The year 2007 was not an unsual one on account of the activities and events featured in the arts and culture sectors. Expectedly, there were programmes, policy statements, exhibitions, plays, carnivals, and festivals that elevated the people’s culture and strengthened their bonds with their communities. Be that as it may, the cultural sector, like every other aspect of our national life was not spared from hiccups in terms of failure to meet set goals.

Theatre
Usually, each year is always marked by a slow start. There is always a lull of activities on live stage and last year was not an exemption. But two major events set the tone for the theatrical scene early in the year. Dr Ahmed Yerima’s award-winning play, Hard Ground, and Jos Theatre Festival came up in Lagos and Jos, respectively in February. For three years, the Jos Festival of Theatre, organised by the Jos Repertory Theatre has remained the only surviving theatre festival in the country.

The drama fiesta which held from February16 to 25, has kept a regular date on the nation’s culture calendar since its inception. In Jos, five plays and a dance drama were on parade for the two-week duration of the festival.

Hard Ground, the play which won the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Literature Prize in 2006, was commissioned by the FORD Foundation for tour of the country. The itinerary which had on board artistes of the NationalTroupe of Nigeria lasted till October, with funding, coming from the Ford Foundation. Also commissioned by the MUSON Centre for its yearly festival was the play Aetu, written by Ahmed Yerima and featured the troupers.

The National Troupe of Nigeria has always set the pace in the new year, by announcing its calendar of programmes. Unlike the previous years, the parastatal vested with the responsibility of selling the nation’s cultural and artistic potentials to the outside world, did not meet few of its set targets, all though it actualised a larger percentage.

According to the time-table made available in February, the second show on the bill, King Baabu, or Beautification of the Area Boy did not hold likewise a dance package enitled Footprints. Iba, another dance drama written by Ahmed Yerima, but choreographed by Arnold Udoka was initially planned for a university circuit tour of the U.S in September.

But due to last minute visa complications, the tour has since been rescheduled for next month, to co-incide with Black History Month. In November, Iba had a successful outing at the Abuja Carnival 2007, alongside contributions from Niger and Ghana. Meanwhile, theatre lovers are still waiting for Wole Soyinka’s Bacchae of Euripides with which the troupers promised to round-off the year. However, the missing gaps were unnoticed by theatre followers because the commissioned plays, were always there to fill the gaps. The plays which were not listed on the troupers’ calendar always return to the National Theatre after it had completed its runs out there.

Meanwhile, the National Theatre/ National Troupe’s image maker, attributed the development to delayed funding. He however disclosed that the productions which could not come on stage last year has been brought forward to open the current year. They include, Wole Soyinka’s Bachae of Euripedes, and Alante Tatakumi, written by Aig Imoukhuede, and aimed at reviving children drama.

On February 14, Love is Blind by Mufu Onifade was the artist-playwright’s contribution to the Valentine’s Day Celebration. A couple of months after, the Lagos State Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners(NANTAP) commemorated the yearly International Theatre Day (ITD) celebrations with a series of activities, culminating in the staging of Rasheed Gbadamosi’s Echoes from the Lagoon on April 27.

On October 1, perhaps in a move reminiscent of Don Pedro Obaseki’s Independence day drama which he sustained till the early part of the present decade, Corporate Historian and Resource Ltd, staged Monologues of the Drunken Masses to mark the day. The play which was written by Bankole Anthony Tukuru was a satirical display of illusions and fantasy, portraying the derailed aspirations of the ordinary people.

Prior to that, there were pockets of performances across the country. The university campuses were alive with performances, facilitated by their theatre arts departments, as part of their educational theatre programmes. From OAU, Ile-Ife, U.I., A.B.U. Zaria, and University of Abuja, the stage bubbled with activities.

The end-of-the-year did not bubble with theatrical activities which that season is noted for . Such a development, observers believed may not be unconnected with the dearth of corporate sponsorship which has bedevilled the growth of the live stage over the years.

Festivals
Traditional Festivals like Osun Osogbo, Iri Ji Ndigbo (New Yam Festival), held in Igbo Ukwu, Argungu Fishing Festival, the Durbar in Minna and Bida, among other major festivals continued to play their roles in the promotion of cultural tourism in the country. Frankly, not only did the festivals attract corporate sponsorship, they also earned international endorsements, and listed on World Heritage Map.

Arts/culture festivals
What served as rallying points for the cultures, and heritage of Nigerians, the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) and Abuja Carnival 2007, held last year to the delight of many Nigerians. Unlike 2006, when NAFEST which had its openning ceremony in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State was cancelled hurriedly by the Federal Government following the death in a plane crash of ten army Generals billed for a retreat in Obudu Ranch in Cross River States, Benue State hosted the rest of the 35 states and FCT to a colourful cultural fiesta.

Meanwhile, it was significant that in both NAFEST and Abuja Carnival, state contigents from Nassarawa, Niger, Anambra, Ogun and FCT Abuja recorded victories in diverse categories and their successes portended challenges to other participating states.

However, the fate that befell NAFEST in 2006, almost caught-up with Abuja Carnival when the organising committe, led by Dr Ahmed Yerima, faced the challenge of preparing the cultural extravaganza within two months.

Surprisingly, the carnival which held between November 21 and 24 was not only expanded, it also recorded impressive representations from the states, local and international tourists. The yearly Calabar Carnival, in Cross-River State added colour and fun to the yuletide, thereby closing the country’s festival calendar in 2007.

30 years of FESTAC
The parastatal that has the custody of artistic and intellectual properties of the participating countries of the Second Black and African Arts and Civilisation(CBAAC) commemorated the 30th Anniversary of FESTAC in a grand style. The event which came in two phases (March and October) also relived historic fiesta, hosted last by Nigeria in 1977.

National Arts Theatre
Naturally, the rumoured sale of the National Arts Theatre to a faceless consortium called Infrastructica was one of the trying moments for stakeholders in the culture sector last year. The development which came to public knowledge in June via a televised bidding process later took the stakeholders to the streets in protest against the Federal Government’s decision, taken on the eve of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s departure from office. While the edifice which serves as prime venue for exhibition and promotion of Nigeria arts and culture is being managed by a parastatal in the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, fears over the loss of the building may have been doused by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode.

Considering the potentials of the structure, particularly its land mass and strategic location, Kayode disclosed that the way forward is a return to the original master plan which proposed a possible collaboration with the Lagos State government and other interest groups.