It is no longer business as usual for online service providers as the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), declares war against any found liable for copyright infractions.
Online service providers, including hosts of e-libraries, would be held responsible for any copyright infractions on their platforms, Director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr. John O. Asein has declared.
According to him, the commission was paying more attention to online activities with a view to curbing the sale of pirated books through online stores. He made the submission while addressing deliberations with a team of authors on a courtesy call at the commission.
He decried contract gaps between authors and publishers in the country and indicated that the commission would collaborate with ANA to develop model contracts to ensure proper rights clearance and adequate remuneration for authors in the book industry.
Noting that the absence of proper contractual agreements between authors and publishers has left many authors with unpleasant experiences. The Director-General also observed the necessity for new business models to ensure adequate recompense for authors, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Title: Beyond Loss and Grief: The Passage of Kikaose Ebiye-Onyibe
Editor:Magnus Onyibe
Publisher: Narrative Landscape Press
Pages: 161
Three years after losing his precious daughter, Kikaose Ebiye-Onyibe, former Delta State Commissioner for Information, Magnus Onyibe has released a book that dwells on dealing with grief arising from the loss of a child.
In the poignant, heart-breaking, yet hopeful and life-affirming memoir titled: Beyond Loss and Grief: The Passage of Kikaose Ebiye-Onyibe, A Survivor’s Guide to Handling the Loss of a Child, Onyibe seeks to leverage his family’s journey through grief, pain, acceptance, and the eventual celebration of a life to offer valuable counsel to families that have lost a child or those that will go through the experience in the future on how to deal with such a heart-rending loss.
The book opens with Onyibe introducing the reader to a trip he, his wife and their youngest child made to the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, where Kikaose was a second year law student, to retrieve her belonging after she passed away in a hospital in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Chapter 2 titled: Eclipse takes the reader to the circumstances that led up to Kikaose’s death. Reading through this chapter, one is tempted to scream ‘how could all these have been allowed to happen?’ as Onyibe recounts the litany of professional misconduct and negligence that ultimately led to the demise of his daughter at the age of 18 years.
While the book dwells mostly on his daughter and the life she lived, Onyibe seeks to honour the lives of 20 other young people including children of public office holders, businessmen, celebrities and other citizens who were taken from their families in the prime of their youth.
According to Onyibe, the pains from the untimely death of a child do not go away. Parents live with it until they depart this world for the great beyond. However, he believes that parents owe it to themselves and their departed child to grieve graciously.
He explains that ‘there is good grief and bad grief. Good grief entails accepting our loss and the emptiness we feel as a consequence but looking to go beyond that point to a place of healing and growth.’
‘’Grief, if well-handled can lead to healthy growth after a loss.We can achieve this by contextualising our loss using the optics of the possibility that the tragedy could have been worse. If we lost a child, it could have been two. If we lost two children, it could have been three or four. No one prays for such a grievious tragedy as the loss of a child but when it happens, we must find a way to deal with it and continue to live and be productive.
‘’But grief can be bad as well. This happens when we allow grief to fester by harbouring negative thoughts such as: ”the world hates me” or ”my enemies are trying to get me”. Like a bad sore, when grief festers, it could lead to complications that might compromise our health.’’
Onyibe also suggested that besides contextualising the loss, families could grieve graciously and heal faster using the apparatus of family bonding. ”Family bonding after the loss of a loved one can be therapeutic. It is critical because it allows grieving family members to reconnect emotionally with one another and serve as one another’s support to better cope with the loss. Ideally, this should take place in a location outside the usual home setting’’
In the later part of the book, Onyibe points out some common mistakes that parents sending their children abroad – particularly to the UK – should avoid. The content of this section of the book are intended to serve as an advocacy for the protection of the precious lives of our young people who leave Nigeria to study in foreign lands, away from the watchful eyes of their parents. It is aimed at enlightening both the young people concerned and their parents on how to avoid suffering the type of tragedy which Onyibe and his family have been coping with over the last three years.
These are trying times indeed”, began the Enachioken of Abiriba, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu (IV). “No one is left out. Everyone needs a kind word and a helping hand if one is to survive this time. We must all stand by each other.”
He made the statements while addressing some indigenes of Abiriba led by a league of friends of the Onarubi/Ojighirindu Age Grade of Abiriba known as the Enyioma Ena Otutu Enyi at the monarch’s palace.
Over the years, the group has been noted for its cultural activities but has since grown to become even more famous for its diverse humanitarian projects.This time, they were at Enachioken’s palace on another humanitarian mission with some secondary schools’ pupils and their parents.
As part of its selfless services to the community and as a post COVID-19 intervention project to help parents and students in the public schools,the group has awarded scholarships to all students in the exit classes (SSS3 and JSS3) and educational materials.
According to the group’s President, Mr. Akanu Okoro Obasi, the project is aimed at helping parents, whose source of living have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is also meant to challenge the students to work harder as the best graduating students from the schools will be offered scholarships by the group to further their education. It gives us great joy that not only are we donating educational materials but are also awarding these scholarships by paying up the school fees arrears for all students in the exit classes (SS3 and JSS3) of three schools in the community, even as we are refunding the WASSCE fees to parents who have already paid. We thanked the Enachioken-in-Council for their efforts in fostering peace and progress in the community and the Local Government chairman for his leadership,” he said during a handing over ceremony held at the Enachioken’s palace.
The event also attracted dignitaries, including the Ohafia Local Government Chairman, Hon Fred Idika, who was the Special Guest of Honour, Hon Dimgba Ejieke representing Agboji ward at the local government and Mr. Kalu Agbai Ikpenyi (Enyioma Ena, Secretary-General).
HRM Ogbu praised members of the group, for such great and selfless service and called on all other individuals and groups to emulate such initiative for community development.
While reiterating the monarch’s admonition, Idika reassured of his council’s readiness to always partner with them in providing meaningful services to the community.
The Director of Socials of Enyioma Ena Otutu enyi, Mr Frank Ndukwo Edede, promised the community that the group will continue to support educational and other developmental projects in Abiriba.
Nollywood filmmaker, storyteller and CEO, Zuri24 Media Limited, Femi Odugbemi, was recently a guest on New York Film Academy’s 20/20 Series, anchored by Liz Hinlein. It was during a virtual conversation on film industry, particularly Nollywood. Odugbemi spoke on humanity as the core of Nollywood storytelling, its emergence as authentic African voice that will change the old narrative, and impact of COVD-19 on filmmaking, among other issues, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.
You are of the view that all good storytelling is about humanity. What do you mean by that?
Stories are important simply because they help us to understand our worlds, our culture and ourselves. It is how we communicate really. So, all stories eventually are about humanity, about shared experiences and desires, regardless of where you come from. The desires for love, prosperity, connection and achievement, regardless of what ways your culture is structured. Those desires are the heart of your connections; and because film is about human connections and about us communicating in both language, gestures and so much subliminality in terms of contents, in terms of the world that surrounds from where the stories are located.
It’s all about the share of humanity, that’s why I would understand a Chinese film without speaking the language or an Indian film which were the films that were popular when I grew up in the 60s and 70s in Lagos. They were never subtitled, but we understood the humanity of love, anger and all that. So, all of these are why I say that, in the end, all stories are human stories so that we remove labelling. It is easy to simply call something an American story. Well it’s a human story from America; it is a perspective. A Nollywood story is not any less a human story. It just provides you information on the backdrop of perhaps a cultural experience you are not familiar with. I am not really keen on storytellers championing a culture. I want storytellers to champion the human experience, give us insights so that those of us who may not be of that cultural experience are still able to be engaged by the stories that you tell.
What are the insider and world views of Nollywood?
One thing everybody agrees with in Nollywood is that it is an organically grown film culture from Nigeria that surprised a lot of people in terms of the quantity of its production, the passion of its practitioners and the fact that they were able to do so much with so little. And you will recall Nollywood came out of a space where there were really no grants and no funding per se. A lot of it is really driven by the passion of the story tellers to create something and, in doing so, I mean in the course of 25 or 30 years, it’s something that is grown organically, grown in terms of the quality of storytelling, grown in the terms of cinematic exposition, grown in performances as well. It has also grown globally because there are a lot of Africans in the Diaspora who have introduced African cinema, which I call Nollywood as a way to connect to their neighbours to introduce their origin. It is also being used to get their children into a space where heritage can be visually communicated. So, for me, that’s the first thing.
But, in terms of insider views, I think that there is a constant understanding of possibilities: the idea that beyond being successful, Nollywood needs to be significant because Nollywood may be the African voice for changing a lot of things that you would call the narrative about Africa. One of the things that I think have been powerful about Nollywood is that it has provided basic information to update what you would call the national geographic narrative of Africa where anyone who has never been to Africa or Nigeria thinks that everywhere is a forest. So, it’s in the most basic form, an interesting narrative side by side, with what has been where you only saw Africa from the perspective of poverty, disease and wars. Thanks to Nollywood, you will also see Africa that has cities, professors, beautiful cars and beautiful women as well as incredibly successful entrepreneurs.
I think it is very important that nobody is going to tell the new African story on our behalf. The time of colonialism is gone. Storytelling is now what I call the new soft power, and so whilst we may not be able to compete in terms of military power and economic power, we certainly can compete in terms of the soft power of storytelling to shape our view of the world and put a voice out there that says this is who we are; this is who we want to be. It is a work in progress but I think it’s something that Nollywood has been magnificent in achieving.
Has Nollywood been able to have an umbrella over other African countries?
I was invited to be part of a jury in Uganda for a few years and what I saw there was a whole load of passionate young people also trying to tell their story. They are taking advantage of technology and not waiting until there is a grant from some foreign organisations. They simply are inspired to go forward and tell their story at whatever level they can. I think that’s importantly the impact of Nollywood. Remember 25 years ago, there were a lot of people who just laughed at Nollywood simply because the films were made with poor cameras, the performances were works in progress, the storytelling were clearly not as educated as it needed to be. But, over the course of time, thanks to its audiences who were well aware of these shortcomings, but have decided that these stories were important. They were more important things in substances, in significance than they were in technical craft. And, over time, a lot has changed to inspire other African countries and other African cultures.
I don’t like to say that Nollywood has imported itself or exported itself. It is more like Nollywood has inspired filmmakers in neighbouring countries, in Francophone countries and as far away as South Africa and this is very important. I think for African storytellers to simply make that shift from waiting for funding, for validation, whether it’s from Paris, America or England, to simply understand that unless they are the authors and the owners of the narrative, then the authenticity of it will always be up for debate. This is because there is no way you get a grant from France and you are not subject to those who give you the grant. And that approval may simply be the small shape in the story, a little bit of editing, preference, but it’s still not entirely your story. And I think what’s clearly happening in Nollywood is that it is inspiring Africans to tell their story. Don’t wait till you have 50 million dollars to make a story. And I think that’s a movement that is also on-going locally because we are prioritising training. I am interested in using this whole movement to inspire the filmmakers. It is key because the passion is there and for it to be sustainable the passion has to acquire education. And I think it is important that an institution like Multichoice is investing and partnering the New York Film Academy, partnering filmmakers across the world to say can we give this young people a chance.
What are the specifics of Nigerian storytelling that are very essential to its culture?
One of the things that clearly make our storytelling different is that it is in many ways three-dimensional. There is the added dimension of our spirituality; the fact that our stories are both physical and meta-physical. There is the idea that we can tell a story where someone interfaces with an ancestor or a dead character. You do not have to prepare the audience for it, it is not unusual, because it is part of the culture. You know, we believe that life is an on-going existence in realms, and it is possible for your protagonist or antagonist to be unseen.
In one of the Nollywood films, especially in the early years, we talked about witches and wizards and people killing people by blowing powder on them and for you, it does not pass the test of possibility. But for us and our audiences, it works totally fine. There are things that you would have a problem with in a narrative, like a traditional man having more than one wife, having five wives when he is actually poor. To you, it would be weird and illogical. But, to us, it is not, because it is part of the culture. So, there are many cultural themes that emerge in a Nollywood film that also represent our city experience, contemporary experience, historical connections of families.
There are things that we do here that are accepted. Like I can arrive in my brother’s house without warning. And it would be unthinkable to ask me why I did not give him a call before coming. Whereas anywhere else, such things could be weird. So, there is a way in which I do things, subliminally there are many things I put on the table. The context of our stories are in themselves, provides a lot of information about special relationships, cultural relationships in terms of parents, children and lovers. It takes a village to raise a child, that concept is essentially African. The idea of care and the fact that every person in a community is to be taken care of by the nearest adult are things that we used to find in our storytelling. I think that allows us to present a unique world view of our stories.
Do you find that culturally Nigeria wants to retain the past as well as move forward into modernity and success?
I think there is a whole section of Nollywood that does a lot of traditional stories. There is a huge chunk about our contemporary experiences. There are one or two sections that I have also foreshadowed. I am very keen that over the 25 years or so that Nollywood has been there are lot of stories told about the past. And I would like to involve us in connecting because we also have an incredibly rich literary heritage. We have a lot of authors who have done great stories. My uncle, the late Chief D.O Fagunwa, was one of the first authors of novels in Yoruba Language. Some of those stories we really need to bring to cinema to connect them to very important aspects of the past. I do think that foreshadowing is a critical space we must move into. Our storytelling needs to model a future that we all desire. I think that when we talk about our ambitions in terms of good governance, more rapid development and economic progress, our films need to begin to create heroes along those lines because right now we have stories that are contemporary. But, in many ways timid.
And I think that’s really critical. And I tell my students the first idea that a black man could sit behind the resolute desk, it is from cinema and that is very important that people are able to store away that image as a possibility in the sub-conscious, and so in the fullness of time, it happens. And for me I think that’s something our cinemas have to reach into the future, not only to talk about Nigerians going to the Moon or Mars but something that connects us to our ambition as a people. Perhaps more prosperous, more organised and less corruption. We just need to create those heroes through our storytelling.
You have some ideas about how COVID-19 will affect filmmaking not only in Nollywood but also globally. I will want to hear about that.
COVID is honestly something that is inviting all of us to rethink everything. The impact of it in a film culture like Nollywood is that it doesn’t have a lot of funding and actually struggling in terms of the size of its budget. The impact of that is that it introduces a cost element to its budget that would have a huge impact, and you now have to deal with insurance for that possibility. You have to deal with all sorts of protocol issues, test people; and today in Nigeria a test for COVID done in private hospitals cost over N50,000. So, all of this, if you put that cost into the budget of a Nollywood film, it is a lot that’s not ending up on screen so that’s going to be quite a challenge. I think the other challenge is how we begin to mind these stories that are evolving and how we express these in terms of storytelling.
I keep asking people, is a case still a case in our post-COVID world? There are so many things that I think come into play that impact a smaller film culture. The distribution part is going to be a huge hit, because we don’t have that many cinemas to start with. We got less than a hundred cinemas for 180 million people. If you start to socially distance at cinemas, coming from the impact of people having to get back into the cinema-going culture after being home for months, it looks really difficult. And you understand that government already has a budget deficit, healthcare infrastructure was always a work in progress, so the industry is really going to be badly hit and it needs conversations with other professionals. The insurance industry is particular about how we need to get the impact of this, especially on the budget, because when the budget is affected, choices are affected in our direction, in the ambition of the story itself, choices are affected even in the selection of performance. So, that’s really where it is at the moment.
And there is a global film crisis as well and every producer and filmmaker is having this impact and also getting on the Do It Yourself (DIY). Issues like production planning, you won’t be able to do as many of them as you were doing before. Maybe you do a few using videos, zoom conferences and casting. Technology will provide a solution, but it will require all us to think in terms of how we can be more efficient because we absolutely will have less. That’s for sure.
A Pan-Igbo religious body, ÌgbakÍ Odinani Worldwide, has lent its voice to the call by the Federal Government for the return of two sacred artifacts sold in France by Christie Auction House for US$240,000.
The wooden artifacts were looted from indigenous Igbo altars by treasure hunters, under the guise of Christian evangelism many years ago. At the same auction, an Urhobo artifact was also on sale for $1million.
Speaking with reporters, the leader of the organisation, Nze Chibueze Onyido, said his group was prepared to partner the Federal Government to ensure that sacred artifacts stolen from their shrines by criminals masquerading as clerics and sold abroad are returned to their original communities as its part of their history and spirituality.
He decried what he described as ‘pure hypocrisy’ on the part of some pastors who, on one hand, condemn their own Igbo religion as evil, but on the other hand steal from same altars to enrich themselves.
The group’s Secretary-General Dike Agbaja said the organisation had started initiating court action against churches and individuals who desecrated and looted Ìdinani Igbo altars as this constituted a breach of freedom of worship and destruction of national treasure.
He noted that his organisation resorted to legal actions to calm restive Ìdenane and Óménàlà youths who had vowed to also burn down churches in retaliation.
“We are involved in such a court case in Amåaka Town in Imo State,” Ugbaja said.
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments has long pressured European nations to return sacred and precious artifacts looted from various indigenous Nigerian altars. Despite this, these artifacts continue to find their way into European museums illegally.
The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has promised to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by engaging Nigerians in the Diaspora.
She stated this when she received the Anambra State Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Christian Madubuko, in Abuja.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa maintained that the state was blessed with tourism potential that the Diasporan Community could tap into.
She said the commission had a lot of activities that would be of interest to the state, such as the yearly Badagry Festival, Door of return, which provides a spiritual, cultural, social, economic and political reconnection process.
She urged the delegation to open its doors for Diasporan investments into the state, commending te Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, for being the first to appoint a Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa also informed the delegation that about 34 states of 36 and Abuja have appointed Diaspora State Focal Point Officers as frontliners as they engage with Nigerians in Diaspora from their states.
Madubuko said the purpose of the visit was to strategise on how they could work together and improve tourism in the state.
He said Anambra has many tourist attractions like the unique Waterfall and the Ogbunike Cave, which are significant but needed to be developed to international standards.
The Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Culture and Tourism believes that collaborating with NIDCOM is a sure way to maximising investment portfolio for the state and Nigeria.
Madubuko also said through NIDCOM, the state would work with her citizens in the Diaspora to help in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa and Madubuko agreed to work on the issue of data massaging (mapping) for accurate and reliable figures of Nigerians in the Diaspora.
She urged him to interface with Nigerians abroad to be good ambassadors of their country.
On July 12, the Federal Government handed over the 44-year-old National Theatre and its undeveloped land to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers Committee for restoration and development at N25 billion. Beyond developing the edifice and its fallow land, there is a national collection of Contemporary Nigerian art of National Gallery Art (NGA) within the theatre, as well as other priceless treasures in and outside the complex in the form of wall murals, stained glasses, wooden panels and sculptures that must be preserved, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME writes.
In 18 months, the entire landscape of the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos would have changed. Also, the various facilities within the complex would be wearing a new look. To achieve these, there will be reconstruction that will dislodge some old fittings, and beautifications.
From Gate A to D of the National Theatre are abstract wall murals of the late Erhabor Emokpae while sculpture garden leading to each gate has some metal and stone sculptures. The main bowl and VIP Lounge house the highest number of artworks: copper wall murals, porcelain and resin wall murals, bronze head, stained glass murals, wooden panels and wooden sculptures produced by Emokpae, Isiaka Osunde, Yusuf Grillo, Ben Osawe and Godwin Nwajei, among others.
What is the fate of these priceless artworks that adorn the walls of the lounges, halls and gardens? Will they be preserved or pulled down for modern decorations? Are the new owners informed of the value of the artworks produced by some Nigerian master artists?
Unfortunately, Nigerians are yet to know the content of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Information and Culture and the CBN — nature of deal, duration of the project, funding, and place of visual art, among others. These are some of the concerns being expressed by critical stakeholders.
United States-based Nigerian scholar Professor Emeritus Dele Jegede of the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, described the remarks of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele during the handover as a demonstration of the marginalisation, if not outright evisceration of the visual art.
It, therefore, stands to reason that if visual art is not acknowledged as part of the transformation plan, then little or nothing should be expected in terms of preserving the artworks within the complex.
According to Jegede, nowhere in the remarks of the two principals was there a reference, even if peripherally, to the visual arts. This observation is borne out of the definition of the Creative and Entertainment Centre through which the project of transforming the National Theatre into a world-class mega site. The Creative Centre comprises four units: Music, Movies, Fashion, and ICT. Period. No quibbles. No apologies. No Regrets:
The visual art have been edited out completely. And that’s the first shocker, he said.
•Wall mural by Erhabor Emokpae at Entrance A
“It would seem that this grave omission is not accidental. Top echelons of the Ministry of Information and Culture appear to be impervious to whatever entreaties they may have received to consider the building of a National Gallery of Art in Abuja. And now in Lagos—at the National Theatre where a National Gallery of Art supposedly exists—this new multi-billion-naira renovation has obliterated the national gallery, either spatially or notionally. Yet, the visual arts as a solid unit has, over the years, remained central to any expression of culture. I am apoplectic as to how such a huge venture can be contemplated without according high visibility to the visual arts through the incorporation of a renovated space for the National Gallery of Art,” Jegede said.
To him, the second shocker is: What is the fate of the rare and invaluable artworks that are being stored at the National Gallery of Art in the National Theatre? Where is this going to be warehoused? And is such removal the final nail in the coffin of the national collection, especially as there is nothing in the blueprint that addresses this major issue?
The major concerns should be how to expand the National Gallery of Art in the National Theatre to become a major source of attraction to millions of visitors to view and learn first-hand so that “the labour of our heroes past …” the Aina Onabolus, the Akin Lasekans, the Erhabor Emokpaes, the Uche Okekes, shall never be in vain,” he noted.
One of Nigeria’s renowned female artists, Ndidi Dike, who, in 2008, in collaboration with the late Mr. Peter Areh, handled the restoration of the artworks within the theatre, said: “All the artworks by Nigerian masters, which are our visual art legacy for future generations should not be removed but incorporated into any new structural additions and renovations within and outside the National Theatre. They should not be removed or damaged.”
Artistic Director, Arojah Royal Theatre, Jerry Adesewo, said the fate of the artworks should have been part of the negotiations that resulted in the handing over of the property in the first place. He noted that if they didn’t, it showed how shallow Nigerians can be with things that matter.
He, however, added that as a concerned party, he would urge developers to ensure that the artworks remain an important element of the theatre as a national monument. Premium, he said, should be given to those artworks as integral parts of the national edifice.
“They have no choice. That is, if the conditions are well-spelt out. My only concern is, if the Information and Culture Ministry failed and did not put premium on the artworks, it is possible that the developers won’t show concern for the preservation. And if they don’t, then we cannot be talking about value here, as it would mean nothing to them.
‘’If they place value on the works, they will understand the importance of preserving them. If they understand the economic importance also of the works, then, they won’t have any problem ensuring that they are well preserved. However, I must reiterate that all this depends on how we lay our beds. It depends wholly on the level of national interest, as against personal interest that guided the deliberations that resulted in the decision to handover the theatre. Those works are a representation of the cultural heritage of Nigerian nation, which deserves to be preserved. They are largely cultural expressions and practices that represent who we are. Hence, safeguarding them is of huge importance,” Adesewo said.
Former Director-General, National Theatre and National Troupe of Nigeria, Prof Ahmed Yerima, recalled that the 2008 restoration was driven by a personal goal. He said he wanted the edifice to look the way he saw it as a student at the Baptist Academy, Lagos.
“I also realised that the reason most people wanted the place sold was the poor state of the facilities. So, the restoration was divided into four parts. With my able staff, we then looked at the restoration in phases; (1) Inside the building, (2) lights and power (generators) (3) water works, (4) performance halls, (5) conference banquet hall (6), Abe-igi, (7) offices, (8) artifacts (9) immediate environment, (10), car parks and gates,” he recalled.
Yerima said it would be difficult to ascertain the fate of the artifacts unless one has a fuller picture of the terms of the signed agreement. “What we can do is to hope and pray that the people coming into the project are honest and positively dedicated. From what the minister had said, and the CBN- led group had promised, it will be nice to give them a chance to see what positive development can emerge,” he added.
On the value of the artworks, he said: “No one can place a value on the works of art in the National Theatre. Most of the initial paintings by the best Nigerian artists are missing, so I replaced them with pictures from the Abuja Carnival, which I was also running as Director-General at the time. But those left are prices-less.”
Culture activist, playwright, theatre director and former Deputy Editor of The Guardian, Mr. Ben Tomoloju, does not want to imagine that the kind of comprehensive renovation of the National Theatre would take place without the works being given an interim storage. This, he said, means that seasoned curators need to be at hand to record the aesthetics of the works as exhibits, support in their preservation and future promotional uses. He added that restorative artists should be among the experts to be involved in the process.
“So, it’s not a matter of bringing the works down, dumping them somewhere and, at the end of the renovation, packing them back to a nondescript space. Works of art are delicate and precious. This fact should always be in the minds of the developers,” he said.
Tomoloju believes that after restoring the artworks they must be preserved in whatever professional way possible.
“The whole supervision is within the schedule of the National Gallery of Art. We knew what the demands of this aspect of the creative industry are; which was why we objected to the proposed merger of the National Gallery of Art with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments. You know, for even the mosaics in the exterior and the decorative sculptures of Emokpae: these have to be handled by preservationists,” he added.
On the historical relevance of the artworks to Nigerians, Tomoloju stated that history was beyond naira and kobo because one can neither hawk nor purchase it. According to him, those who have tried to use money to buy status which they hope to entrench in our history as heroes and heroines have always failed.
“Those works tell of the spirit of an age, time after time, of the creative and inventive ingenuity with which the people confront and overcome existential challenges time after time. Those works embody the philosophies the people live by. They tell of the corporate vision of society, the moral state of being, positive or otherwise. And, in this context, the works of art not only reflect reality, they denounce abnormalities and direct the people through the path of progress. I don’t know if you have seen Jegede’s Osa Straight. The painting by that master warns the driver of commercial buses on the bridge to drive cautiously and avoid plunging into the lagoon. Those works provide the visionary compass for the people to navigate the incongruences of life and arrive at the port of glory… if they care to pay attention,” he noted.
Founder and Chief Executive of Havilah Merchants Nigeria Limited Mr. Olanrewaju Adesuyi owns the foremost Information & Records Management and Archive/Library Development Company in Nigeria. He established the Havilah Group in 2001 after serving meritoriously for 22 years at the Oxford University Press (now University Press Plc), which he left as the National Field Sales Controller. He speaks on the stateof records management, the need for adequate legislation and challenges confronting records and archives practitioners, Assistant Editor Arts OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.
Why is records management not well appreciated in Nigeria?
The absence of holistic planning is largely to blame. This is typical of Nigerians not caring about so many things and not planning for most things. And this cuts across public and private sectors. In the private sector, only a few organisations in oil and gas and in the financial services sector embrace records management. Sad to say, too, records in most organisations in the public sector are embarrassingly in tatters. Officially, records are kept in open or confidential registries, but these records are generally not secure and are usually not safe from the elements. Put simply, the records are in bad shape. Worse is that a lot of individuals really do not care about managing their records. In the end, they often pay avoidable heavy price for such carelessness, particularly when they have official transactions or when they retire from work.
In the arts and culture sector, the story is the same. Much of the records of Nigeria’s films and entertainment sector have been lost. Or do you know where we can get the original footage of productions like The Village Headmaster, Mind bending or even Checkmate? It is sad that foreign institutions represent about the best quality access that we have to our nation’s history. Don’t forget that many of our artefacts have been stolen and are now housed in foreign museums.
If it is that important, why is there no legislation on record management?
There is only one Act that establishes the National Archives. But, none that compels Nigerians to keep records, so if any is lost, the issue would either be resolved through litigation or alternative dispute resolution or mere ‘sorry,’ if it will suffice. Then one could always swear to affidavits, which is the reason for a rash of court cases when politicians are asked to produce their certificates and they submit sworn affidavits basically to cover malfeasance.
Perhaps, the biggest problem is the absence of legislation to compel people to keep records. That is why you will be shocked to see the rather shoddy, careless and embarrassing manner in which records are kept; from the least government department to the highest office in the bureaucracy. That is why it is so easy for civil servants to wilfully alter their records of service.
Why is this so?
It is because people are just not aware of the importance of keeping their records. If they were, they would not treat them in such cavalier manner. Let us be more specific so people can better understand the enormity of the problem at hand. One major reason Nigeria has challenges with managing population census and budgeting, for example, is because existing records are so badly kept. On paper, we have something they call the National Archives at the national level. The National Archives is supposed to be a repository of important information on national development, but people really are not aware of it or what it does. I am not talking of the building because everyone knows that there is, for example, the National Archive sited at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. But, not many people, apart from people in the academia, know what it does or how to utilise its services. So, in the truest sense of it, we do not have a functional National Archive.
What solutions would you proffer?
Government must legislate on records management to compel individuals and organisations to better manage their records and improve record keeping for planning purposes. There also must be awareness programmes and good budgets to make these workable. Having proper records management will also help the political process, especially in terms of reducing needless litigation over the inability of politicians to produce proper records of their qualification for public office.
With proper legislation, the office of the National Archivist would be able to function with the same level of recognition and empowerment as the office of the Accountant- General of the Federation or the Auditor- General of the Federation, with clear powers to ensure compliance with extant rules on the keeping and safety of public records.
One way to achieve this goal is for individuals and groups or associations to lobby the National Assembly to pass enabling Acts to bring sanity to records management in public sector organisations. An example of such associations is the Records and Archives Practitioners of Nigeria (RAPAN) to which I belong. It is new and so not quite strong. Again, it has not been very effective because practitioners have not been forthcoming in their participation in the activities of the association. The Society of Records Practitioners in Nigeria, which is backed by government, is not effective because it is largely administered by civil servants.
As a leading practitioner, how have you ensured that things are done properly?
My organisation, Havilah Merchants Nigeria Ltd, has been creating awareness through workshops across Nigeria. We have also seized the opportunity of various bookfairs to showcase the need for proper record keeping because we recognise that for people to appreciate the need for good record keeping, they have to be aware of the inherent danger of not keeping records. We have also done several advocacy programmes to reinforce the awareness campaign. The response has been tremendous but we still keep it because there is always room for improvement, more so as there is still a long way to go before government and individuals can properly key in to the idea of good records management. We have worked with the Central Bank as well as First Bank, which is probably the only bank you can honestly say have a proper records management policy in the country. We have also built relationships with other banks that are considering improving on their records management capability.
