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Culture
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Country name:
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Location: Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between
Benin and Cameroon
Climate: varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in
north
Population:
123,337, 822
Ethnic groups:
more than 250 ethnic groups; the most populous and politically influential: Hausa and Fulani
29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio
3.5%, Tiv 2.5%
Nationality:
Nigerian
Religions: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani
Literacy definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:57.1%
male:67.3% female: 47.3% (1995 est.)
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Mar-20-02, 06:51 PM (EST)
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Culture and Arts in Nigeria
by Staff of Immaculate Mediatrix On-line
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Nigerian culture reflects African, Islamic, and European influences. In northern Nigeria, Islam has shaped architecture and calligraphy. As Islam traditionally forbids the representation of people and animals, art forms such as ceremonial carvings are virtually absent in the north. In the south, indigenous peoples produced their own art long before Europeans arrived. Portuguese figures first appeared in Benin bronzes dating to the 16th century. Since the dawn of the colonial era, Western influences have challenged, threatened, and in certain ways enriched Nigerian culture.A. Literature Nigeria's modern literature grows out of a tradition of storytelling and historical remembrance that has existed in Nigeria for millennia. Oral literature ranges from the proverbs and dilemma tales of the common people to elaborate stories memorized and performed by professional praise-singers attached to royal courts. In states where Islam prevailed, significant written literatures evolved. The founder of the Sokoto caliphate, Usuman dan Fodio, wrote nearly 100 texts in Arabic in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His prose and poetry examined issues such as good government and social relations from an Islamic moralist perspective. The legacy of this Islamic tradition is a widely read modern literature comprised of religious and secular works, including the Hausa-language poetry and stories of Alhaji Abubakar Imam.
In 1986 Nigerian Wole Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Soyinka is a prolific author of poetry, novels, essays, and plays that blend African themes with Western forms. His uncompromising critiques of tyranny, corruption, and the abuse of human rights have often angered Nigeria's military rulers. One of his most powerful books, The Man Died (1972), was written while Soyinka was imprisoned during the civil war of 1967 to 1970. Chinua Achebe, whose novels include A Man of the People (1966) and No Longer at Ease (1960), is another Nigerian writer whose work commands a wide international audience. Other important novelists include Cyprian Ekwensi, Nkem Nwanko, Elechi Amadi, Flora Nwapa, and Clement Ogunwa, who write mostly in English. John Pepper Clark, Gabriel Okara, Christopher Okigbo, and Ken Saro-Wiwa are well-known poets. B. Art and Architecture  |
Nigeria's rich and diverse artistic heritage goes back more than 2,000 years. The earliest noteworthy pieces are finely produced terra-cotta sculptures produced by the Nok culture in the vicinity of the Jos Plateau between 500 BC and AD 200. These, together with bronze heads from Ife dating from the 13th century and bronze plaques, bronze statues, and ivory carvings from Benin from the 11th century and later, are generally considered Nigeria's most important artistic legacy. Many such pieces, however, reside in Western museums, where they were taken during the time of colonial conquest. The Nigerian government has demanded the return of looted art, particularly from Benin, with little success.Also important to Nigeria's artistic heritage are wooden masks and fetishes (objects of worship or ceremony). Some of the finest examples are from cultures such as the Ijo, Ibibio, and Igala from southeastern Nigeria. Authentic examples of this art command high prices from collectors in the West, accounting for the frequent theft of ceremonial objects from shrines and museums in Nigeria. Modern artists typically draw on both African and Western influences. Members of the Oshogbo School, founded by Ulli Beier in the early 1960s, have explored Yoruba spirituality in several media. Leading Oshogbo artists include painter and musician Taiwo Olaniyi, also known as Twins Seven Seven; painter and writer Amos Tutuola; and sculptors Asiru Olatunde, Adebisi Akanji, and Susanne Wenger Alarpe. The development of modern Nigerian art has also been strongly influenced by students of the Zaria and Nsukka schools, dating respectively from the late 1950s and early 1970s. The Zaria school first explored the possibilities of synthesizing themes and techniques derived from both traditional and modern sources. The Nsukka school produces work that is known for its strong social and political content.  |
Traditional architecture ranges from the North African-inspired mud houses of the Hausa to the sprawling Yoruba compounds that accommodate several branches of an extended family. Such dwellings are often decorated: Hausa houses commonly have bas-relief geometric designs, while Yoruba palaces feature elaborately carved doors and veranda posts. Older homes in Lagos have a distinctive two-story design, known as the Brazilian style because it was introduced by slaves repatriated from Latin America in the 19th century. The new capital city of Abuja, designed by members of the architecture school at Ahmadu Bello University, is the most outstanding example of contemporary Nigerian urban planning and architecture. The city's governmental complex, cultural facilities, and main business district are grouped in a city center characterized by modern, futuristic buildings and wide boulevards, and residential districts extend outward from the core.C. Music and Dance Virtually all Nigerian cultures have their own traditions of music and dance, which are central to the way Nigerians remember their past and celebrate their present. Songs and dances are played on drums, flutes, trumpets, stringed instruments, xylophones, and thumb pianos, and are often linked to specific places and events, such as the harvest. Although traditional song and dance continue in modern Nigeria—especially in rural areas and on ceremonial occasions—their central place in Nigerian life is threatened by the spread of radios, tape recorders, video cassette recorders (VCRs), and other mass-culture media, especially among youth. Sometimes, however, modern media allow musicians using traditional instruments and forms to reach a mass audience.Popular music in Nigeria began in the late 1940s with the arrival of highlife music from Ghana. Highlife blended Western sounds ranging from big bands and guitars with African beats and instruments. Among the leading early bands were those of Rex Jim Lawson and Victor Olaiya. During the 1960s and 1970s, King Sunny Ade and I. K. Dairo, among others, established a new style of music known as juju. A rhythmic dance music style, juju blends Western instruments with elements of traditional African music. In the 1980s and 1990s Fela Anikulapo Kuti commanded a large following, both in Nigeria and internationally, with a form of Afro-Beat inspired by funk, jazz, and highlife and accompanied by provocative lyrics in Yoruba and pidgin. D. Theater and Film Contemporary theater in Nigeria grows out of a long tradition of masquerades, festivals, and storytelling. Masquerades, which emphasized costume and dance rather than dialogue, were a key instrument of social control and political commentary, especially in traditional southeastern Nigerian cultures. In the southwest, Alarinjo, a court masquerade and professional popular theater, was common, especially in the 14th century Oyo kingdom. The traditional Ozidi dramas of the southern Ijo took three days and nights to perform, after several years of rehearsal. The theatrical traditions of the northern Hausa, still practiced today, include the performances of traveling minstrels known as 'yan kama and public ceremonies of the bori spirit possession cult. Kwagh-hir, an amalgamation of traditional masquerades, puppet theater, acrobatics, dancing, and music, is a modern adaptation of traditional Tiv theater arts. Modern theater is especially well developed among the Yoruba. Hubert Ogunde, considered the father of modern Yoruba folk opera, created the genre by combining music, dance, and mime. In 1945 he founded a professional theatrical group to perform his own plays, including Tiger's Empire (1946), an attack on colonialism. Other notable Yoruba theater troupes were founded by Duro Ladipo, whose work explored aspects of Yoruba myth and history, and Moses Olaiya Ademujo, known for comedies that parody social pretensions. Today several professional theater companies thrive in Lagos, Ibadan, and other major cities. Additionally, many performances reach audiences via television, in English as well as in the leading Nigerian languages. Filmmaking is less developed in Nigeria than in other African countries such as Senegal, and motion pictures are generally less vibrant than Nigeria's other arts. This is due to poor funding and distribution, the popularity and availability of television, and state censorship. Nigeria's leading filmmakers include Francis Oladele, Eddie Ugbomah, Sanya Dosunmu, Ola Balogun, Sadiq Balewa, and Bankole Bello. One of the best-known Nigerian films is Oladele's Kongi's Harvest (1971), a political drama about an African dictator's abuse of power, based on a Wole Soyinka play by the same name. The Rise and Fall of Dr. Oyemusi (1977), which tells the story of an armed robber in Lagos, and The Mask (1979), which is about a plot to rescue African artifacts from the British Museum, are the best-known films by Ugbomah, Nigeria's most prolific filmmaker. Since the mid-1990s Lagos has become the center of a thriving industry producing low-budget dramas for video, aimed at the home VCR market. E. Museums and Libraries
The government maintains several major museums, most notably the National Museum, which operates in Lagos, Kaduna, Jos, and Benin. Although museum collections are drawn from a range of cultures, most have a regional emphasis. The National Museum in Jos, for example, is known for its Nok terra-cottas. The government also maintains the National Library of Nigeria, one of the country's largest, in Lagos. Large holdings are also found at the older universities such as University of Ibadan and University of Nigeria at Nsukka. The National Archives of Nigeria, located in Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, and Enugu, hold important historical documents.
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