As the base of the Federal Government, it can be described as a massive political theatre. But politics is never enough. The space also needs a cultural theatre, and its civilising essence.
This is why the announcement of plans to build a National Theatre and a National Museum in the Federal Capital Territory (FTC), Abuja, attracted attention. The Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, unveiled her dream when she appeared before the Senate Committee on Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy concerning the 2024 Appropriation Bill.
She was reported saying the two projects were top on the list of the ministry’s priorities, observing that the ministry “has been grossly underfunded and we will be unable to achieve anything of significance without the right funding.” She added that the ministry required adequate funding and support “to achieve our vision within the roadmap, to be able to achieve the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.”
It is curious that the FCT lacks a National Theatre and a National Museum, more than 30 years after it replaced Lagos as Nigeria’s administrative and political capital in December 1991.
Today, the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos, which was built by the Federal Government in the 1970s, when Lagos was the country’s capital, and which hosted the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977, remains the country’s primary centre for the performing arts, despite the place of Abuja as its capital city.
The National Theatre, Lagos, was “established for preservation, presentation and promotion of Arts and Culture in Nigeria.” The objectives of the National Theatre include: “To be relevant to the public that it serves; to be a tourist attraction; to contribute to the economic vitality of our nation, while promoting Nigeria as a vibrant cultural destination; and to enhance the good image of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Following a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led rehabilitation effort involving the public and private sectors, the National Theatre, Lagos, hosted the 2022 edition of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Global Conference.
The status of Abuja is enough justification for building a National Theatre in the space. The city is also an important capital in Africa because of Nigeria’s continental influence, and notably hosted the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and the 2014 World Economic Forum (Africa) meetings.
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), headquartered in Abuja, was established “to manage the collection, documentation, conservation and presentation of the National cultural properties to the public for the purposes of education, enlightenment and entertainment.” There are more than 52 National Museums across Nigeria, but, ironically, there is none in Abuja, the country’s capital city, where the NCMM has its headquarters.
Perhaps the fascinating story of the Dufuna Canoe illustrates the need for a National Museum in Abuja. In March 1998, over a decade after its discovery in May 1987, the canoe, billed as “Africa’s oldest known boat,” was eventually lifted out of the ground. An obscure Fulani herdsman, Mallam Yau, had struck the dugout canoe buried in the earth while digging a well on the outskirts of Dufuna village.
News of this discovery travelled fast and reached the government of the old Borno State, which at the time included Dufuna, now part of Yobe State in northeast Nigeria. Abubakar Garba, an academic and archaeologist, who was then based at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, was contacted “to make a full investigation.”
Two separate tests on chips taken from different parts of the canoe, carried out on different occasions at Kiel and Cologne universities in Germany, gave similar dates of over 8,000 years. “There is no reason to doubt the broad date of the boat,” according to Peter Breunig, an archaeologist then based at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, who participated in its excavation.
The lab results redefined the prehistory of African water transport, ranking the Dufuna Canoe as the world’s third oldest known dugout. The dugouts from Pesse, Netherlands, and Noyen-sur-Seine, France, were older. But evidence of a tradition of boat building in Africa, more than 8,000 years old, threw cold water on the assumption that maritime transport developed much later there in comparison with Europe.
“It has a length of 8.40 metres and maximum breadth and height of around 0.5 metres. The sides are barely more than 5 centimetres thick,” Breunig described the canoe, adding that it even outranked European finds of similar age. To go by its stylistic sophistication, he reasoned, “It is highly probable that the Dufuna boat does not represent the beginning of a tradition, but had already undergone a long development, and that the origins of water transport in Africa lie even further back in time.”
Not just a piece of wood, the Dufuna dugout opened a thought-provoking window not only on Africa’s history but also on Nigeria’s past. It is a remarkable piece of evidence that the knowledge and skill to produce such a boat were already available in the geographical area that became part of Nigeria more than 8,000 years ago.
Today the famous Dufuna Canoe lies at a conservation site in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, where it cannot be viewed by the public. At one time, it was said that the Yobe State government was building a museum where the canoe would be displayed.
There was a controversy over where the canoe should be exhibited. Garba argued that since the canoe is a national heritage, “the best place for it is the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where it will have high visibility. It will be a real tourist attraction.”
Also, another Nigerian archaeologist who was involved in the 11-year excavation project, said: “When an object assumes national importance, it is the prerogative of the Head of State, after being briefed by NCMM, to take a decision on its place of exhibition.”
Without a National Museum, Abuja cannot be considered in this case, for instance, even though the Dufuna Canoe would be very visible there.
It may well be a sad reflection of the philistinism of power that a perceptive minister has put the establishment of a National Theatre and a National Museum in Abuja on the front burner after all these years.
