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Veteran arts
journalist, Ben Tomoloju, has cautioned media practitioners against
what he called the “laissez faire approach to culture and
commercialisation.”

He made the remarks
at the National Workshop on Propagating Cultural Values for National
Development, held at Merit House, Abuja on August 2. The culture
activist cited as example of such laissez faire approach a recent
advert by Wale Adenuga Productions, producers of popular television
series, ‘Super Story’ and ‘Papa Ajasco’.

As related by
Tomoloju, “The advert, which gives a sorry impression of what one
refers to as ‘audition by lucky dip’, called for entries from
prospective actors at a fee, for a major television drama to celebrate
Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary. Shockingly… successful
actors will be selected, not on the basis of a critical assessment of
their competence by a panel of experts, but by a sort of ballot, a
lucky-dip system of actors’ recruitment, which throws traditional
methods of talent appraisal overboard.”

Tomoloju criticised
the advert as “a very easy way of adopting mediocrity and marginalising
genuinely gifted artists. Without taking anything from the high
reputation of Wale Adenuga Productions… by this ‘audition by
lucky-dip’, the integrity of the electronic media, media arts
programming and culture production is seriously undermined.” Tomoloju
charged that the attention of media practitioners should necessarily be
drawn to such “unwholesome trend”, in order to ensure the sanitisation
of the culture sector. “Let us not deregulate our culture along with
deregulation,” he said.

Cultural values

Tomoloju was
speaking as a resource person for the workshop, organised by the
National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO). Among those in
attendance was the Emir of Potiskum, Mai Umar Bubaram IBN, who entered
the venue with much fanfare, preceded by a horn-blower and surrounded
by his courtiers. Others on the high table included Garba Mohammed,
President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ); and Ibrahim
Abubakar Ganyama, chair, Governing Board of NICO. The Minister of
Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Abubakar Sadiq Muhammed was
represented by the Director of Culture, George Ufot.

The theme of the
one-day workshop was ‘Cultural Values, Our Greatest Asset’. In his
opening remarks as chair of the occasion, Garba Mohammed commended NICO
“for organising this workshop at this particular time when there is
discussion about the need to expose our cultural heritage in the
development of the nation.” Responding, Barclays Ayakoroma, Executive
Secretary of NICO, congratulated Mohammed “on the release of your
kidnapped journalists”, noting that, during the crisis, the NUJ
secretariat had relocated to the scene of the action, Abia State.

Ayakoroma informed
that this was the second workshop in NICO’s programme of Propagating
Cultural Values for National Development; the first edition held in
May.

“On May 19, we
planted a seed and today, we can see that the seed is germinating,”
Ayakoroma said. He stressed the importance of such a talk-shop, saying,
“We cannot make appreciable progress without synergy between cultural
workers and administrators. It is my hope, therefore, that this
workshop would provide a platform for such synergy as well as afford
participants the opportunity to draw from the wealth of experiences of
our resource persons.”

In his remarks,
George Ufot affirmed that, “We are interested in a culture of
excellence, decency and respect… As we approach the national
elections, it is important we talk to each other.” Ufot also tasked the
media on the need to propagate culture as a means of developing the
nation.

Human relations

Ben Tomoloju and
the other resource person, Clara Obazele, engaged participants during
the Technical Session. Obazele, a veteran journalist, was first up,
with a contribution that focused more on the behavioural aspects of
culture. No mention of folklore, songs, dance, theatre or rituals in
her presentation, which treated such sub-themes as: good human
relations, sense of community, sense of respect for authority and
elders and the distinction between ‘clock time’ and ‘socialised time’.

Using references as
varied as Albert Camus and Nkem Nwankwo, Obazele’s was an engaging
presentation, somewhat compromised by the positioning of her Powerpoint
equipment, which meant that her back was to the audience most the time.
Her presentation later generated some debate about whether it was
possible to truly return to the values of the olden days, as she seemed
to be advocating.

Agenda setting

It was the paper by
Ben Tomoloju – written as he sat on the high table – that really got
the interest of the arts writers and editors present. Speaking on ‘The
Role of the Media in Propagating Cultural Values for National
Development’, the former deputy editor of The Guardian noted the
function of the media in “communicating culture through its reportage,
educative features and programmes, in critically analysing cultural
development and celebrating by way of conferring status (on) those
vital and noble aspects of the lives of people and institutions. The
cultural media is, therefore, central to national development.”

Tomoloju’s paper
charted some of the culture milestones achieved in Nigeria between the
years 1988 and 1997, designated as the World Decade for Cultural
Development by UNESCO. He drew attention to the agenda setting role of
the media and the ways in which this could be used for national
development.

“The media is close
to the people at all levels of the social hierarchy. They should
therefore serve as the barometer of public opinion and voice of the
voiceless, with the capacity to transmit the yearnings and aspirations
of the people to the leadership,” he said.

The culture
activist canvassed for the propagation of culture at all levels of
society, not just through to “monuments” like the National Theatre, but
via the establishment of cultural centres, operas, libraries and
theatres at community level. That way, “there is a graduation of talent
from the grassroots before it gets to national recognition.”

He advocated for
the return of craft villages to the level of traditional organised
guilds, noting that traditional skills had sustained the economies of
pre-colonial African societies. “All that China did during the Olympics
was based on their culture, not just technology. The computation had
been in the Chinese since Confucius.

Cultural action

Touching on the
potential of the media for mass mobilisation and cultural action,
Tomoloju said, “Film is a powerful tool for propaganda and cultural
diplomacy.” He recalled the colonialists’ use of Mobile Film Shows to
“subdue and subject” African societies culturally.

“Journalists and
media practitioners should maintain the required standards of their
practice” in order to be effective agents for the propagation of
culture for national development, said Tomoloju. For effective
communication, he urged against “the current trend of short-changing
the quality of indigenous languages in public communication.”

In this regard, he
praised the efforts of NICO, which has been running classes in
indigenous languages. “NICO is setting a fresh agenda in terms of
cultural praxis; a new visionary and pragmatic force of appeal that
will positively influence public consciousness on the viability of
culture in the creation of prosperity for the well-being of the
Nigerian populace,” Tomoloju said.

NICO Executive Secretary, Barclays Ayakoroma, spoke of plans to
extend the National Workshop on Propagating Cultural Values for
National Development beyond this second edition. He said, “We are
looking forward to a time when this forum will be a national event
[which] arts writers all over the country, not just Lagos and Abuja,
will attend.”