I was privileged to be in the United Kingdom in August 2012 where I had the opportunity of touring the much popular British Museum. I was shocked to see the volume of African contents being displayed at the museum, most especially the terracotta head of the popular Benin Kingdom in Nigeria and many that could be traced back to the old Ethiopia, Angola, Ghana and many other African Nations. It was not the display of these materials that shocked me but the fact that many of these African nations, including Nigeria, could not boast of having these cultural artefacts in their national museums. A visit to States and even national museums in Nigeria today will likely reveal to you that the few left-over materials were just kept there for preservation sake. There is no sense of creating global awareness of the importance and relevance of these materials to the making of our societies which could naturally draw the foreigners to wanting to study the history of Africa as people and as a continent.
Moreover, Many African traditional societies have untapped creativity which could effectively make them competitive in a modern world. A close examination of the economic history of Nigerian society shows periods when people exhibited high levels of creativity that resulted in comparable economies with those elsewhere in the world. Looking at the period before ‘oil boom’, Nigerians were able to distinguish themselves in agriculture, arts and crafts, and many other indigenous industries which drew the global attention to Nigeria as a potentially wealthy nation. Despite the present decline in development of many of our society, there are historical evidences of the dynamism and creativeness of our people. It is generally acknowledged that Nigerians are creative, as demonstrated by a long history of unique cultural goods that have been accepted around the world. Talk of the arts and craft, music and film industry, textile, architectural designs, indigenous food items; among others have shown the quality that could make them competitive items of trade. Except for the music and film industries, other skills are generally on the decline level as it has been argued that long periods of marginalization worsened in the present epoch of globalization has undermined the creativity of traditional Nigerian societies. It is generally expected that if this is reversed it would promote economic growth and contribute to poverty alleviation.
Furthermore, researchers have argued that modernization, apart from the many positive impact it has had on African societies, has tended to destroy local creativity and subjugated local people to foreign culture and mindset. Cultural revival is therefore expected to empower Nigerians to take their place not just on the cultural map of the world but in transforming their society into a viable participant in the global economy. We cannot afford to be a ‘dumping ground’ of products being made abroad, it is high time we joined China, United States, United Kingdom and other developed nations in driving the global economy. The local food items, tie and dye, textile as well as many cultural goods, if properly packaged and marketed, could play an important role in creating a niche for Nigerian societies in the emerging global economic system.
For this to happen it is necessary to establish the extent of the creativity of Nigerians and the possibility of transforming their skills into trade-able commodities. There is no doubt that many aspects of our culture, particularly in the area of dance, music and arts have influenced active industries around the world but questions exist as to the ability of our people to package cultural activities into marketable goods that can penetrate global markets. It is argued that even local markets have not been fully exploited. If museums around the world could boast of artefacts from many African countries and contributing to the economic viability of these museums, museums in Africa should be the giants of all. African creativity is however beyond culture. The creativity of the African people manifests itself outside narrow cultural areas. Local communities need to be encouraged and mobilized to continue age long creative activities that will contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of the population. Their contribution to economic growth might still be low, but it has been argued that they hold the key to rural industrialization and urban invigoration if they are well mobilised.
The promotion of local textile in some locations in the country is reviving a creative industry. Local jeweller, bronze works and other ornamentals that characterize many local communities can contribute to local income and economic growth. Policy makers in Nigeria have to be better sensitized on the importance of the creative economy. Efforts should spread beyond cultural goods to all possible creative activity. Nigeria has to expand her knowledge base and promote innovation by mobilizing her creative energies and empowering her people to be creative. That is the only way she can realise her vision 2020-20.
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Olawale writes from Ibadan. He tweets @eminiolawale
