On the Culture Trail in Abuja

For visitors eager to absorb more culture and history in Abuja, a worthwhile stop is the Cyprian Ekwensi Center for Arts and Culture, in the Garki business district. Built by the government, and under the social development secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, the motive behind building the Center was to promote the arts and culture of the country, and the Abuja region, to Nigerians and foreigners alike.

Mostly unknown outside of Nigerian circles, Cyprian Ekwensi wrote the very popular “Drummer Boy” and “Passport ofMallam Ilia”, books which were compulsory in junior secondary school. The former is all about a blind boy named Akin, who entertains people with his drum wherever he goes but, unfortunately, had no parental care. He crosses paths with three criminals who decide to use him as a means of distraction before they carry out their attacks. But, they get their comeuppance and Akin gets sent to an orphanage while plans are made for him to reunite with his patents.

The later is about Mallam Ilia, compelled to travel far and wide in a quest to avenge the death of his wife, who was killed by Mallam Usuman, an evil and powerful man. The story of the “Drummer Boy”brings to light the struggle of those living with disability in our country have to contend with, while the “Passport of Mallam Ilia” taught me how to leave vengeance for God because in our quest for vengeance we might lose sight of what’s important. Apart from novels and story books, Cyprian Ekwensi has also written various radio and television scripts. His contribution to Nigeria’s literary and intellectual wealth is unchallenged.

Even though the late Cyprian Ekwensi was not an indigene of the Federal Capital Territory, many people loved the fact that the Center for arts and culture was named after him because of the undeniable contributions he had made to the Nigerian writing and media industry.

Cyprian Ekwensi was born in 1921. He went to Government College Ibadan, Oyo state, Achimota College in Ghana, School of Forestry in Ibadan, Yaba Technical Institute, Lagos School of Pharmacy and Chelsea School of Pharmacy of the University of London for his university education. He was the head of features and later director of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). He later became the chair of the Bureau for External Publicity of Biafra in 19961 after he resigned from NBC and relocated to Enugu before it got reabsorbed by Nigeria. He died in November 2007 after an illness.

The Center has no reception hall. The building has different offices and you have to go straight to the place you want to be. In our case, we went to the museum. There is a sign board written museum on it showing you which direction to go.

The museum was in a hall with a door at the entrance. Just by the side of the door is a carved replica of the Benin Ivory Hip Pendant in the form of the face assumed to be that of Idia of Benin, the mother of Oba (king) Esigie (who reigned from 1504 to 1550.) I stood there and admired the history behind this great woman. She was considered a great warrior, said to possess magical powers, who played a significant role in the Idah war -which was a fight between the Benin kingdom and the people of Igala. Unsurprisingly, Benin emerged victorious.

So much of Nigerian and African history continues to remain unknown and obscure outside the continent. And, what’s particularly galling is that African history has been “Marvellised” and “Disneyfied” by Black Panther and Wakanda Forever. And, don’t even get me started on Coming to America! If you really want to know more about African history, just come to Africa.

A tour of the museum and other places costs 2000 Naira (which I think is a reasonable fee). Unfortunately, pictures either by phone or cameras aren’t allowed in the Museum which was such a shame, but it did not stop us from enjoying the sight of the museum.

The museum shows how Nigerians lived their lives before colonization, I was more impressed by weapons used in fighting those days, especially the arrows. Although our history was taught in second secondary school under the subject called Social Studies, it was still a learning process and the museum gave one a delightful opportunity to broaden and deepen our knowledge of Nigeria’s history. It’s a shame that the History is not taught in the university as a general course, but you can get to learn about it if it’s your major in school.

I am particularly fond of the time Nigerian got her independence, it made us become free human beings and made us in charge of our own nation. The museum tells the history of the slave trade, how it stopped, the events that led to the country’s independence and the past and present leaders of the country.

This was a room downstairs, filled with pictures of postal stamps (I was really intrigued by all the stamps because that was my first time of seeing anything like that) and currencies used in Nigeria pasted on the world of the room. I loved the way they showed every type and color of currency used in the country from the late 1950s to the present. I was able to notice the difference between the old Naira notes and the new ones. Personally, I think the old Naira notes had better designs while the new ones had better texture.

One thing I liked about the Nigerian currency and postal stamps museum was that it introduced me to what postal stamps were for the first time. The museum also had pictures of past Nigerian heroes and leaders on its wall, like Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was the first president of Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Belewa etc., I guess we can call them heroes since most of them fought for the independence of the country. 

After the currency room, we moved upstairs to the Museum of Ethnic History of the Indigenous People of Abuja. Just like the name implies, the museum was all about the natives of Abuja, known as the Gbagyi or Gwari people, who were the original occupants of Abuja before it became the capital of Nigeria. Their descendants still live in Abuja and they have access to free education and easy job opportunities. A very popular Gbayi is Ladi Kwali a very famous female potter who was known for her unique pot designs. Her work is now coming to international collectors’ attention by way of an auction at Bonham’s.

The Gwari are well integrated into the society even though they follow their traditional ways.

Going into the room, just on a red board placed on the wall was a map of the state. There were different types of traps in a show glass used to catch animals for meals in the old Gbagyi community as well as different farming tools which are still being used. There were various types of calabash used for different purposes, such as meal serving, fetching water etc., What I found most interesting in the museum was the status of a Gbagyi woman who was carrying firewood in a big calabash on her back instead of her head, which I found is the traditional way of how they carry things in the tribe. It surprised me because one would think that it is easier and more comfortable to just carry things on their head, but I know that everyone has their own culture and this is the way they do things. The museum also showcased the traditional clothes of the Gbagyi people, musical instruments and currency used which is the Nigerian Naira.