In conversation with Ali Bature

In a city so filled with car exhaust, and appointments, and the constant demands of phone calls and emails, “Gidan Dan Hausa,” as the tall rambling old building rebuilt in 1903 is called, feels peaceful, like a refuge outside of time. The walk in from the main road prepares the visitor for the cool quietness […]

In a city so filled with car exhaust, and appointments, and the constant demands of phone calls and emails, “Gidan Dan Hausa,” as the tall rambling old building rebuilt in 1903 is called, feels peaceful, like a refuge outside of time. The walk in from the main road prepares the visitor for the cool quietness of the library, museum galleries, and artists’ studios. But the History and Culture Bureau has not limited itself to a past captured only in books or artifacts preserved in a museum. It consciously engages with living culture, as well. In March 2010, I had a conversation with the director of arts and culture, Ali Abubakar Bature about aspects of contemporary Hausa culture.
Bature joined the History and Culture Bureau in 1988, a year after it had been upgraded from the Kano State Art Council. “The Bureau’s mission” he tells me is as “a custodian of the history and culture of the state. It takes care of the development, preservation, documentation, restoration, promotion, organization of different cultural activities and events, and documentation. We have the archives of the state, and also a reference library to assist researchers.”
When I ask him to tell me a little bit about the beginning of the Hausa film industry, he narrates his own role: “Before joining the bureau, I worked for the state television. And that is where you could say was the beginning of drama in Kano. Drama started first from NTA Kaduna. Kano used to pick the signal by then, when NTV Kano was established. Later on, the state television contributed to the discovery of talents in acting, on NTV Kano and CTV. We had successful dramas that were really capturing the audience, despite that during that time the Indian film was very predominant. That was around 1979-80.”
One of the popular dramas was “Bakan Gizo done by CITV. It was like a soap opera. It talks about social issues in the Hausa community, and it really captured them well. It had very good scriptwriting. Good shooting. Most of the junior and senior staff were sent to the United States to various TV houses to capture the technicalities of good production. That’s how it stimulated others to come in. Even some of our own staff of the history and culture bureau drama group were involved.”
“My profession was as an interior designer. I used to do all these set designs for drama. From the early 80s, drama or home video started taking off.” Although there were others who were involved “the retired workers who left the TV houses were the first pioneers of the industry.”
As the films developed, they were “patronized by the common people, especially the housewives. They are the main supporters of the Hausa films, due to the indoor culture of ‘ba shiga, ba fita.’ Also sometimes TV, which has more discussion programmes, doesn’t provide enough entertainment for them. So they used to entertain themselves with Indian films. Some even managed to speak Indian language without even going to India. The influence was very strong.  And of course, those kids [the new filmmakers] grew up in those houses, [where] families sat there and watched these Indian films. I think that gave them the hint that if they put these Hindi songs and dances, it would also make them more attractive and more marketable.”
“We started getting complaints here and there about these movies coming into the markets.  Some people were getting angry, especially the elderly in the community. We realized that if we did not streamline this industry, they might face problems from the elders of the society. When democracy came, there was the introduction of the shari’a Islamic system. When some states applied some of these shari’a measures, some artists were arrested and beaten, their instruments were destroyed. By that time, here in Kano, there were more than thirty thousand people involved directly and indirectly in the film industry. Mostly, they were young men. We thought this was a very strong area of employment. If these guys were not kept busy, the society might have other problems at hand. So quickly the History and Culture Bureau, being a policy maker for the cultural sector of the state, advised that we should draw the line between the practitioners and the society, and guide the ethics of the culture and the tradition.”
The censorship law was created, he tells me, after a meeting of a committee in 2000, which included stakeholders from “social welfare, youth, sports, women, children affairs, and security agents.” Because at that time there was “no shari’a commission in Kano,” he invited “the Nigeria ulama council, the supreme body of Islamic scholars in Nigeria. We also consulted the national censorship board, so that we would not be out of context with the federal system. Our intention,” he explained, “was to safe guard the industry. We told the government that this is a strong [tool] for mobilizing the society.”
Bature recognizes that “the issue of censorship is a very sensitive issue. But globalization is taking its toll all over the world. Some people are worried about their culture being polluted by other cultures, and we think it is very important to keep our cultural identity because that is what makes you different from other human beings existing on earth. Our culture, the qualities deserve to be promoted at the international level. Since film is the window to our society; therefore, we should open this window to show the society in a decent manner.”
At the same time, he acknowledges that “There are some negative and positive aspects in the culture. The society is normally shy about the negative aspects. As this is a bit of a conservative society, they don’t like to expose the social ills. But to be honest with ourselves, I think if you treat those negative aspects, that will add more quality to the society because there are some diseases that exist, like cancer that is hidden. If you don’t get it out, then the whole system will collapse. If you try to hide it, maybe it will expand. All those young men, they are not only thinking in one direction. Some may think on love, some may think on politics, some may think on economy. Some may think on social ills: armed robbery, corruption. Films are actually made to discuss these issues. It is a good development to really treat the society. Although sometimes it may be painful, it might be embarrassing, at least sometimes you need that shocking moment in order to think twice. Now, our young men are getting more and more exposed, watching internet, cable tv, satellite. They are exposed now to more events. They travel outside as well, and they are comparing things together. So I think for these young men, their brains are becoming more and more active and more and more conscious of the society and the environment around them.”
To be concluded next week