Arts Festival in Western State

Author(s): Kayode Awe

Source: African Arts, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Summer, 1971), pp. 58-60
Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345885
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 THREE

NIGERIAN

FESTIVALS

Arts Festival
in Western State
KAYODE AWE

Compared with other African nations,

Nigeria can certainly not be consid-
ered backward in terms of its culture.
Throughout the Federation, evidence of
this can be seen in the annual, traditional
feast and in the government-sponsored
Arts Festival.
The preservation of the country's cul-
tural heritage is primarily the concern of
the older generation; for the younger gen-
eration has, for the most part, become the
victims of Western civilization. A number
of them find foreign ways of life preferable
to their own. Often, for the young Nige- AN ACROBAT FROM IBADAN-AJANLEKOKO CARRIES A DRUMMER-BOY AND A TABLE WITH HIS TEETH.
rian, the greater the number of foreign
dance steps he can display, the greater is
his claim to being "civilized," although he The Festival included more than twenty- throughout Yorubaland, is intricately con-
nected with this belief. The towns most
might lack all knowledge of Nigerian mu-four events. Among them was "Gan-
sic. gan, Sekere and Dundun" from Ibadan, a noted for fierce masquerade festivals in the
Because of this trend toward west- type of music associated with the Oyo sec- Western State include Iseyin, Iragbiji, Osh-
ernization, the Federation governments tion of Yorubaland, using some of the royal ogbo, Otta, Ila-Orangun and Ijebu-Ode.
are making active attempts to support the musical instruments of Alafin of Oyo, the Of these, Iseyin has received the highest ac-
traditional culture of the people. One such traditional head of all Yoruba Obas. claim for the acrobatic prowess of their per-
attempt is the annual Arts Festival orga- The drummers made the Festival a formers, and this prowess was vitally
nized by the Western State. Other States unique event. Each of them was at least displayed in their show at the Arts Festival.
have sponsored similar festivals; however,fifty years of age, and the dancers were Their bone-shattering acrobatics long re-
the Western State has been unique in itsolder than sixty. It is unusual for menmained of in the spectators' memories.
encouragement of the youth's participa-such advanced age to perform so arduously. From Ipokia came the muscle dancers.
tion in the event. As Brigadier Adeyinka Yet, sixty-five-year old Olanipekun Obilaja This troupe had given public performances
Adebayo has said, "They are to immorta- did the intricate dance steps with the agil- for the State Governor during his tour of
lize our traditions." ity of a cat. He jumped; he rolled, moving Ipokia, but it had never before performed
At the 1970 Festival, the Governor spoke left and right as if his bones were elastic. in any of the Arts Festivals. Though from
on the need for the propagation of Nigerian Despite his age, he caught the audience's the West, the muscle dancers do not speak
culture, and stated his government's will- attention and enthusiasm. pure Yoruba. Some of them combined Yor-
ingness to spend any amount of money to Another participating troupe was the uba with their own dialect, but most of
achieve this aim, as evidenced by the fact acrobatic masqueraders from Iseyin. In line those I interviewed during the Festival did
not understand when I addressed them in
that the Western government's expendi- with the Yoruba belief in life after death,
tures for the 1970 Festival exceeded those the masqueraders are representative of de- Yoruba. The leader of the troupe, Onku
of the previous years by some ?5,000. The parted relatives whose spirits are said to re- Gbede, twenty-two, stated that their King
Governor himself took part in the tradi- visit the living on earth. The annual wanted them to preserve the tradition of
tional dances. Egungun (Masquerade) Festival, held muscle dancing. This dance form is differ-

58
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ent from those other types of acrobatic dis-
plays common in certain parts of the West
as well as among the Ibos of East Central
State. In addition to purely acrobatic dis-
plays, the Ipokia performers dance with
their muscles, and are able to move any part
of their bodies at will, including the ears!
Although the dundun or gangan (talking
drum) is most common among the Yoruba
of Oyo and Ibadan Province, it was a vet-
eran drummer from Ondo who performed
at the Festival. Mr. O. Olopade, the drum-
mer, demonstrated twenty-four ways of
handling the instrument. He was accom-
panied by a boy during his demonstration,
one of many young men who have volun-
teered to serve as Mr. Olopade's appren-
tices.
The Obalufon dancers came from Ilesha,
about 74 miles from Ibadan. Obalufon is
one of the gods worshipped by the Yoruba.
The significance of this particular perform-
ance was its being done by young school
children rather than adults. This change
was made in order to let the young people
master the proper manner of worshipping
Obalufon. The children's performance was
so graceful that Governor Adebayo com-
mended them saying: "The future of our GELEDE DANCERS FROM EGBEDO IFONYIN

cherished culture depends on these chil-

dren ... My government is ready to giveKola Ogunmola, the State's leading come-
you the necessary encouragement." dian; Moses Olaiya and his Alawada group;
In spite of the successful outcome of thethe University of Ife playwright, Ola Ro-
1970 Arts Festival, the preparation lefttimi, author of Kurunmi and The Gods Are
much to be desired. For example, not a Not to Blame, were conspicuously absent
single member of the Professional Artists ofduring the Festival.
Nigeria was invited to participate, even This absence of good theater was a dis-
though this group is among the strongest intinct loss to the entire Festival. The Cocoa
the Western State. The membership in-House Hall was hurriedly converted into a
cludes Mr. Lamidi Fakeye, an inter- makeshift theater with disastrous results.
nationally-known sculptor. Several artists At one point in the Festival, the stage col-
criticized the Festival organizers, accusinglapsed during a performance of acrobatic
masquerades.
them of failing to include practising artists
in the program. Many prominent, locally- In addition, very little time was given to
trained, internationally-known dramatistseach of the individual performing groups.
such as Duro Lapido of Oba Koso fame; The resulting abruptness of each show

" r --S>;<~
- - . i ... . e? j

4w .

OBALUFON DANCERS IN ACTION

THE AGBON FROM ILE-IFE

59

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 robbed
robbedthe audience the
of seeing the
audience
artists of seeing the artists
performing
performingat their best. at their best.
There
Therewas some fairly
was strong
some
dis- fairly strong dis-
approval
approvalof the introduction
ofof the the Phil- introduction of the Phil-
harmonic
harmonic Choir into the Festival
Choir program. into the Festival program.
AA
critic,
critic,
writing for thewriting
State-owned news- for the State-owned news-
paper,
paper,referred to referred
the Choir as follows: to the Choir as follows:
"Why
"Why this should this
be brought should
in to take be brought in to take
more time than the real traditional dis-
plays, I don't know ... It even had prefer-
ential treatment over the others, as if it
were the major item of the day. It is a pity
that on an occasion like that, this cryptog-
amous sing-song should be given priority
over that which is purely traditional and
Nigerian. Let it not rear its head next year."
There was also a good deal of criticism at
the idea of declaring a winner in this sort of
Festival.
Whatever the critics of the Festival
might say, it did provide an opportunity for
the younger generation to be exposed to the
origins of their culture. However, much of
its splendor and beauty will continue to be
lost unless a State-owned theater is built in
the near future to adequately house this im-
portant event. ?
GOVERNOR ADEBAYO (CENTER) DANCING TO BATA DRUMS

worshipper
worshipperatat
Badagry,
Badagry,
gave
gave
the the
full ac-
full ac-
Igunnuko
Igunnuko Festival
Festival
It
It was
wasbrought
broughtfrom
from
Tapa
Tapa
landland
count
countof
in Kwara
in Kwara
ofthe
theBadagry
Badagry
version
version
of Igunnuko.
of Igunnuko.

State
Stateto
toBadagry
Badagrybyby
herher
family
family
who who
were wer
carried as slaves to the coast but later
gained their freedom. The worshipping
Igunnuko in the Tapa land differed sligh
Igunnuko
Igunnuko isis one
oneof
ofthe
thecelebrations
celebrationsthat
that
from that found in Abeokuta and Lagos
link
link many
many Nigerian
Nigeriantribes
tribesculturally
culturally
is the same with Lokoja, Offa and Kabba.
with
with some
some other
otherWest
WestAfrican
Africancountries,
countries,The Igunnuko culture and several oth
particularly
particularly Dahomey
Dahomeyand andGhana.
Ghana.TheThe
festivals link Nigeria with Dahomey. Bot
Igunnuko
Igunnuko Festival
Festivalisiscelebrated
celebratedininLagos,
Lagos,
countries are bordered on the south by t
Badagry,
Badagry, Abeokuta,
Abeokuta,Offa, Offa,Dokoja,
Dokoja,Kabba
Kabba
Atlantic Ocean. They also trade and m
and
and many
many other
otherplaces
placesin inNigeria.
Nigeria.The Thetogether. The two countries differ in i
ket
Igunnuko
Igunnuko has has spread
spreadto toDahomey
Dahomeyand and
ternational language. One speaks Engli
Ghana
Ghana through
through the theslave
slaveroutes.
routes.TheThe and the other French owing to the la
cele-
cele-
bration
bration inin Dahomey
Dahomeyisisthe thesame
sameasasthat
that inin of their colonizers, but they both u
guage
Badagry.
Badagry. It It is
is usually
usuallycelebrated
celebratedininthe the
derstand the Yoruba language.
months
months of of March
Marchand andApril
AprilininBadagry,
Badagry, and
andThe Igunnuko in both Nigeria and Da
though
though the
the time
timeisisslightly
slightlydifferent
different inin homey
Da-Da- have the same appearance. The
homey,
homey, bothboth celebrations
celebrationshave havethe
thesame are made of velvet in various colours, us
same
origin.
origin. Badagry
Badagryisisonlyonlyseventy-eight
seventy-eight ally white, yellow, blue, red, black, pin
miles
miles
from
from Lagos,
Lagos, Nigeria's
Nigeria'sFederal
FederalCapital
Capital onon and so on. The material is made in
green
the Atlantic coast. The differences in the bunting and usually has the appearance
times of celebration are due to the old sys-
a string of flags on the tall Igunnuko mas
tem of calendar calculation. In most cases,The masqueraders often number in the f
the calendar calculation is based on the ties during the opening ceremony. Th
present a tall, slim image, swaying he
first rainfall of the year, and naturally there
is some variation in the date of rainfall
and there and squatting as they parad
from year to year. Their movements usually cause a grea
According to Chief Gbeyan, the chief deal of enjoyment. The Igunnuko mas
priest and Gengen of Badagry in Lagos queraders differ from some other Yoru
State, Igunnuko was taken from Badagry masqueraders
to who usually carry whips
Dahomey by a member of his family car- chase people about. The Igunnuko nev
THE ENTRANCE TO AN IGUNNUKO SHRINE
ried to slavery. During the celebration,
carry whips. They only dance and perfor
members of the celebrating families inmiracles.
both towns usually exchange compliments.The Igunnuko can perform many mira-
An old woman, Chief Mabobo, the eldest cles. They can turn themselves into snakes

60

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