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For Culture and Tourism Ministry to Survive Issue By Janet Alushi
Artistes all over the world are a set of unique people. They help celebrate the cultural history of a country thus; they compliment the celebrators of the political history of a people - politicians. They help document the socio-political history of a nation, and in modern times, help to sell the country as a place of interest to the outside world. They most of all create works of art and help the people to find meanings to their past, understand their present and prepare to tackle the ever mysterious problems of life. Any country without artistes or culture can not find the essence of existence, or as in the case of Nigeria find the form of true unity within her vast cultural diversity. However, Artistes in Nigeria have a way of letting things go by before complaining. They are usually too busy to think of socio- political problems of the society because in most cases they are too busy creating. Yet the process of creating is a very difficult process, as the Artistes needs tranquillity, peace of mind, and food in the stomach to create. The artistes can therefore be seen as a very docile animal, who is easily content with the little he is given. Maybe this is why the Nigerian Artistes has left the politicians alone to feel that they have the monopoly to the problems of this great nation. Or maybe this is why in the last elections; no political party out of the thirty eight parties had a line on "culture" or art development in their manifesto. Some did not even have a single manifesto. Now that elections are over, and the PDP has again won, this time with a land slide victory, the Artistes community sees a need to cry out for proper recognition, especially as the process of appointing Ministers for the various Federal government Ministries is on. The seriousness with which Mr. President has attached to the appointments also means that there is a need to remind Mr. President that in thinking of appointing egg heads with doctoral degrees in Economics to handle the finance ministry, or a Lawyer to handle the Judiciary, and a Medical Doctor to handle Health, Culture and Tourism is becoming a global subject, and it is not enough to pay lip service to it by creating an under funded Ministry, but also there is a need now to appoint the right person for the job. This is the legacy the President must leave behind after his tenure. Our President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whether as a war general or civilian President has established his love for the arts, for culture, and for the development of the arts in Nigeria. He must now complete these complimentary statements by giving the artistes, a Minister that will not only know his onions but will be able to relate to his or her immediate constituency, the artistes. One problem the Culture sector usually has is that they are given Ministers who believe and see their appointments as punishments. So from the first day in office they come, disgruntled, look down on the artistes, and float lofty projects that are not realistic or beneficial to their constituency.
If Mr. President will abide by his speech of April 25th in Abuja on the calibre of men and women who will make up his new cabinet, then the Nigeria artistes may yet smile. The landslide re-election of Mr. President, may yet be justified. In the last four years four major problems have plagued the culture sector. First, government should either implement the old cultural policy, or review the old one, secondly, the issue of the National Theatre, whether it will be sold or reconditioned for use by the artistes community, the issue of the implementation of a Tourism policy for Nigeria. One that goes beyond the Presidential speech of the President on World Tourism Day, but one that finds a common ground of relationship between Tourism and culture. Where people will know that cultural artifacts, cultural materials, cultural attitude must exist before tourism can thrive. One that goes beyond the many meetings of NTDC abroad, or the President dancing with Miss World, but one that creates an awareness of what Miss World is all about, so that we do not end up loosing two hundred innocent citizens again over the lack of attitude, or understanding of how the Nigerian populace can be properly briefed over an international event of such magnitude. It is sad that after the Miss World incident, we have hurriedly buried the dead, and swept the whole issue under the rug without proper address of the issue. This is it, and the President must not shy away from it. Nigeria lost a lot of good will, and tourism potentials through the incident. And finally the case of the Endowment Funds For the Arts has become an albatross for past Ministers. The arts community needs this Fund especially since government has failed to implement any form of tax rebate for the multi-nationals as stated in the present Cultural Policy. The artistes for once are taking the President's declaration, "I will utilise all Nigerians who have talents and who have track records in all areas. . ." seriously. They hope that the President will find them a Minister who he will respect and will listen to. A Minister that the President will respect enough to fund and give extra budgetary releases if possible to enable the Ministry work. The Culture Ministry is predominantly a social service Ministry, which any responsible government must not fail to fund, especially now that the President is championing the call for NEPAD. In this regard, the artistes look forward to a Minister who will be genuine in his understanding of the intricacies and peculiarities of running a Culture and Tourism Ministry. A Minister who will wipe off the present dichotomy between Culture and Tourism, and will strive to strengthen the link, the growth and the inter-dependence of both aspects of the Ministry. A Minister that will give leadership to the various parastatals in the Ministry, while also streamlining and giving focus to the parastatals. A Minister who will be able to co-ordinate the NGOs, various guilds of professionals, societies, Associations into formidable bodies that initiate and implement projects that would create a vibrant cultural sector. So as the President retires to his Otta Farms, and the CVs continue to fly, and party members put pressure on the President to appoint them Ministers, the artistes community can only pray that the President makes a choice that will assist the development of Culture and Tourism in Nigeria for the next four years it is only then that he would have left a befitting legacy for the arts. |