REBRANDING KURAMA ANNUAL CULTURAL & TRADITIONAL FESTIVAL

The Kurama people remain the single largest ethnic group in Lere local government of Kaduna state; we also boast of having one of the richest, diverse and long standing cultural heritage north of the Niger. This has made us the envy of our neighbors and won us the admiration of other equally blessed ethnic groups in Nigeria. One of the ways the Kurama people have preserved and celebrated our rich heritage has been through the annual cultural festival; which was first celebrated in 1970.

This encompassed various activities through cultural songs and dances. Guest from far and wide annually troop in to catch a feel of the rich dose of the Kurama history, culture and traditions in our local dialect. For instance, at the 1975 festival the types of play on show were the Enyan (Wasan noma na gida) from Akirsa; Damaiya from Maigamo; Enyani (Wasan noma na gona) from Garu; Awuni (Kaho) from Woba; Idon ya shiya (Girayan yanmata); Idawai (Kidan bori) from Wuroko Sabon Birni and Gurza; Ubaza from Abadawa; Kidan maharba from Gwauron Dutse; and Damalgo from Were, among others. At the end of the dances prizes were given to the best dancers.

The successes of these festivities which were also covered by the media drew widespread recognition for the Kurama people; it is even being said that the Kagaro people borrowed the idea of celebrating the Kagaro Day from us. Ironically, the Kagaro Day has gone to become an internationally recognized event which attracts tourist globally, while the Kurama Day is barely being celebrated among the Kurama people.

 At a point in time the youth had to step in to salvage it from extinction by celebrating it at Yarkasuwa rather than Saminaka the initial location.  This is contrary to the resolution of the meeting of the Kurama Cultural Committee in 1979 through a press release, which adopted Saminaka as the permanent centre for staging the festival annually. Also in attendance at the meeting were ten Agwama-Kurama Village heads and also for the first time had Village heads from Kano, Bauchi and Plateau in attendance.

With the corrosive speed with which globalization and local colonization is eating away ethnic groups like ours into extinction, steps must be taken to preserve our culture and tradition especially through rebranding the annual Kurama Culture festivals. This will place the festival on the international tourism map and a cultural heritage centre. We have what it takes to achieve this feat, all that is needed is proper planning and execution. This will go a long way in infusing the Kurama people with pride in their heritage and also foster the desired unity for our overall progress.

Towards rebranding the festival the objectives of the festival should be as follows:

·         Celebrate the cultural diversity of the Kurama people through increasing cultural awareness and education.

·         Facilitate & promote meaningful opportunities for dialogue and networking to increase ethnic bonding and cohesion.

·         Raise the international profile and public knowledge of the Kurama people and its rich cultural heritage.

·          Organize a social and cultural festival that will gain national & indeed international significance.

·         Provide direct and tangible opportunities for tourist to learn about and also engage in various aspects of our local cultures and traditions.

·         Generate business opportunities to drive the growth and development of Micro Small Medium Enterprises through the exhibition fair at the festival.

·         Organize the carnival through Public-Private Partnership.

In rebrand the festival I propose that the activities should be spread across four days, this include:

·         Press conference held before the festival starts.

·         Street procession extravaganza with caravans, motorcades, parade-goers and masqueraders dressed in vibrant breathtaking costumes dancing to pulsating traditional and contemporary rhythms.

·         Cultural trade exhibition fair will be held for visitors eager to acquire locally-created and culturally-linked products.

·         Cultural dancing and singing competition with awards to be given at the grand finale.

·         Conference on cultural renaissance and exhibition fair of historical artifacts and display of traditional hand-made crafts.

·         Traditional wrestling and other games such as football competition.

·         Cultural pageantry and debate (essay) will also take place with the winner crowned and presented with the prize at the grand finale.

·         Masquerade band display.

·         Awards and prizes will be given out to the winners of the cultural dance competition, cultural pageant, and the essay competition.

·         Fundraising for our museum

This will be funded through Public-Private Partner, hiring-out of market and exhibition stalls, sponsorship, donations and contributions in cash and kind. It will be carried out through setting-up of a fundraising committee with an endowment funds to be managed by a board of honorable elder statesmen.

In conclusion, the festival has the potential to reawaken the dying cultures of the Kurama people under threat by globalization, and furthermore, project our cultural heritage to international limelight. It also holds a lot of commercial and economic value for our community, local government, state and country at large.

A cultural festival such as this is an important social and cultural event that continues to gain regional & indeed international significance globally. For Instance in Nigeria, the Sango, Osun, Calabar and Lagos Carnivals are such festivals that have gotten global attention with enormous commercial and economic value.

Yusuf Ishaku Goje

greatnessygoje@gmail.com

greatnessygoje@mail.com