FESTAC ’77: An Afrocentrism That Still Fills The Black African Air By Emeka Esogbue

FESTAC ’77: An Afrocentrism That Still Fills The Black African Air  

By Emeka Esogbue

A lot of scholars have argued that the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture otherwise regarded as FESTAC ’77, which held in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977 remains the best cultural achievement ever made by Nigeria and in some cases, Africa as a whole and it indeed remains so. In contrariwise, despite the more recent arguments resonating in some quarters, which tend to abhorrently ensnare the then largely celebrated cultural festival in a controversial trail, the legacy of the cultural festival still fills the Black African air and beyond.

The Journey

With the first ever edition celebrated in 1966 in Dakar, Senegal, a country in Western Africa, the road for the celebration of the festival in another Black African country became paved so that by 1977, all roads led to Lagos, the then capital of Nigeria where the festival eventually held from January 15 to February 12, 1977.

The Aims

The aim of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture can be found in the objectives which Pan Africanism was set out to achieve. However, it can be narrowed down to ‘Afrocentrism’, which implies the appreciation of art and culture of African origin. It also aimed at ensuring the revival, resurgence and promotion of Black to the extent of making civilization of it. It has also been argued that the festival also aimed at promoting Black and African artists, performers and writers to the outside world in such a manner that they would globally be accepted. Nevertheless, its biggest aim appears to be the acceptance of Blacks and also the return of Afro-Americans to their African origins.

As it is turning out, FESTAC 77 is seen as closely tied to the history and destiny of the Blackman. It is without a doubt his struggle for self-respect; appreciation and equality with the rest of the human race otherwise his consideration as a less being. This is explained by Pan-Africanism. It was in Festival of Arts and Culture that the Blackman sought for his identity, values and civilization from others of his likes. The cultural value of the Blacks must be rediscovered after all.

Perhaps, the summary of what was sought to be achieved is gathered in the expression of Biobaku (1976:1):

“All peoples in all ages have had a culture, for Nigerians culture has spanned over 2000 years. It is one thing to live a culture, it is another to study and analyze it. As time passes, and old customs die away. It is the study that enshrines the heritage. various scholars, Nigerian by birth or by proven attachment to Nigerian culture have shown it to be a living culture deeply rooted in the past as depicted in the antiquities of the ancestors which featured among others, the Nok figurines, the Ife terra cottas and bronzes, the Igbo Ukwu objects and the Benin bronzes and ivories. They have also shown it to be still fresh and evolving through the arts and crafts, the music, the dance, the dress, the drama, architecture and even through the literature of the Nigerian people, all of which bear testimony to the abiding cultural values of the Nigerian”.

History

It must be reminisced that the preparation towards the celebration of FESTAC can be found in Pan Africanism already conceptualized by Black Africans round the world. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia defines this “Pan-Africanism as a worldwide intellectual movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all people of African descent”. According Peter Kuryla, Pan Africanism is “the idea that peoples of African descent have common interests and should be unified”. He is of the opinion that Pan Africanism unified Africans while also encouraging them to live as one whether at home or in the Diaspora. It was this Pan Africanism that laid the foundation for the celebration of Black African Festivals celebrated in Senegal and Nigeria respectively.

The FESTAC ‘77   

The Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture commenced in Lagos, Nigeria on January 15, 1977 heralded with the parade of parade of 48 participants from 48 countries of the world. Part of the events of that day was the release of 1,000 pigeons, which symbolised the freedom of Black people. Generally speaking, it was an event of 16,000 participants from 56 countries of the world and was a celebration of African music, fine arts, drama, dance and religion among others. Noteworthy of this event is that it held at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos; National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos; Lagos City Hall, Lagos and Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.     

The Controversies

Despite the beauty of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, the biggest and finest cultural festival that would ever hold within the African continent, it is today attracting some condemnation from some Nigerians in whose interest the festival was mainly celebrated. The reasons for this are hard to see through but it is chiefly due to what some of its critics claim to be the fetish nature of the festival. It is actually held in some corners that the festival laid the foundation for the socio-politically and economical suffering that the Nigerian nation is facing at the moment, blaming the then government of Olusegun Obasanjo for the “national mishap”.  

For a lot more people particularly culture enthusiasts and lovers of tourism, the matter of FESTAC ’77 belonging to a fetish celebration remains an opinion held by individuals as it cannot be situated within the aims and concept of the creators of the event. One of the people that prominently share this view is former President Olusegun Obasanjo under whose administration the cultural event held. The nation’s former President would as reported in The Punch, November 6, 2017 rebuff the assertion while maintaining that “FESTAC’77 was a celebration of African diverse and rich cultural heritage and not a fetish festival as erroneously believed”. The former President had taken the opportunity of his invitation to the occasion marking FESTAC’77 at 40 at the University of Lagos to describe culture as the totality of the way of life of any group of people. And according to him, a people that lost its culture had lost its identity.
Most others would argue that the foundation of controversies surrounding the festival was birthed even before its take-off. Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti, the late music legend is blamed in this area. It was Fela who not only criticized the Federal Government for formulating the program but resigned his membership of the committee whichalso included Prof Wole Soyinka, Hubert Ogunde and Ola Balogun on the ground of what he called excessive spending by the government.   

That the then obsession of Nigerians with Afro-Nigerian art and culture now translates to a fetish belief can be equated with the wind of religious and western civilization now blowing the beliefs of the Nigerian people. In other words, everything not in line with Christian dogmata including history as a discipline has become evil.   

The Legacy

There is no gainsaying that the cultural festival made some gains despite the attempt to twist the legacies. Motolani Alake has reported Uchenna Ikonne who in Red Bull Academy published on May 13, 2017 expressed the belief that it created the perfect opportunity for Nigeria to flaunt its newfound status as a prosperous petro-state, demonstrating its worthiness of the nickname 'the Giant of Africa'. Although many may argue that in today’s world, Giant of Africa means nothing, Nigeria of then was to Africa what Greece was and still is to the history of Europe as the same Uchenna Ikonne argued.

The attempt to reduce FESTAC ’77 to nothing has also attracted criticisms from other writers. Greg Odogwu lamented that, that “a great national event like FESTAC 77 is commemorated this year and no one is talking about it says a lot about who we are as a people. We leave the big things and bicker over the small things. We leave our root and perch on tenuous branches of borrowed cultures, pretending to swing better than the owners of the family trees on which we arrogantly and shamelessly engraft ourselves. We leave the treasures beneath our black earth, and beg to be served with alien brine, so vapid that even our benefactors marvel at our own naivety”.

Apart from the aims already discussed in this piece, all of which were achieved, another major achievement of the festival is the construction of Festival Town or Festac Village, which seems today the biggest legacy, left of the festival. It is a housing estate which once provided accommodation for about 17,000 participants but the long-term objective of the estate under the Federal Housing Authority has relieved some housing pressure in Lagos as the estate now accommodates more residents within Lagos. The housing estate now provides dwelling units for nearly 20,000 residents. There is also the National Theatre built by Technoexportstroy, a Bulgarian firm. Both the Festival Town and the National Theatre are today tourist centres and are reminders of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture.

Well, it has been said that not much has been done to put the festival whether in Senegal or Nigeria in academic documents. African academics especially those interested in tourism have a role to play in this area. For sooner or later, everything about the festival would be forgotten.