Culture and tourism can feed Nigeria –Rasaki Ojo-Bakare

Culture and tourism can feed Nigeria –Rasaki Ojo-Bakare

Professor Rasaki Ojo-Bakare is a Nigerian playwright, scholar and choreographer, who has sown the seed of drama in many Nigerian universities as a lecturer, including the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Uyo, Obafemi Awolowo University,

Ile Ife, and the University of Abuja, where he was appointed the Artistic Director of the Abuja International Festival thereby raising the stake of the yearly festival. Now the Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, he has brought the Theatre Arts Department of the University into limelight through performances. In this interview with SOLA BALOGUN in Ado Ekiti, the celebrated and well travelled culture ambassador spoke about the rot in the arts, culture and tourism industry and the need for the federal government to come out with fresh template to rescue the sector and make it contribute meaningfully to the country’s economy. 

Your achievement in this area paved the way for you to serve at the National Troupe and the Abuja International Carnival. What was your experience at the National Troupe? 

Before I went to the National Troupe of Nigeria as Acting Assistant Director Drama, I had served in The Gambia from 1994 to 1996; I was the chorographer and technical Director in charge of the National Troupe of The Gambia. I was in Banjul for two years; first, to establish the country’s National Troupe and, second, to handle it for two years. After the expiration of that contract, the country wanted me to continue with the National Troupe. At the same time, The Gambia Ministry of Information offered me appointment to come and establish the Performing Arts Department of their university, which was just taking off then. Meanwhile, their National Television was also just taking off at the same time.

As a matter of fact, my face was the very first face that was beamed on The Gambian National television. When they were looking for material to test-run the television station, they came to record my production in Banjul which was a short drama on the HIV Aids epidemic, which I called Jangoroji (name of the virus in their local language). It was a 30-minute drama which the national troupe conceptualized to educate the people on the epidemic. That was how my face was picked, introducing the Jangoroji on the station.   With that, the television was thinking of drafting me in; the country was willing to renew my contract with the National Troupe; and the University of Gambia also wanted me. But I retuned to Nigeria because of the passion I have for my country.

On returning to Nigeria, the Ahmed Yerima-led National Troupe of Nigeria thought of what I did with the National Troupe of The Gambia and what I had done in Nigeria, and then considered it necessary to invite me to join the National Troupe of Nigeria so that they could benefit from my experience. Prof. Yerima, thus, convinced the Federal Government to get me into the National Troupe in any directorial capacity, and, fortunately, the position of the Assistant Director Drama was vacant and the minister then got me to fill that capacity.

The National Troupe is the culture equivalent of Super Eagles. In my view, the troupe should also be bringing whatever the Super Eagles of Nigeria is bringing to the country. The National Troupe should even bring more, because, here, we are talking about our culture, different from football, which was borrowed from another culture. The things that the National Troupe is asked to invent are the things that originally belong to us. With that belief in my mind, I joined the troupe with great expectations, but I soon discovered that the politics of the place at that time was more than the work that was being done, and I had to leave. I discovered it was another civil service contraption, not what it should be.

What lessons did you learn from all of these and what suggestions will you give as the likely way out of the quagmire?

I left the National Troupe after that little spell in 2001 and, eight years later, precisely in 2009, I was again appointed Artistic Director of the Abuja International Carnival. It was a different experience entirely, but, again because most of these institutions are not properly structured, there is always a problem. The state carnivals, like Calabar, Port Harcourt (Carniriv) and Lagos, have well defined carnival structures. In Cross Rivers State, there is a carnival commission. If this can be done at the state level, what, then, stops the Federal Government from having a national commission for national carnival? What we have is conceived to be part of the ministry –a carnival secretariat tied to the ministry.

An artistic director, who is to work on the carnival, is brought from outside but has to work with the ministry according to the existing rules and regulations and contraptions, with other challenges the ministry is encumbered with already. Some of the problems that limit the ministry get naturally carried over to the carnival secretariat. So, you discover that carnival secretariat does not have its own pulse or purse and rules and so they get subjected to the politics of the ministry.

But despite these, you handled the carnival for five years. How were you able to manage it this far?

We thank God again for the personal commitment of those of us that were involved. Let me emphatically state that in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, there wouldn’t have been a carnival in Abuja but for the personal commitment of those involved. From the state directors of the troupes to those that worked with me at the carnival office in Abuja, there was total commitment. I must also mention the personal commitment of our stakeholders in all the states of the federation and the FCT, who were keen on making success out of the carnival despite challenges.

The state directors were specially committed because of the personal contact and relationship we had with them from the carnival office. They saw it as a project that must not fail, because we are all friends and professional colleagues. Some directors of culture would come with artists of 500 and above from their states with N500, 000 and their state governments expected them to spend a week in Abuja. They are expected to build costumes, build floats and provide accommodation for their crew. But because of professionalism and passion, the directors of culture from the states were determined to succeed and from our end at the Carnival Secretariat in Abuja, we kept encouraging them on why they should be committed.

Nigeria is at the stage when every stakeholder is talking of diversification of the economy, what roles do you think culture can play in the non oil sectors?

Look, culture and tourism can feed this country. Without oil, we can use tourism to drive development. When I was handling the Gambia National Troupe, I discovered that the country called Gambia does not have anything apart from culture and tourism. Gambia earns everything it earns from culture and tourism. This is not what I heard but what I participated in. When I was in Gambia, the egg we ate was imported from Poland. That is, the stamp of Poland was found on every eggshell. They were importing egg from Poland, rice from Libya, yam and Garri from Nigeria and Ghana. The only thing they have produced in Gambia is the long bread and tea. However, the county is working, because the revenue they earn comes from culture and tourism is huge. What does Gambia have that Nigeria does not have? Our tourism potential in Nigeria is huge, but government is not sincere and professional with the handling of the sector.

This is because, most of the time, wrong people are appointed to head the ministry; it is politics you see instead of a professional development of the sector. With oil boom, it is easier to lazy about oil business and make or rather steal money .And so, everybody forgets about other sectors. Nigeria does not need oil to survive .Culture and tourism can feed this country very well. All we need is genuine intention from government and the will to do what is right. Nigeria should stop behaving like a suicidal husband whose wife is pregnant and instead of engaging the services of a gynecologist; he is engaging the services of a dentist. If you do that, you must patronise the mortuary. That is what Nigeria is doing. Our problem, in simple term, is that we put square pegs in round holes. There are people who are not politicians but are hard core professionals in their fields. If these people are engaged, they can make this sector to begin to work for Nigeria, and Nigeria will surpass the great nations of today in no distant time. I believe we have everything it takes to achieve this.

How can we market the sector to the world?

The first step is to develop the culture and tourism products we want to market to the outside world here Nigeria. We must develop and package them before we move on to promote and market them very well. Nigeria is almost none existing in the area of marketing and promotion of what we can offer the world in terms of culture and tourism, and that is bad.

by Nwosu Richard