The Ozoro Festival Saga And Cultural Revival -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

I have read about the trending ugly incident that took place during a traditional festival in Ozoro a few days ago wherein it was reported that young girls were raped in the open. Although, I did not see anything rape as alleged after I have watched different variants of the video footages of the said incident but I saw young maidens being molested by disordered crowd of young men. I saw a young girl, her clothes torn, surrounded by young boys, begging for her life. This is horrifying and condemnable. This is not something that should be condoned in this era.

I am truly worried that up till now I have not read or heard of any official words from the organizers of the Ozoro Festival condemning the unruly acts of the young men during the event. I take it that it may be an oversight.  I know that the traditional authorities did not endorse the misconduct of the rowdy young men that molested our young girls and therefore should lend their voice in condemnation and maintain the integrity of their festival and cultural norms.

The culture of a people is their way of life. It embodies their language, value system, dressing, music, festivals, religion and mode of worship which is a reflection of their historical experiences, world view, their responses to their physical environment and interactions with their neighbors. Our traditional rulers and traditional institutions are custodians of our culture. Our culture is a reflection of whom we are and our values and ethos.

We do not know exactly what led to the Ozoro incident but it is unfortunate the way it went. It is barbaric to molest and rape girls in the public in the name of festival. In this era of global interconnectivity, we should be careful with what we do in public sphere for that could be in the internet in a matter of seconds. We are people of culture and dignity. We should not misrepresent our culture by doing things that are at variance with our values. We are not rapists and we should not promote it and those abhorrent sexual attitude that are alien to our culture.

Granted, there are some aspect of our cultures and festivals that are not for everybody. I know of the Oro festival that is done in Yoruba land; that strangers are not meant to see. I know too, that sometimes when our cultural leaders in an attempt to mystify what they do exclude some people especially strangers, children or women from the scene of their rituals. But, I think that such high pressure rituals or festival should be done at night. But when you do ceremonies in broad day light, it will attract the attention of curious onlookers. Our villages and local communities are fast growing into big towns and cities. It is therefore not surprising that ceremonies in the past that are exclusively for a given community is now available to many because migration occasioned by urbanization. Ozoro in Isoko West Local Government Area of Delta State is a city that has a higher institution, Delta State Polytechnics. It is a local government headquarter and therefore a cosmopolitan town. In an environment like that, it is expected that their festivals should attract people including news reporters. But, if the ceremony is such that is exclusive to some class of people, the residents should get advanced warning notice and the venues of the ceremony secured and restricted to avoid intrusion by unwanted person.

I believe that our festivals should not just be for memorials of historical incidents but entertainment. Some countries survive by tourism and cultural activism. In this era of globalization many nations have turned their festivals into international carnivals that attract tourist and viewers from all over the world. This is what I expect from the custodians of our culture. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism should work hard in this direction.  We should harness it productively and creatively to project the good aspect of our culture and people. Any aspect that is not good should be dropped or modified.

This is what sociologists mean when they say that culture is dynamic. It means that culture is amenable to changes with time. What is held in the past to be a tradition may not stand today and what we hold as the norm today may not stand the future. Most times what we hold and celebrate as our culture are borrowed or learned practices from other people. As an activist, I believe in culture and cultural revival that will engender peace and development of our people.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed 

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK