Between
two decades before independence and two decades after, is a period Femi
Osofisan refers to as the ‘age of
innocence’. Nigeria knew its golden age of extremely creative talents who
shook the world; they are so many that I have decided to pick one of them as
the matter of this article, one with whom I feel closest to. Wole Soyinka. That
lone tree, which might not make a forest in this ‘age of madness’.
As a
Dancer/Choreographer and one of the most privileged young artists in
contemporary Nigeria, with a wide access to the international art market. I
consider myself one of the very rare remaining Nigerians – not to say
Africans – who have access to the prerequisite elements for creating, and
able to retain the precise mental balance that their creative temperament
requires. Get residencies when needed, an access to theatres to conclude
technical aspects of creations, and a ready network for touring. Those who are
however aware of the loss that comes with negotiating one’s space of influence
and cultural backdrop before the unforgiving gaze of the ‘other’, will
understand that every traveling artist, especially of this contemporary times
of flux and mixing, where every notion of ‘roots’ and ‘home’ is perpetually
shifting, the need for a locality is much stronger than any time.
As a
traveling artist who continuously struggles to fix his sense of locality on Nigerian terrain – like many of my likes – I have mostly relied on the brains of such writers as Wole Soyinka to regain the memory of a time before time. For the purpose of authenticity and that of choice, I recognize the need for a body memory, which has lived longer than my own lived power or freedom. Soyinka’s writings have helped me a great deal in recognizing such mental territory of existence, but that is a locality solely based in a psychic asylum.
Let
me get back to earth; let’s take a quick excursion around the nation state
called Nigeria.
The scene was somewhere in the Sahel, in the ancient Malian empire to be precise, it was around 2pm, after a lot of formalities, finally Angelin Preljocaj, president of the jury picks up the microphone to announce
"... and the laureate for the solo category in the 8th edition of the danse l'afrique danse is - Qudus ..."
I can't remember hearing my surname and probably the title of the winning work before I blanked out, none of the claps found their way into my ears, I turned my face down and muttered few words to thank my God. Could that be it? In one word, SUCCESS. I think I already had a feel of it and I know its temporality, I had learnt to clamp down on my pulse. I sensed the excited juice just about to start flowing and immediately I froze it back to normality. Keep still. Be still as water and hang on to your centre I told me. I rose my head up to realise the array of eyes directed towards me, as if something was badly expected of me. Those who didn't know who I was, thought I wasn't present, because all these took me about 3 minutes before Selim my Tunisian friend dragged my bag from me and poked me to go unto the podium.
The clapping and the screaming of my name were gradually taking form in my ears. Walking to the podium that was just 10 meters away, seemed like the longest walk I ever made. As I walked towards the podium, I felt a burden of responsibility on my shoulders and saw myself taking each step closer to the middle of a "disagreement" I have been rigorously engaging through my blog, my small talks in conversations and whenever the opportunity comes for me to air my opinion on certain logic of existence that appears to me illogical.
The decision - whether or not to partake in this biennial choreographic encounter - had lingered for more than three years before I eventually decided to participate. The decision came slowly along with a thought pattern that was gradually taking form with my understanding of the role of an artist, in his community and within a larger (global) context. My trouble with this phenomenon has been very much linked to my trouble with the term "Contemporary African dance" and my impatience with patterned, predictable reasoning and my refusal to ply the well trodden path.
This biennial has largely added to the systematized manner of thinking for most African choreographers, who systematically arranges themselves within this arrogantly defined box especially in place for them. This aggressive Africanist sentiment have informed the way "we" treat, analyse or consume works coming from Africa, it has succeeded in narrowing perspectives and producing rigidities in place of a creative openness to discovery and knowledge. I personally think that the moral purpose of this festival must be either restored or redefined for it to meet up with the practices and the artistic preoccupation of a new generation of artists who are presently freeing themselves from past attachments and rejecting the notion of a single identity or a single awareness, but rather a composite of cultures, identities and affiliations which marks the advent of new forms, beauties and new interests totally deracinated and dislocated from one place and one time.
As Kettly Noel (the festival director) handed me the microphone, followed by a “please be very brief” the microphone in my hand became a weapon, a tool to distinguish my voice from the voiceless, to gracefully place my words where they belong. I turned my face out into the audience, and suddenly words fail me in the sight of the numerous eyes, looking either down or up upon me. For the first time in my life i felt the intricacy of addressing an ambiguous crowd, where I have to speak and speak well, give hope to some and send a clear message to others. I was overwhelmed by emotion, i could feel myself exercising a deep breath control to stop the down flow of tears from my eyes, and finally I summoned my sinews and my nerves to my rescue.
I spoke “... I don’t know what to say... hmm, initially i didn’t wanted to partake in this competition, the only reason i decided to be here at this time, is to be able to inspire. The African youth has been over-traumatized with questions of political injustice, economic imbalance and societal pressure that they stopped dreaming, my dreams are what got me here today, I urge all you young, brilliant creative artists here today, to continue to dream, you are good enough and I know that very soon change is gonna come."
I recognize that I have moved long beyond compromise and it strikes me more and more that my experience as an artiste, is unique among the one billion Africans spread across the globe. As i walked back to my seat, the numerous congratulations that escorted me didn't help in containing the tear drops; I could hold it back no more. So why did i cry? It remained a question I ask myself till now. Here I am, me, who had to choose between dance and home at some point, me, who had to fight not for recognition but for a mere space of expression. Me, who refused to be "the good boy" because I had a dream, now, I am assuming a place of authority and becoming an example for an entire generation of artists. I can feel the burden of this responsibility already.
12th of August 2010 marks the day the United Nations launched the International youth day in New York, and my cynicism raises some questions towards this development. Why? And Why now? In every part of the world, the present and the future seem bleak for the youth, who fervently take notice of hopeful figures about the north and south, developed nations and emerging economies, yet the reality remains for them, that 2009 offered the highest level of global unemployed youth, as some continue to fall victim to the grand economic crises; those in Africa still wander in the wilderness. And this exclusion poses a veritable question for the well being of our world. Discouragement and rejection, at an age when one is fully in the middle of self realisation, one’s future may be accompanied by a deep depression, loss of confidence, patriotism and interest in politics and institutions, which will only happen at the expense of our advancement.
A deteriorating patrimony
By the end of 2009, the international Labour Organisation declared 81million global youth between 15 and 24 years redundant. Meanwhile, 62% of Africans are below the age of 25. It might be disputed, but in the midst of this economic crisis, an opportunity opens up for Africa, because prior to this global phenomenon, the African youth had cultivated the habit of dreaming, for he spend most of his time dreaming about a better future, for that’s where he is going to spend the rest of his life. Youths in general are like architects bestowed with a powerful creative energy, and their basic need is space; spaces for freedom and expression, spaces that makes dreaming and its actualisation possible. This basic need is not something he can make compromises upon, in the absence of such space – just like a kid that we refuse to make toys available for – the youth still create beautiful things, not minding if it is destructive or offensive, the only problem with a misplaced youth is that, he may create a bedroom by your doorway, he may create a toilet in your kitchen in the absence of compliant spaces for such exorcism.
It is all right that youth are getting very involved with the media and showbiz, but it is imperative to also have more engaged youth, to attain our millennium goal, but unfortunately majority of today’s youths are not interested in state administration, but other trends that are guided by a punk-like youth culture, most African youth have cultivated a business relationship with their fatherland and the world around them, which demands them to be responsible, patriotic and to obey their country’s call of honour at all times. If we comprehend today’s youth as a responsible entrepreneur, we will understand that this honorary call don’t usually come with a fair negotiation. Common sense tells him that it is supposed to be a call and response, a win-win negotiation, and at no point in history has any group of young people, signed a patriotic pact with their country in the name of all Youths. There is therefore, a great deal of focus required to engage the African youth in productive endeavours in their lives, to prepare their mind for this extremely competitive market, and gain the much needed cooperation of this sect, to whom the future of all today’s efforts will be entrusted.
A cultured Market
As the level of unemployment grows in developed nations, there arises an urgent demand for Africa to guard its market and give rise for an internal market structure; this development has suddenly resurrected talks on Pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism as we know it has failed because it has remained elitist, and because it did not attain grass-roots status. The AU summit has repeatedly featured despots and rulers with a very few enlightened leaders; here lies the effect of the deaf and dumb conversations on regional unity. Given the present phase of reality, a certain “holy trinity” now requires a very urgent attention: Culture, Agriculture and the Cultured, to create an environment and policies that will easily galvanise the people into action. This trinity has to be in correct perspective before any concrete policy can hold ground on the African soil, and more, it will enhance the sustenance of our gradual growth.
The culture i refer to is, as opposed to the present state’s ideas of culture that is embedded on a false self imagination, that which misconstrue a faction of cultural tourism as an authentic expression. I speak here, not of a culture on sales and solely consumable by tourists and expatriates, but that which provides a solid ground for a sense of dignity and a sense of self, which gives rise to an honest self appraisal, self renewal and self realisation. That which constantly worries about the factors upsetting our ardent need for peace and tranquillity, for an authentic identity and decency. I speak also of those qualities that arise from a concern of what is regarded as excellent in arts and letters, in manners and the creation of beauty, improvement of the mind and scholarly pursuit. A set of values and virtues that could lead to a healthy humanity, who can easily differentiate and discriminate between the meritorious and the meticulous.
Standards and values are an integral part of any culture; hence, culture is the bedrock supporting every development, it is a tool for emancipation and holds true for equal rights and responsibility for future generations. Our cultural heritage is generally associated with archives, works of art and monuments. In times of need, music, writings and other works of art can be a beacon of hope and comfort. Monuments and art treasures make a shared past visible and thus strengthen our need for a better future. Through access to the arts we learn to make choices, through them we determine which endeavours are worthy of our best efforts, and ultimately we learn to know ourselves, our humanity socially, as well as individually.
A civilisation is built not on oil, steel or bullets, but on stories; on the myths that shore it up and the tales it tells itself about its origins and destiny. With the high poverty level in Africa, we tend to refer to the 600million who fall under the “poor” status, as less important due to their low purchasing power.
If we see Agriculture as a faction of culture, as the art or the science which says it is important that we cultivate our land, which creates a compelling and conducive atmosphere for participation, raising crops and feeding all citizen from whatever the land produces, breeding our best minds and raising livestock and all things home-grown. Then we will see this "poor" class as a raw gold with a ready-made market whose (basic) needs has to be reached. As people buy banana or water in the Lagos infernal traffic, so they buy a DVD or a music CD, the present success of Nollywood (the Nigerian film industry) proves that the key to a healthy African society is a thriving community of story tellers, and the African community of my vision is a society that cannot do without arts and culture. Here comes a fundamental need to create and support the emergence of a wide and strong social entrepreneur and Pan-African cultural market, whose job will eventually be dual-facet, to at a time reduce poverty and at the same time providing a form of social structuring.
The cultured are the components of the emergence of a very pragmatic and indigenous think tank. We talk about democracy and human right, but firstly we need to at least have an idea of what humans want. How do we talk about market without a prior reflection on production? Until today our natural resources, including our youths, artists, intellectuals and culture continue to feed and decorate the developed nations, and we on the other hand continue to oversimplify problems that has their peculiarity to each nation, on this basis I foresee a physically powerful need for opinion research organisations and African think tanks, to unravel the over ridden cliché that brings about these unending intercontinental debates, where African nations continue to have distorted voices, and thus ineffective for Africa. By the time a think tank is set up, we can then begin to see the need to generate a much needed intra-African discourses, set on our own terms for our own issues.
Since the emergence and growth of the China-Africa economic ties, there has been a perpetual rise in a simplistic debate of aid versus private sector, aid over trade, private sector over public fund. The infested energy in these debates is alas engaging in the wrong battle; why not focus on how to create a probable partnership between the government who regulates and takes some responsibility, along with the donors and private sectors, and including the African as ordinary individuals taking charge of their own lives. How do we combine all these to engage the young people, create employment and at the same time getting the creative juices flowing. Aid or no aid, public or private, that’s not the issue, but to arrive at a policy that combines all these factors that is going to yield what we want.
CONCLUSION
Democracy might not be totally accepted if we pay heed to the African culture and reality, but we still need to consider a general opinion of the required component that proves a certain level of respect for the rule of law and human right. We require a political renewal that pays urgent attention to rebuilding collapsed systems of governance and public conduct, creating optimal leaders, a critical mass and responsible citizens. If these basic requirements of a viable leadership are in place, then Democracy is not an endpoint and ideologies are useless, what should concern us the most is development and so it is by any means necessary. If Africa considers a human-centred economy, we will know that a dream is priceless, creativity is invaluable, and that’s all the youth and the artistes got to offer. They won’t organise a coup d’état just because they got ideas, but in a way or the other they have to reconcile between their dreams, their desires and their creative energies. In a human-centred economy men are seen as people of values, whose particularities are assets for the developmental plan of a continent.
In as much as we begin to turn a new page, and Africa shines with signs of hope, we can’t but still keep in our mind that our list of to-do is still very long, it is important that we invest in the creation of other strategic cards. Despite the level of rapid urbanisation taking place all over Africa, 60% of Africa’s land is still uncultivated, we are yet to explore the power of our women, and we have a lot of time that needs to be better managed. The building of infrastructure is as wasteful and illogical as filling the ocean, if we overlook the building of the human resources that accompanies it, there is no (one) hospital without (many) doctors, there is no (one) school, without (many) teachers. We must imbibe a culture of excellence as against that of mediocrity, DISCIPLINE and a positive spirit of competition, compensation and congratulation.
If the problems facing the youth and our artistes stop at the lack of support and necessary attention paid to their initiatives, they can still work with that, but there are various types of obstacles in the form of policies that at the end frustrates their efforts to be relevant. Freedom is an essential right that can lead to magical discoveries, without a sense of liberty flourishing all over the continent like a smoke flushed into our airs, it will be difficult to make the best out of every citizen’s might and creative temperament. With this globalisation, it is important to note that nothing is entirely locally produced without the participation of external forces. So it is vital to be open to the world, but most importantly, to regional integration and exchange, subverting from national interest to a regional politics that is capable of challenging the political power of member states through sanctions and penalties when giving in to Coca-Cola national values that is unrealistic and not based on genuine cultural values.
These days i have learnt to keep my mouth shut and ignore comments about the state of the Nigerian polity and pockets of UPRISINGS calling for a REVOLUTION, most of which i have tried to put my force behind, (at least being the number 1001 man, whose importance is as important as the crowd mentality required) but i think we talk too much of our desired world, and too much talks hinders the possibility of action, we scream ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!, we stood up against the status-quo to update our FACEBOOK and TWITTER status. I'm no man of experience in all these, but i am aware of a certain kind of libido that comes with this virtual beer parlour talks. The human and social sciences have accustomed us to see the figure of man behind every social event, just as Christianity taught us to see the eye of the lord looking down upon us. Such forms of knowledge project an image of reality, at the expense of reality itself. If you do a search on Sahara reporters, you will perhaps find my article THERE WILL BE NO REVOLUTION lingering somewhere in the archives. In Nigeria we are so much bind by talking in figure terms, iconic modes and that of signs and slogans. (i.e CELEBRITY CULTURE - Youth culture) And the reality of power as it subjugates us, whose real function is to tame, and the result is the fabrication of docile, patriotic and obedient citizens. When we set for such politics of desire, that drives our wishes and actions into a revolution (a kind that is directed against all that is egoistic - and heroic- in man,) we are prompted by an instinct of self-affirmation and self-preservation that cares little about affirming or preserving a real cause
Here comes my propositions:
* Let's free political action from all unitary and totalitarian paranoia and take a journey through ego loss.
* Develop action, thought and desire by proliferation, juxtaposition, and disjunction, and not by subdivision and pyramidal hierarchization.(e.g, i need no Audu's Picture to see how important a cause is)
* Do not think one has to be sad (or be known) in order to be militant, even though the thing one is fighting is abominable. it is the connection of desire to reality (and not its retreat into the forms of representation) that possesses revolutionary force. (So, let's ask us all, does the general psyche call for a real life REVOLUTION, away from twitter and facebook or sahara reporters?)
* Do not use thought to ground a political practice; nor political action to discredit - as mere speculation - a line of thought. Use political practice as an intensifier of thought, and analysis as a multiplier of the forms and domains for the intervention of political actions.
AND FINALLY, WHEN WE ADHERE TO A NATION-BUILDING THROUGH LOGOS AND SLOGANS, IT MAKES ABSOLUTE NO SENSE AND HENCE DAFTLY ILLOGICAL - (don't get me wrong, we can tear our selves apart, or reunite with a slogan; GHANA MUST GO, MAKE NIGERIA ONE, COME WITH US OR GO TO HELL, BOKO HARAM etc. BUT IT HAS LITTLE OR NOTHING TO DO WITH NATION BUILDING.) THE VALUES WHICH WE LIVE BY ARE THE VALUES THAT LED US "HERE" IN THE FIRST PLACE - THESE DISTORTING MISTS OF NATIONAL (YOUTH) EUPHORIA AND MORAL NEGLIGENCE AND IDEOLOGICAL BARRENNESS WHICH LED US TO THIS POINT ARE STILL SEEN AS CONTINUING IN THE IDENTITY OF THE NATION; SINCE THAT IDENTITY HAS NOT CHANGED, HAS UNDERGO NO REVOLUTIONARY PURGE EITHER IN ITS GUTS OR AT THE HEAD-
THEREFORE, A REVOLUTION MUST BE MADE OF FRAGMENTS, AND NOT AS A WHOLE BODY (OF TV PEOPLES), IT MUST SHATTER THE FOUNDATIONS OF THOUGHTS AND RE-CREATE. OUR COLLECTIVE BREAK/DOWN MUST RESULT TO OUR COLLECTIVE BREAK/THROUGH.
ONLY IN THIS WAY DOES EVERY INDIVIDUAL SHARE IN THE HOLY MESS AND UNDERSTANDS THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE SACRIFICE.
...then we can all scream ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! But how soon will this be?
