The Urgent Need For Govt, Corporate Organizations In Harnessing The Popular Ayakoromo Olorogun Masquerade Festival Performances For Tourism Promotion In Nigeria

The Urgent Need For Govt, Corporate Organizations In Harnessing The Popular Ayakoromo Olorogun Masquerade Festival Performances For Tourism Promotion In Nigeria

By Ebikabowei Kedikumo


Culture is said to be the sum total of the way of life of a people comprising a unique body of belief and traditional institutions. What sums up the tourism attractions of a society are the material and non-material resources embedded in a community's tradition which include; beliefs, norms, values, traditional ceremonies and all that reflect their cultural existence as well as the bio-diversity of it's region.

A masquerade festival is a cultural festival involving procession, dance, songs, music, rituals, costumes. It is also a religious event where actors wear masks to represent supernatural or divine beings. The masquerades are very fundamental to the understanding of African societies and belief systems. In some places, they are believed to be the reincarnations of ancestors and messengers of traditional deities from the supernatural world. In Ijaw land, masquerades are believed to be representatives of the water spirits known as Owu or Oru. Onuora Nzekwu (1981) subscribes to this when he asserts that;

"in the Niger Delta and coastal tribes made of the ljaw sub-tribes and the Kalabari, masquerades represent gods, water spirits and village heroes and the dead . . . the bulk of their masquerades however, represent  manifestation of water spirits""

Clark (2006) also argues that "the Owu is probably the most popular medium of entertainment that the Ijaw possesses as a people. It is strictly a dance and festival put on by men. . . staged in the open to amuse members of the public"

Water spirits in ljaw land are regarded as human beings and they are believed to have personal strengths and deficiencies just like human beings. There is also this belief that human beings lived among these water spirits before being born. The function of prayer in the traditional ljaw system of belief is therefore, to maintain the living in the good graces of the water spirits among whom they dwelt before being born into this world. That  is why each year, the ljaws in various communities hold celebrations in honour of these water spirits. Central to the festivities are the masquerade dance performances in which men wearing elaborate outfits/costumes and carved masks (headdresses) dance to the beat of drums and manifest the influence of the water spirits through their performances. The Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival is one of such performances. The festival which started in  1937 is a cultural festival that is laced with spectacle such as masquerade dance, music, songs, ritual performances, costumes, mask and the theatre/drama. The festival is a period of merry making and feasting and it is the most significant event in Ayakoromo community. During such entertainment periods, people come from far and near to grace and witness the occasion. Peace and cordial relationships are maintained via mass participation in the performances that characterised the festival.

The seamy side is that this very critical traditional institution is fast eroding as a result of the influence of Western culture despite its significance in preserving, promoting and showcasing the glamour of the traditional African life. The Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival which is a traditional entertainment form has not been given the publicity commensurate to its worth in the society and it is described with derogatory words such as fetish, primitive and barbaric because of its associated roots in African traditional religion. This damage inflicted on the Olorogun masquerade festival calls for cultural revival and revolution. Nevertheless, the significance of the festival can not be overemphasized. It is a truism that Agriculture used to be the backbone of Nigeria's economy but after the discovery of crude oil in the early 1970s, attention was now shifted from agriculture to the oil sector. The concentration on the oil sector was so much that other sectors of the economy that could generate the much needed revenue were neglected. Tourism was one of the neglected sectors until very recently when the government of Nigeria started plans to develop it as a means of improving the socio-economic well being of the Nigerian people and diversify its economic base. The fact remains that Nigeria as a nation is endowed with both natural and material resources that can be harnessed to develop tourism in order to aid economic growth. Tourism implies the utilization of a people's cultural and natural resources such as festivals, beliefs, dances, diets, architecture, monumental buildings, shrines and so on. Most of these cultural and natural resources are centres for tourist activities.

Tourism also involves movement or travelling away from one's usual residence to other places far or near for recreation or pleasure. This is akin to the World Tourism Organization 's (1991) definition of tourism as comprising of;

"activities of persons travelling to and staying on a place outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year and not less than 24hours for leisure, holiday and other non- remuneration purpose""

Tourism therefore, embraces the incident of itinerant population of travelers who are visitors to places they visit. So tourism is an undertaking for the purpose of recreation rather than business and have the potentials to spur economic development and enhance lives in a sustainable framework. It is against this background that we examine the masquerade tradition of the Ayakoromo people and to see how it could be harnessed to promote tourism in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.

What makes the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade performances critical to tourism development is the performance aesthetics which attracts people from far and near. Mention has to be made of the merriments and side attractions organized by the audience in the form of beach parties, a candle-light night time procession, sporting activities, boat regattas and so on.

The grand finale of the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival is its second outing where Olorogun and other minor masquerades dance at the Ozubou playground. The Olorogun masquerade is an entertainer and evokes joy and happiness in the audience. It is a festival that attracts a mammoth crowd from all works of life who spend money within the community, augmenting and supporting local economy through restaurants, hotels and other businesses. The high inflow of day visitors into the community during the Olorogun masquerade performances contributes immensely to economic empowerment of the people. If the right resources are pumped into the festival, the festival can be packaged to attract tourists and this would become another vital source of revenue generation especially now that we depend solely on oil that will not last forever. This position lends credence to Hon. Tonye Timi's (2013) warning in his paper, "Reinventing a Nigeria without oil and Gas". He says;

"There is a peak and decline phase for our oil resources. We therefore, come to terms with the fact that our oil reserves are finite and will not last forever"

Therefore, it is now pertinent for us to start developing other great revenue earners like agriculture, non-oil mineral resources and tourism. The Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival if well harnessed is a great tourism resource and will help a lot in the tourism development of Ayakoromo Federated community, the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large. The greatest aspects of the role played by the  festival in boosting tourism development in Ayakoromo community is enmeshed in the activities marking the festival and the Olorogun masquerade performances. On such days, people gather from far and wide and pleasantries are exchanged. The gathering of people on such days exactly depicts what tourism is all about as it involves the temporary movement of people or persons from one destination to another. The movement here is to achieve some desired objectives like watching the aesthetics of the Olorogun masquerade dance performances during the festival. Photographs of the Olorogun masquerade taken and their audio and video tape recordings can be presented as our cultural heritage. The money given or realized from such endeavours could also be used in purchasing costumes for the masquerades and to keep the masquerade tradition alive.

Further to this, tourism helps to preserve the local culture and traditions of a community. During the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival, the visitors have a unique chance to interrelate with the local community thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the environment, customs and local culture which in turn leads to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the people.

Tourism is an industry that relies heavily on the people and the environment by attracting infrastructural facilities into the community. During the Olorogun masquerade festival, preparations are made to present a lively show. Flags of different colours are hosted in the community, houses painted, bushes cleared, all the solar street lights are fixed and costumes designed.  Generally, there is improved environmental sanitation as every nook and cranny of the community is kept clean during the period of the festival. The preparation itself adds glamour to the Ayakoromo community and makes it attractive and this is the essence of tourism.

Unfortunately, the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival  has not been well harnessed to play a significant role in the promotion of tourism development. Over the years, the performances merely dwell on the spectacular aspects without realizing their potentials for tourism development. Indeed, the festival's potentials for tourists attractions have not been fully developed. Therefore, it is imperative to encourage the organizers (Okosuotu masquerade cult) to look beyond mere performance as a step towards increasing tourists attraction. A festival of this magnitude with its cultural and performance aesthetics can be harnessed to promote tourism in the following ways.

First and foremost is the issue of a peaceful environment. Peace is a prime factor because a peaceful environment breeds sustainable development. The organizers should ensure that the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival is celebrated in a peaceful and conducive atmosphere.

Government should shift a little attention to the promotion of the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival based on its potentials by encouraging investors and stakeholders to develop the performance spaces as well as the community. Infrastructure must be made readily available. Professional bodies such as the National  Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) and other bodies saddled with the responsibility of conserving, preserving, promoting, producing and utilizing cultural and material resources of Nigeria should come into the picture by modernizing the community and performance spaces like the Ozubou playground. Besides, roads,  hotels, electricity, pipe-born water, health care facilities among others must be developed. Above all, the Ayakoromo bridge must be completed. By so doing, the festival will help attract not only Nigerians but also foreigners.

Government should also encourage the organizers by announcing the festival days in government owned media like radio and television stations.

Efforts should also be made to televise the important aspects of the Olorogun masquerade festival by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), African Independence Television (AIT), or CHANNELS Television. It could also be projected in culturally oriented programmes like GOGE AFRICA, the African Magic: Good Morning African Show, etc. This will of course , expose the cultural and artistic heritage of the Ayakoromo people to the world.

The truth is that  the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival needs cooperate sponsorship. In this regard, the communication giants like MTN, GLO, AIRTEL, etc,  and the media houses should play a critical role in promoting the festival as part of their corporate social responsibility.

A museum should be established in Ayakoromo Federated community to preserve cultural materials associated with masquerading and other oral performances. The festival's video recordings, the photographs, costumes, headpieces, drums and other traditional artefacts should also be preserved in such a museum as our cultural heritage for posterity. This preservation becomes imperative when one considers the fact that our oral treasures are going into oblivion.

The institute that deals with cultural matters like the Federal Ministries of Arts, Culture and Tourism should identify with these cultural resources and help to advertise and market the oral acts such as the Olorogun masquerade performances to the outside world for tourists attractions.

The tourism potentials of the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival are not in doubt. The festival is a cultural entertainment package through which the Ayakoromo community showcases its cultural endowments to visitors for tourist attraction. The festival can be developed to boost the socio-economic activities of the Ayakoromo people since members of the community will be involved in selling food, local materials, providing services in restaurants and hotels among others to countless visitors. The improvement in the economic activities will lead to better standard of living and well-being of the people. It is unfortunate that the festival is yet to have a significant impact on the socio-economic development of the Ayakoromo community.  The festival requires total support because of the important role it plays in the society; to promote  tourism for societal advancement and development. The festival should be properly organized to give it an international standard enjoyed by the  Osun Osogbo festival in Ijebu land, the Eyo festival in Lagos, the Argungun Fishing festival in Kebbi state and others across the country. Realizing well that tourism is utilized to expose, boost and stimulate a people's economy and creativity, it is my candid opinion that the Ayakoromo Olorogun masquerade festival in Burutu Local Government area of Delta State should be harnessed and encouraged. As J. P. Clark (1981) notes, "the masquerade can be, in fact, become a town's best advertiser."

EBIKABOWEI KEDIKUMO