant developments in the arts, entertainment and culture sector
For more than a decade after
Independence, the arts, culture and entertainment scene hardly recorded
any major event until Nigeria hosted the Second World Black and African
Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos in 1977.
The objective of the festival, which
took place between January 15 and February 12, 1977, was to celebrate
the “individuality, antiquity and the power” of the black race.
About 17,000 participants from over 50
countries in the world attended the festival. At the time, it was
described as the largest cultural event that ever took place on the
continent.
The festival was originally planned as
Pan-African celebrations and it featured various performances – music,
dance, drama, poetry and a colloquium that was attended by scholars from
various countries in Africa and the Diaspora.
A few years after it ended, the gains of
FESTAC ’77 were evident in a kind of cultural renaissance that seemed
to usher fresh developments in some parts of Africa, including Nigeria.
Birth of ANA
The Association of Nigerian Authors was
founded in 1981 with novelist, Chinua Achebe as its first President. It
is the umbrella body for all Nigerian writers anywhere in the world.
Among other objectives, at inception the body aimed at promoting
Nigerian literature, encouraging the collection, recording and
transcription of all oral literature, as well as the commitment of
authors to the ideals of a humane and egalitarian society.
The association has branches in all the
states of the federation and it has created several literary awards and
introduced capacity building programmes to enhance creative productivity
in the country.
Era of literary laurels
In 1986, the Nobel Prize in Literature
1986 was awarded to Prof. Wole Soyinka for fashioning the “drama of
existence in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones “.
His feat ushered in more literary laurels for Nigerian writers.
Another Nigerian writer, Ben Okri made the country proud when his novel, The Famished road
was declared winner of the MAN Booker Prize, Britain’s most prestigious
literary award, in 1991. The novel was described as a “lush blend of
Yoruba myth and post-colonial Nigerian misery”.
Helon Habila became first Nigerian to
win the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000, while his compatriot,
Chimamanda Adichie beat other contenders to win the coveted Orange Prize
for Fiction in Britain a few years later.
Book fairs
The birth of the Nigeria International
Bookfair in 1998 helped to raise awareness for the importance of the
book among members of the public.
Nigeria International Book Fair, the
biggest book event in Africa today, is an annual book trade and
exhibition that creates a vibrant platform for the stakeholders in the
book industry both within and outside Nigeria to network and interface
for the growth of their respective businesses. NIBF comes up annually
every second week of May.
Other bookfairs, such as the Lagos Book
and Art Festival, as well as the Ake Book and Art Festival, to mention
but a few, have since sprouted from the foundation laid by the NIBF.
Enter Nollywood
One of the remarkable developments in
the culture sector is the rise of the Nigerian cinema or what is now
known as Nollywood. What actually happened was that film production
progressed from the tradition of the 1970s, dominated by the celluloid
format, to the home video format in the 1990s. With the commercial
success of Kenneth Nnebue’s ‘Living in bondage’ in 1992, the stage was
set for the emergence of a new generation of films produced locally at
much cheaper costs.
In no time, the industry had expanded so
much that it was rated as the third biggest in the world, next to the
Indian film industry and the American Hollywood.
As expected, Nollywood suffered many
hiccups. One of the problems had to do with organising the industry to
meet global standards. Other challenges included funding, the absence of
basic infrastructure and internal squabbles, which had some negative
impact on the industry.
Presidential grant to Nollywood
Eventually relief came to Nollywood in
the form of a promise by President Goodluck Jonathan to donate N3bn to
help turn it around. Before the offer was made, Nollywood, had been at
the mercy of critics who had complained bitterly about the poor quality
of the films churned out in the industry.
Jonathan said the package included a capacity development fund and grants for the best film scripts, among others.
Although he said the scheme would be
inaugurated in the first week of April, 2013 and managed by the Ministry
of Finance in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
nothing has happened since then.
NCC’s endless fight against piracy
Despite the Nigerian Copyright
Commission’s consistency in fighting piracy and its successes, as
evident in the seizure of pirated goods worth N4.38bn in 2012, the end
of the war is not in sight yet.
Between July 2011 and December 2012, the
commission secured 29 convictions of pirates of copyright-protected
books, musical and movie works, broadcast signals and software products.
Within a period of eight years, it
arrested 85 suspected pirates and confiscated 3,621,787 million units of
pirated goods worth about N4.38bn. Yet, piracy has continued to thrive
in the country.
Concession of National Arts Theatre Complex
Artists and other culture workers have
been increasingly agitated over the planned concession of the National
Arts Theatre Complex in Iganmu, Lagos, to private investors.
A tour of the complex by members of the
Federal House of Representatives Committee on Culture and Tourism and
their subsequent approval of the plan sparked protests in Lagos.
Not moved by the Minister of Culture,
Tourism and National Orientation, Edem Duke’s denial, on television, of
the allegation that the complex had been sold to private investors,
creative artists and culture workers held a march to protest against
government’s insensitivity in its proposed action. It was called
‘Standing Man’ protest.
Acting under the aegis of the Artists
Collective for the Artists’ Village, they accused the government of not
considering their interests.
The artists said the sale of the
complex would displace the series artists’ creative works being carried
out. The protesters, comprising sculptors, painters, metal works
artists, choreographers and performing arts, insisted that the National
Theatre was the symbol of Nigeria’s creative industry.
Achebe’s controversial memoir and death
Renowned writer, Chinua Achebe, finally
published his long-awaited memoir on the Nigerian Civil War in
September, 2012. In the book, which was titled There was a country: A personal history of Biafra,
Achebe accused the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of complicity in the
deaths of thousands of Igbo via starvation during the three-year war.
His comments drew the anger of the Yoruba who argued that Awolowo helped
to bring the devastating conflict to an end.
Later, Achebe died of an undisclosed
ailment in the United States on March 21, 2013. He was given a burial
befitting a man of his status in his hometown, Ogidi in Anambra State.
Nigerian Entertainment Conference
For the first time in the history of
Nigeria, stakeholders in the entertainment industry held a conference to
discuss the problems affecting it.
The event, which took place in the Grand
Ball Room of Eko Hotel and Suites, was declared open by the
Director-General of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr. Frank Nweke
Jr.
The objective of the conference was to
study the global demands of the arts and entertainment industry,
identify the challenges and to provide solutions for the benefit of all.
The event ended with some of Nigeria’s celebrated showbiz personalities receiving NET honorary awards from the organisers.
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