AFAC 2010: A mixed grill of sorts

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, while listing the gains of the expo during the closing ceremony, lauded the outing given its socio-economic impact on Nigerians, especially on those in rural areas. He said, “AFAC has paved way for linkages between prospective investors, arts and crafts practitioners for the […]

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, while listing the gains of the expo during the closing ceremony, lauded the outing given its socio-economic impact on Nigerians, especially on those in rural areas. He said, “AFAC has paved way for linkages between prospective investors, arts and crafts practitioners for the required synergy and impetus, with a view to exploit the resources of the culture and tourism sector.” The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Saidu Ozigis, said, “this year’s theme which focused on growing rural economies through arts and crafts, was apt as the quantum of our rural dwellers are engaged in one form of craft production or the other.”

According to him, “the Expo is timely and a great opportunity for stakeholders to gather on an annual basis to share ideas with a view to adapt to modern trends in line with the best practices in the industry.”

The helmsman of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Mr. Malgwi Maidugu, pointed out that this year’s outing reflected the impact of local players in the industry. The exhibition, according to him, depicts the height of creativity in Nigeria’s art.

Certificates of participation were presented to 19 states including the FCT, four institutions, one local government area and six countries.

Also, awards were presented to “Dajo Pottery” for the Best Product Design and Best Non-Governmental Organisation. Kwara and Katsina States were tied for the Most Consistent State category while Ghana took the award for Best Participating Country. The FCT got the award for the Best State Pavilion while Gwagwalada, the only participating Local Government Area went away with the award for that category.

Evaluating this year’s edition, participants who have been here for all three editions from across the nation and other African countries, lauded the efforts of the organisers to carry on with it for three consecutive years, noting that it was indeed a Herculean task to achieve as much as they had. This notwithstanding, they observed that this year did not give them as much patronage as the other editions had which is an irony considering the theme of this year’s package which aimed at growing the rural economy through the crafts industry.

Speaking on the issue, Malam Hassan Ahmed, a specialist in leather products said, “the lack of customers is a clear testimony to what we go through in the villages and rural economy. We work but there are no customers to patronise our products. In the end, we all have to come to the urban areas to sell our wares. This, for a lot of us, is what such programs should address. We want to work, but to whom do we sell our finished goods? If this is not addressed, the issue of rural migration will not be resolved.”

On the poor attendance by states, Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma stated that poor funding was a major issue. Funding is a major reason some of the states were not here. The NCAC should save the situation by beginning early to plan for the next edition so that the states too can plan. We believe that it can be well mobilised by involving the private sector. This way, AFAC has the prospects of becoming a regional event rather than one of only a few countries participating.”

In the same light as complaints were made, first timer to AFAC, Papa Willie from the Republic of Ghana, was very excited to attend, saying he would reinforce and begin preparations for next year’s event. “It is my first time of coming to AFAC and I am very happy because I have sold off almost everything I brought here. I regret bringing too little herbal products because I ran out of stock even before the end of the programme. Now that I know Nigeria is a fertile ground, I will start preparing immediately and reinforce to return next year.”

A crucial segment of the Expo was the investment forum which also held in the last two editions. The forum provides a platform for culture experts, artisans, scholars as well as the government to discuss ways forward for the arts and crafts industry.. It has also added to the yearly project of creating markets for creativity outputs

With representations from the academia, financial institutions, artisans, government, art scholars and secondary schools, deliberations focused on providing regular markets for the sales of crafts.

While one school of thought blamed the stunted growth and development of the indigenous arts and crafts industry on factors as the influx of foreign goods, inadequate capital and sometimes, over-pricing of locally manufactured goods by artisans, others solicited effective marketing strategies anchored by marketing professionals on behalf of artisans.

Also adding intellectual substance were papers centered on the Expo’s theme presented by Mr. Bello Ayuba of the department of Business Administration, University of Abuja.

Ayuba stated that, “if artisans and visual artistes were to get fair returns from their creativity in the market place, they should be willing to follow a planned and systematic marketing strategy which integrates the use of the tools provided by Intellectual Property rights.”

He also urged that, “the Copyright Commission be reinvigorated to discharge its responsibility to protect Nigerian crafts from unfair competition or theft of their creative ideas and that government should encourage effective use of Intellectual Property in order to help artisans and visual artists develop networks and relationships with consumers as well as create links in the supply and demand networks.”

Prof. Ben Ekanem from the University of Calabar who spoke on ‘Growing the Rural Economy Through the Crafts Industry: A Vector for Poverty Alleviation and Wealth Creation’, said that, “the first major obstacle to the growth of crafts in the country is the imposition of foreign cultures and foreign goods on the people.”

According to him, “trade liberalization appears to open the doors for traders to scout the world for all manner of goods and to import these goods into Nigeria. Since marketing is an expert discipline, marketing of crafts should not be left entirely in the hands of artisans. Rather, young tertiary institutions’ graduates of marketing should be encouraged to venture into the marketing of Nigerian crafts. This is where the banks could play a role by financing such budding marketing businesses.”

However the financial sector is of the view that for the sector to attract the expected involvement, efforts should be made to make the generality of Nigerians to be aware that arts and crafts are not exclusives of the rich as it is presently being perceived. They also charged artisans to moderate their prices and enhance the finishing and packaging to make products appealing to potential buyers.

A prominent feature of the AFAC 2009 was the maddening crowd at Hajia Zeynab’s stand with the bold caption `Secret Woman, Break bed (Man and Woman); Come and Test and share the difference.

This year, it didn’t seem like anybody wanted to test, taste or share anything from Hajia Zeynab’s secret concoctions. Not only did she have to contain herself to a smaller demarcated stand with the rest of the Nigeriens, clients trickled in and out of her space with very weary and watchful eyes of the press who may be lurking around.

Weekly Trust approached the traditional medicine don asking her what she thought was responsible for the decline in patronage. She said, “I heard that a newspaper took pictures and gave a detailed report of what we were selling and the kind of people who came here. So, many of my customers have stayed away this time; some decided to call me and make their orders instead of coming here for fear of their photos being taken this time.”

As regards if the trip had been a success, she said, “Not really. Last year was a lot more beneficial to me. But it hasn’t been altogether bad this year.”

Asiya Magaji who seemed to be lurking around the area peeping in and out to make sure the coast was clear, before she stepped in, quickly refuted the fact that she had any intentions to patronise Hajiya Zeynab saying, ‘no talisman for us at this AFAC.”