NAFEST 2011: The thrills, purpose and expectations

The opening ceremony of the festival held at the U.J. Esuene Sports Stadium between Oct. 25 and Oct. 28 was very colourful and eventful. The high point of the ceremony, the opening parade — spiced with cultural displays by artistes and delegates from over 30 states — added glamour to the occasion. The host state, […]

The opening ceremony of the festival held at the U.J. Esuene Sports Stadium between Oct. 25 and Oct. 28 was very colourful and eventful.

The high point of the ceremony, the opening parade — spiced with cultural displays by artistes and delegates from over 30 states — added glamour to the occasion.

The host state, Cross River, further seasoned the event with its large retinue of cultural troupes drawn from the state’s 18 local government areas.

The performance of the famous Ekpo Masquerade from Calabar South Local Government Area electrified the entire arena and it tacitly signalled the thrills and glamour coming ahead.

Tourism experts, nonetheless, say that large turnout of cultural troupes from Cross River was not unexpected since the state was adjudged as a prime tourist destination in the country.

The experts opine that for the government and people of Cross River, NAFEST 2011 tacitly served as a rehearsal for the annual Calabar Cultural Festival coming up in December.

In a pre-event media briefing, Mr Gab Onah, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, pledged that Cross River would host the cultural fiesta in a way that would make the event evergreen in the minds of all the participants and observers.

Onah’s pledge appears not to be an empty promise or a mere ego massage, as the atmosphere in ancient city of Calabar during the four-day event was exhilarating, as the residents daily trooped down to the Cultural Centre, the venue of most of the events.

At the Cultural Centre, the environment was particularly electrifying throughout the fiesta. Several competitive events such as traditional wrestling, cultural quiz for secondary schools, arts exhibitions, among others, took place, as each participating state showcased its cultural stock and prowess.

The fiesta also presented an opportunity for artistes and delegates from states across the federation to have a feel of the serene and green environment of Calabar, described by many as “the cleanest city in Nigeria“.

Besides, they inadvertently experienced the high cost of living in the city. For instance, Malam Nasiru Yakub, a delegate from Nassarawa State, recalled that he was irked to learn that the price of a plate of rice with fish he ate at a restaurant was N600.

“No, no, no!! This is too costly. Anangarin komi yayi tsada (In this town, everything is costly),’’ he yelled.

In spite of the fanfare and glamour of the festival, some cynical participants, however, rated the Calabar fiesta as low, particularly in terms of its organization and audience attendance.

Mr Ismaila Zakweyi from Niger said that the fiesta could not in any way be compared with the previous editions, describing NAFEST 2011 as “disappointing’’.

“Frankly speaking, since we came to Calabar, we have been somehow disappointed with the organisation of the festival and the audience attendance. I advise the organisers to go back to the drawing board and look into how to make subsequent editions more attractive,’’ he said.

In his assessment, Mr David Nwofili from Delta particularly bemoaned the gradual infiltration of some elements of the Western culture into the cultural display, adding that the development affected the performance of many artistes in this year’s festival.

“This year’s NAFEST has been watered down; it is not as it used to be because the contemporary lifestyle of an average Nigerian has somewhat been infused into our culture,’’ he said, adding: “In most events, you could see artistes struggling to bring out the real cultural identity of their people.’’

Sharing similar sentiments, Malam Mai Bukar from Borno said: “Actually, I have been attending NAFEST since 1987 and from the look of things; the spirit of NAFEST is winding down. It is diminishing because if you look at the organisation of previous editions of NAFEST, particularly during the military era, the festival was better organised.’’

However, the impulsive complaints notwithstanding, observers maintain that this year’s NAFEST has achieved its main objective of fostering unity among the ethno-cultural societies in the country.

Mr Femi Olaseinde, a tourism expert, said that the fiesta provided a platform for mutual interaction of artistes and delegates who shared moments of joy and excitement together.

“The way the artistes and participants intermingled aptly epitomised the  kind of friendship and brotherliness that ought to be among all Nigerians after 51 years of nationhood, regardless of extraneous factors such as ethnic background,’’ he said.

Echoing similar viewpoint, Mr Tunji Sani, a delegate from Ekiti State said: “It was a moment of togetherness. Truly, culture is the bedrock of national unity.’’

James Nwofili, a Delta delegate, also shared similar sentiments. “No matter the shortcomings, this year’s NAFEST fully served the purpose of bringing together different ethnic nationalities with their rich cultural heritage.’’

Observers, nonetheless, commend the Cross River State Government for the excellent hosting of the event in spite of the fact that the state was approached to host the fiesta in the dying minutes.

Mr Clement Dagogo, a lawyer, noted that the competence of Cross River in organising the festival at such a short notice reflected the preparedness of the state to organise and manage any cultural event even in an impromptu way.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that Cross River is the major tourist destination in Nigeria. We now know that the state has the capacity to organise any tourism event within a short space of time,’’ he said.

Nassarawa State was originally scheduled to host NAFEST 2011 but a change of administration in the state disrupted earlier arrangements for the fiesta.

From the pre-event media briefing by Chief Edem Duke, the Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, it was obvious that the event was heading for a postponement before Cross River stepped in to save the situation.

To forestall the recurrence of such incidents, Dagogo recommended that the organisers of NAFEST should look beyond government sponsorship while organising future editions of the fiesta.

“From all indications, they should turn their attention to how to induce private sector sponsorship for the event,’’ he said.

Re-echoing Dagogo’s sentiments, many observers stress the need for the need for private sector organisations to sponsor events such as NAFEST because of their unifying potential in a heterogeneous society like Nigeria.

They also believe that the involvement of the private sector in the sponsorship of NAFEST will make the fiesta more attractive and purposeful, while bringing out the best of Nigeria’s diverse culture. (NANFeatures)