Towards FESTAC @ 40

The Pan-African Cultural Congress Bureau (PACCB) said that it was planning to hold another World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, popularly called FESTAC, in 2017.

Its president, Sir Ferdinand Anikwe, who also double as the Director General, “Center for Black and African Arts and Civilization” (CBAAC) 

   said that  the event would be used to commemorate 40 years after FESTAC ’77 was held in Lagos.

It would also be used to mark the 80th birthday of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the nation’s military head of state when Nigeria hosted the festival, Dr Ferdinand Anikwe said.“PACCB member-states have agreed that we will celebrate FESTAC in 2017.

By then, it will be 40 years that the last FESTAC was held and the world has been looking forward to it , we are calling on all those that participated in FESTAC ’77 to be part of our programmes .

Some of our scholars are still around; people like Prof. Wole Soyinka and of course former President Olusegun Obasanjo himself who was the chief host in 1977 is going to be 80 years and it will be 40 years then that we celebrated second FESTAC.

“It is going to be a beautiful combination as the event will by then be half the age of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, one of the former presidents of Nigeria.’’

Sir Ferdinand Anikwe said that the PACCB’s special Technical Committee on Culture , Youth and Sports in Adisa Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2014, had agreed then that there should be a re-enactment, in 2017, of what happened in Nigeria during FESTAC ’77.

He, however, said that a single country might not be able to host and fund it now on a large scale as done by Nigeria in 1977 owing to several financial challenges confronting every nation on the continent.

“Unless this is to be done by a group of countries and interest groups,’’ he said that for the continent to keep the competition on the front burner after next year, it would be held alongside continental sporting competitions and games.

It is by showcasing our African traditional and cultural values at continental events that we can outshine Europe and North America that have surpassed in terms of technological development,

There will be cultural activities and programmes around the centres of either football competitions or games.

We will encourage participating member-states either in football games or sport competitions to also come along with their cultural groups, dancers, choreographers, singers .

They will include those who are into the production of handicrafts whom we may ask to stage an arts exhibition.

Similarly, PACCB will provide judges during the cultural events,’’

The CBAAC boss said that such would be an interesting aspect of such sports competitions.

It would afford officials, athletes, visitors and the audience, opportunities to relax after each day’s events and also appreciate the beauty of nature as created by God, he said.

He said that PACCB had begun to send letters out to the countries and communities that participated in FESTAC’77 on its proposed plan for 2017.

Sir Ferdinand Anikwe said that CBAAC still had tapes of the FESTAC’77 events in its custody and he encouraged the public to visit its office to watch them.

The CBAAC D-G also said that the centre had begun to contact Nigerians in the Diaspora to ask for their inputs to the proposed FESTAC 2017.

At the 2017 events, we would showcase some of the outstanding works produced in FESTAC’77 by the best brains assembled then, he said.

He concluded by saying that Abuja and Lagos are the two cities that will host the event.