“Time to build afresh”: The Nigerian centre using art to reposition Igbo history and culture
- Amid a backdrop of a brutal civil war, potential of the language going extinct, and more recent calls for secession, Centre for Memories is forging a future for Nigeria’s Igbos that is rooted in a recollection and an understanding of the past.
Image description: Guests on a tour of the Mmụọ Exhibition that opened at the Centre in August 2021. One of them is staring at a painting. They are wearing a green shirt, grey hat, has on spectacles and is also in a nose mask. Behind them is another person in a dress just above the knee and made out of the Ankara fabric captured with their back towards the camera and also observing a painting.
Enugu, Nigeria (Minority Africa) — On January 21, 2022, Ruth Norbert made her way to the Centre for Memories (CFM), a museum dedicated to preserving Igbo history and culture.
Hailing from Okrika in Rivers State in the South-South part of Nigeria, Norbert has a deep connection with South Eastern people, especially Imo State on her mother’s side of the family.
“I have roots in Imo State and I have always loved Igbo culture,” she says. “Reading Chinua Achebe’s books Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and paying attention to dances, songs, folklore, gods and learning a little bit about them, Igbo culture made me feel connected. Not just a vague one from family but a familiar one.”
The 21-year-old who is completing a mandatory one year post university service to Nigeria in Enugu State tells Minority Africa that her visit to the Centre will always be among her fondest recollections of her stay in the Coal City. As someone who’s always had a love for history and the arts, she says that reading about the Centre piqued her interest.
“It wasn’t without a little bit of apprehension, though, I was a tad afraid it wouldn’t live up to the picture I’d drawn in my head,” she notes and then adds smiling, “I’m glad to say it exceeded my expectations by a mile and more.”
The Centre for Memories was founded in 2017 by a group of individuals – Nkiru Okparaeke, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, Nkem Nweke, Jude Ilo, and Patrick Okigbo III – burdened with the desire to build an Igbo historical centre, which would act as a repository of Igbo culture, history, and excellence.
John Utazi, a Programme Officer, Strategic Engagement and Communications at the Centre for Memories describes it as a notable venture.
He says, “Because there is something the Igbos say, ‘Onye na-amaghị ebe mmiri bidoro mawa ya agaghị ama ebe ọ kwụsịrị ịma ya.’ What it means is that if you don’t know where the rain starts beating you from, you wouldn’t know where the rain stopped beating you.”
With headquarters based in Enugu State in southeastern Nigeria, the centre serves to document and preserve the collective memories, identity, history, and traditions of Ndigbo in Nigeria.
“We were shown an art gallery of Igbo masquerades called the Mmụọ [Spirit] and of course, our guide didn’t hesitate to explain each type of Mmụọ and also threw a couple of stories in there now and again. Never [had] I felt so in touch with my roots,” Norbert narrates.
“The second part of the showcase which we were privy to was the ‘Ọzọemena’ display. It had old articles and news stories about the Nigerian Civil War, as well as relics. We were guided through different periods of the war, each story backed by facts.”
Since its inception, the centre has established itself in Nigeria as a leading hub for Igbo cultural and artistic excellence and has gradually gained an international reputation.
The centre has had over nine exhibitions, some of which have focused on the icons of the Igbo people and has been visited by over a thousand people, spanning diverse nationalities and cultures.
Igbo language and the threat of extinction
Many scholars have expressed fear of the eroding culture and language of the Igbo people, arguing that if caution is not taken in the next few decades, people might forget about Igbo history.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) predicted in 2012 that “half of the 7000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of the century.”
Among that number is the Igbo language which is foreseen to become extinct by 2025 if nothing is done to check its fast declining use. For the founders of the centre, statistics like this speak to the relevance of the work.
“It is actually important that an organisation like Centre for Memories is set up to help us preserve and document our memories and to help us promote our culture so that people can be more aware of their culture and history so they won’t lose track of the fact that this is who they are and where they are from,” says Utazi of the development which he describes as ‘worrying.”
“I’ll always be grateful I was given an insider look at people blessed with such rich culture and history,” Nobert recounts. “It opened my eyes to the roots of problems the country faces today, and also, I felt inspired to think of solutions. At the end of our visit to the Centre for Memories, I was glad I’d [gone] .”
Ogbonna Samuel, 27, is one of the people who have been connected with their roots to the Igbo culture through the Centre.
“It’s broken down our story in bits,” he says. “Somehow it has made me intentional about being Igbo, about my self-worth, about my value because value helps shape the society, it shapes everybody.”
Nigeria’s Civil War
Nigeria’s Biafra war was fought between the Nigerian government and the Republic of Biafra, a separatist state that declared independence from Nigeria in 1967.
The war, which lasted until 1970, had devastating consequences for the country, including death, displacement of people, and the destruction of public infrastructure and physical and social capital. It led to the death of over one million Igbos.
After the secessionist forces surrendered, Biafra was reincorporated into Nigeria, and it has since continued to be part of the country.
However, recently, there have been growing secessionist agitations and insecurity in the southeastern part of Nigeria. The sit-at-home order declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to protest the re-arrest of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, culminated in incidents such as the burning of police stations, clashes between security operatives and gunmen, that have become the new normal for residents of the region.
The Centre for Memories uses artistic works, exhibitions, and documentaries to empower and educate people to preserve Igbo history and culture and to prevent what they describe as another escalation of the war.
One of the centre’s exhibitions, “Ọzọemena”, which was opened during the 50th anniversary of the Nigeria-Biafra war has helped Ndigbos reflect on what has happened in the past for them as Biafrans and how much they have to learn from it.
“That way, we know that we don’t want this to happen again. So, we’re not forgetting what has happened to us in the past, and we have to find a new approach,” Utazi says. “We’re not going to go through old methods that left us almost in ruins.”
It is a viewpoint that is echoed by Iheanyi Igboko, Executive Director of the Centre for Memories, who has been a founding member since 2017.
”It’s not just about us telling the story; they get to see innovations of the past, the newspapers and then come out with the knowledge that this shouldn’t happen again. It’s time to build again. It’s time to build afresh,” Igboko says.
For Ebere Okoye, who lives and works in Enugu, the centre has helped her think about the association and Igbo people as an ethnic nation. The brand manager, who joined the centre in 2017, says its programmes have been quite impactful, especially when it comes to preserving the history and the culture of Ndigbo.
“I do not have any sympathy for the secessionist movement but coming to the centre for memories actually solidified my opinion about how their agitation is just not important for Ndi Igbo at the moment,” she says. “So, with the resources I have access to at the Centre for Memories, I’m able to get more details into our history as a people and the things that have affected us as a people. And that’s basically what I think the Centre for Memories has done for a lot of other young people, I believe. “
Till date, Norbert recollects her visit to the centre fondly, as a journey through history where she learned rather new things.
“It was a perfect blend of the arts and history. I have always had an issue with the account of the civil war because it didn’t cover enough minority areas,” she says. “I wanted to hear the version of the story from the horse’s mouth, so I felt like that would be a good place to start.”
She adds, “It made me realize that there is a part of history we are yet to cover; there are places that went through a lot during the civil war and we have no idea because we didn’t really keep account.”
Edited by PK Cross, Uzoma Ihejirika, and Caleb Okereke.
