ABSTRACT
Recent approaches to community development are driven by some practices that fail to recognize the integral link between culture and development. For development to speak to the needs and realities of a people there is a need to re-conceptualize development as a process, one which examines how cultural forms such as festivals can inform development within a community. Using a discursive structure, this study assesses the Lhmb Zaar festival of the Zaar Sayawa people of Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro local Government Areas of Bauchi State with the aim to determine ways in which it could strategically function to foster communal growth. This was done to achieve the set objectives of the study which looked at the activities of the festival, challenges facing the festival in ensuring sustainable development and to suggest ways through which sustainable development can be achieved through the Lhmb Zaar festival. There has been a renewed emphasis on recognition of culture and communal participation by community members as important steps towards the attainment of sustainable development. Hence, festivals present themselves as veritable platforms through which endogenous development can be achieved when they are effectively utilized. The study therefore deployed community participation theory and qualitative research tools to collect and analyze data. Through focus group discussions, participant observation, and interviews with local community associations, local chiefs as well as community members, the findings revealed that festivals are culturally friendly tools capable of engineering community development. However, this function has largely been compromised in the case of Lhmb Zaar Festival due to inadequate participation and involvement of some important people in the community such as the youths, girls, and some traditional rulers. More so, the findings reveals that there has not been any attempt to set up an institutional structure with a mandate to consolidate all development projects usually discussed and initiated during the festival. Consequently, the study recommended that communal participation should be encouraged and structures should be put on ground to ensure continuity and sustainability in community development projects.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE
PAGES
Title Page ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I
Declaration
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii
Certification
------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii
Dedication
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- iv
Acknowledgements
------------------------------------------------------------------ v
Abstract
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii
Table of
Contents
-------------------------------------------------------------------- viii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1
1.1Background to the Study
-------------------------------------------------------------2
1.2 Statement
of the Research Problem ----------------------------------------------10
1.3 Aim of the
Study ---------------------------------------------------------------------11
1.4 Objectives
of the Study ------------------------------------------------------------ 11
1.5 Research
Questions ------------------------------------------------------------------12
1.6
Significance of the Study
-----------------------------------------------------------12
1.7
Delimitation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------13
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0
Introduction----------
-------------------------------------------------------------------14
2.1 Festivals,
Rituals and Theatre --------------------------------------------------------14
2.2 Culture
and Development--------------------------------------------------------------23
2.3
Sustainable Communal
Development-----------------------------------------------28
2.4 Festivals
Performances and Communal Development ----------------------------30
2.4.1
Theatrical Elements in Festivals
---------------------------------------------------36
2.5
Theoretical
Framework----------------------------------------------------------------37
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0
Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------38
3.1 Research
Design -----------------------------------------------------------------------
38
3.2 Research
Instruments -------------------------------------------------------------------39
3.3 Study
Population
------------------------------------------------------------------------41
3.4 Sample
Size/Technique-----------------------------------------------------------------42
3.5 Method of
Data Analysis --------------------------------------------------------------43
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.0
Introduction
------------------------------------------------------------------------------45
4.1 LhmbZaar
Festival and Zaar peoples Development Drive ------------------------45
4.1.1 LhmbZaar
Festival-------------------------------------- -----------------------------46
4.1.2 The
Organization and Activities of the Festival
----------------------------------50
4.1.3 LhmbZaar
Festival and Sustainable Communal Development-----------------61
4.2 Challenges
Encountered by LhmbZaar Festival ------------------------------------68
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0
Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
76
5.1 Summary
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------76
5.2 Major
Findings --------------------------------------------------------------------------77
5.3 Conclusion
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------78
5.4
Recommendations
----------------------------------------------------------------------79
5.5
Contributions to knowledge------------------------------------------------------------80
References
------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82
Appendices
--------------------------------------------------------------------------89
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This research was carried out
with the desire to promote festivals as avenues to foster and engender positive
development in Zaar community. The perceptions among ordinary people have
limited festivals to the realm of entertainment, cultural observances, and
merrymaking. In the old society, festivals served to fulfill specific communal
purposes but with the adoption of western ideas and globalization, there has
been a decline in their observance as most festivals lost their essential
religious or ritual values and purpose assuming secular functions. This is
evident with the emergence of festivals created by group of individuals or
organizations bothat the National and International levels. Example of such
festivals are, Annual sport and cultural festivals in Brazil, the Abuja
Carnival in Nigeria, film, music and art festivals as well as the recently
introduced Global Citizen festival by the United Nations in 2015in relation to
its Sustainable development goals which took place in New York and was open to
all people of different races and Countries.
United Nations (2015) defines
Global Citizen Festival “as a group of people who come together with the sole
purpose of providing solutions to the challenges facing the world and planet at
large”. This reveals that festivals can be created for the purpose of meeting
certain needs just as existing ones can also be utilized to address some social
problems in the society towards engendering community development. Therefore, the study assists people and
community members to see festivals beyond the actual performance and cultural
observances but as tools or raw materials to foster communal development that
could be sustained by the people themselves due to the communal and
participatory nature of festivals. Consequently, festivals offer a forum for
community interaction purpose as people can be involved in discussions; opinion
sharing sessions and major decision making towards engendering positive social
development that lead to improvements in the general welfare of their community.
1.1 Background of Study
Festivals play vital roles in the life of a
people or communities‟ and their value cannot be over emphasized as they touch
every area of a peoples‟ existence. Hence, many scholars, researchers and
development planners have given various views and opinions about them.
Festivals are believed to be the
platform which theater evolved from in the ancient Greek society. Theatre
festivals are among the earliest types of festivals recorded while discussing
the close link and relationship that exist between festivals, theatre and
community.
Classical Greek theatre was
associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus extending to the
medieval period where mystery plays were presented at major Christian feasts.
Festivals are celebrated throughout the world and they have grown exponentially
over the centuries as people celebrate local and regional cultures, and more
importantly seek to use them to stimulate and promote community development
through the people's involvement and active participation in the entire process
of the event. Contemporary theatre practice in Nigeria also grew out of a long
tradition of masquerades, festivals and storytelling traditions. For instance,
Hubert Ogunde (1916-1990) developed the Alarinjo theatre out
of the Egungun festival which was
celebrated with masquerades and performances which celebrated the link between
life, death, past, and present. Embedded in festivals are a lot of theatrical
activities or features characterized by communication, reenactments of some
historical events, cultural displays, acrobatics, movements, costumes, music,
songs and dance. Festival as a cultural practice is vital to a people's
development depending on how they choose to make use of it. In correlation to
the above statement, Glen (2004:133) attests that “cultural practices may be
important or unimportant for the survival of a culture”. The implication of this
statement is that the way people see or view festivals will determine the
impact and outcome it will have in their lives and community be it negative or
positive. In the then traditional society, festival time was a period when the
people of a community experience a kind of spiritual rebirth through cleansing
and renewal of ties with the supernatural being for them to prosper in all of
their future endeavors relating to leadership, farming and commerce.
The origin of festivals dates
back to a people's history and some folklorists believe that festivals came out
of the anxieties of early people to understand the forces of nature that
controlled their environment and they are characterized by masquerade
performances, rituals, dance, music, costumes and makeup as well as feasting.
According to Turnner (1982:11) “people in all cultures recognize the need to
set aside certain times and spaces for communal creativity and celebration”.
This implies that festivals are people's creation and have long existed as
significant cultural practices devised as forms of public display, collective
celebration and civic ritual by the people themselves to maintain a cosmic
balance. No people exist without a culture, which forms the integral pattern of
their lives and the created cultural forms such as festivals are part of the
preservation practices of the people. Additionally, Carla (2004:14) is of the
opinion that culture “is a shared pattern of human behavior and interactions,
cognitive constructs and effective understanding that are learned through the
process of socialization. These showed identity patterns of the members of a
culture group while also distinguishing those of other groups.” This definition
supports Turner's idea of festivals being product of people's conscious
creations and it is a collective effort of people within the same community
having same beliefs and ideas which are different from those of other
communities.
Festival according to
Jenkeri Okwori, (1998)“is the process of bringing together performance elements
like costumes, crafts, cooking, rituals, worship, artistic forms of expression
and spontaneous acts by a group in a situation of celebration, fellowship or
commemoration to express group solidarity and identity”. These events clearly
project the differences in the performance patterns of communities which
distinguish them from that of other tribes or communities.
In addition, communal
celebration in its various forms is part of the lifestyle of all people and
makes an input to the living history of modern society as it does to the present
community and embedded within it is the people's belief and practices. Hence,
festivals that are held within Nigeria and Africa as a whole cover an enormous
range of events from harvest to betrothal, installation of a new chief or king
and also for funeral rite of some important figures in the society, naming
ceremony, initiation and cleansing. This portrays that an African man sees a
reason for celebration in everything that happens to him which can be death,
birth, marriage, circumcision, worship and harvest.
In the past years, people's
wellbeing and existence depended on festivals but in recent times, people
attend festivals to unite with friends and generally to make merry, entertain
and remind themselves of their cultural heritage in an attempt to save it from
total extinction. These festivals that are celebrated now stand as an expression
of the cultural identity of the people and the significance and meaning is
mostly only known to the given people or community who celebrate them.
Festivals differ in context as
some are religious, while others focus not just on the religious significance
of a particular faith, but a secular public harmony to celebrate events of
meaning to an individual or his community. In Africa at large, people celebrate
different festivals which they exhibit through the performance of traditional
ceremonies where they re-enact important events in their history. Most
festivals are considered sacred and in them, patterns of man's religion, social
or cultural institutions and activities are established and projected both
within the neighboring communities and beyond.
One of the ways in which
Africans have kept and preserved their rich culture and heritage is through
indigenous festivals and performances in which some fading practices are
reenacted during these events to prevent them from extinction by reason of the
influence of westernization. Westernization has to an extent affected
traditional societies in the way they carry out their cultural performances,
yet they are still very important and relevant to the people even though they
are not done in their purest ritualistic forms. Ruth Gregory (2009) is of the
opinion that as societies change, the characteristic of their traditional
festivals and feast may alter also, new ones often emerge as others decline in
popularity. From time memorial, they have been widely recognized as having
potentials of providing benefits to the people that celebrate them.
Most likely therefore, some
festivals will remain unaltered for generations because of the meanings they
accord to the indigenes of the communities who practice them. Despite the
significance attached to festivals and the roles they play in advocating for
social transformation in communities, positive changes and development plans
are hardly ever sustained when carried out as these events are sometimes not
taken seriously in terms of development discourse and practice.
Social change deals with the
idea of fostering positive development which is only possible when communicated
through a peoples‟ language or cultural medium in which festivals turn out to be
a product of. To understand a peoples life and experiences, a critical
reflection of their past is important in
the comprehension of the present because it helps in reconciling the past with
the present and assists to make provisions and projection for the future as community
members come together to take collective actions that will promote positive
change and enhance sustainable development. More so, Baran (2004:16) defined culture
as” world made meaningful through communication. It limits as well
as liberates us; it differentiates as well as unites us. It defines our
realities and thereby shapes the way we think, feel and act”. Since festivals
deal with people and also serve as veritable communication channels, it can
therefore be argued that when effectively explored, festivals can play a key
role in the process of engineering social change in the community.
Yet, while these ideas have come
to assume a central place in contemporary discussions of developmental issues
as it is also seen during the Lhmb Zaar festival,
there have been little efforts towards sustaining the initiatives which highly
rest or depend on the people themselves. This is due to the fact that most
people, communities and some development workers do not see festivals in this
line of providing an avenue or suitable platform for development practice. In
this vein, Wahab (2001:21) states that:
Development planners and policy makers have also realized that it is cost
effective to work with, and through indigenous organizations on any development
programme. The scope of development has also expanded to include a process by
which members of a society develop themselves and their institutions in ways
that enhance their ability to mobilize and manage resources to produce
sustainability and justly distribute improvement in their quality of life.
Festivals have been and are still significant cohesive and
informational devices for the continuity of societies and religious
institutions and hence the need for utilizing them for developmental purposes
instead of only entertainment and performances meant for the sole purpose of
preserving culture. According to Bradly and Eric (2012:13) “culture is as much
about novelty as it is about tradition, as much about changes as it is about
stability”. These festivals illustrate a number of key factors that can propel
social change through culture using its materials but goes further to also
advocate its sustainability which is only possible when the people remain
committed.
In addition, Holly (2011:1) is of the opinion that
“culture and the arts are essential means by which all people explain their
experiences, shape their identity, and imagine the future. In their consistency
and their variety, culture and the arts allow us to explore our individual
humanity and to see our society as a whole”. Various communities
celebrate festivals and ceremonies yearly. This presents a window of opportunity
where the people can collectively work for the growth and development of their
community. Consequently, there is a need for community members to leverage on
festivals and initiate programmes and decisions that will stimulate change and
future advancement of their community. The periodic nature of festivals
guarantees that development projects and initiatives can always be revisited
for re-negotiation.
Dandaura (2013:16) while discussing post-development in relation to communities
and the strength indigenous societies have through their local knowledge,
opines that communities have full control of their developmental decisions
because “the beginning of post development thought is the conscious effort to
free oneself from the preconceived ideas about what development ought to be and
to recognize that every society is capable of improving its lot, at its own
pace, and with its indigenous resources”. The indigenous resources here are the
art forms peculiar to them like their folklore, songs, music, dance, ritual and
other cultural modes of expression. He further argues that societies ought to
develop along the lines and pace of their historical realities. This submission
corroborates the argument of Rodney, (1973:3) when he states that “A society
develops as its members increase jointly their capacity for dealing with the
environment. This capacity for dealing with the environment is dependent on the
extent to which they understand the laws of nature; on the extent they put that
understanding into practice”. The
implication of this statement is that first, people have to jointly understand
their environment to be able to identify needs before seeking for ways to solve
them.
The tools to engender and
measure progress in any society therefore should be fashioned within and not
from outside the society in question. This perception of development entails
encouraging each society to harness its inherent potentials to better the
well-being of its members regardless of whether or not such initiatives conform
to conventional style. One of the major challenges festivals encounter is the
nature of the new society which seems to be more individualistic than communal
because unlike the old society where every member of the society has a role to
play in the events, a lot of people today do not participate based on some
acquired ideologies and beliefswhich also affects the process of
development.
For instance in Nigeria, the
Calabar Carnival is attended by both local and international communities. This
has greatly promoted the country's tourism sector through economic and cultural
promotion because Calabar Carnival stands as one of the widely attended festivals
in Africa. The festival has brought a lot of positive development to the people
and the state at large. The Argungun fishing festival in Kebbi State is also
another example of festivals that encourage economic activities and draw
tourists from far and near. It also enables social interactions between them and
the people of the community where vital development ideas could be shared. But
the question here is, can these festivals be utilized for engendering
sustainable development? How can they serve as platforms for political and
social interactions? These are some of the questions that this study seeks to
answer about festivals, using Lhmb Zaar
festival as a paradigm.
The Lhmb Zaar festival of the Zaar Sayawa people is done yearly at the
end of each farming season to thank the supreme being (Chong) for a bumper
harvest but the context of the festival now is to revive, promote and preserve
the rich cultural heritage of the people as it draws sons and daughters of Zaar
land from far and near to participate and witness the event. It is performed in
Tafawa Balewa Local Government area of Bauchi State and it also serves Bogoro
Local Government as they are all Zaar Sayawa speakers and all the villages which
are under the two local governments participate equally and collectively in the
event from its planning, organizing and actual realization.
Looking at the Lhmb Zaar festival, often times, most
developmental ideas or projects executed or planned are either not carried out
within the stipulated time promised or those executed are not sustained. Most
Efforts are not properly put in place after the event to sustain them but
rather, every year seems to have its own agenda while previous ones are not
adequately revisited to foster the change needed by sustaining them. There is a
need for the communities to open up new vistas through which they can utilize
and open the grounds these cultural events pose by understanding the
socio-cultural values and important roles they play as it would for the
generations to come. Consequently, people do attend the festivals, and listen to
all the speeches on the need for collective social advancement, and then leave
the arena hoping to see next year's in
order to meet people, re-unite with old friends from diaspora without really
minding other opportunities the event presents. This is usually evident on the
recurrence of same social and developmental challenges always discussed and
have remained so at the festivals for so many years.
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem
Ordinarily, festivals are
perceived as mere traditional performances and means of providing
entertainment; rarely are they ever seen as prospective avenues for promoting
communal development. Yet, festivals could and indeed do provide good grounds
and avenues for the promotion of development initiatives and projects. By their
very nature which is periodic and communal, festivals could allow for effective
planning and evaluation of developmental goals and objectives because it
enables issues to be revisited every year to ascertain the level of progress
being made. Similarly, the periodic nature of festivals could allow for a
follow through or monitoring process thereby ensuring the effective attainment
of project benefits to the communities. Furthermore, because festivals are
community based, projects initiated through this means are more likely to be
annually reviewed and thus guarantee sustainability.
Against this background, the
intention in this research is to explore the potentials of the Lhmb Zaar festival as strategies for
prosecuting development among the people as the changes the people desire is
achievable through their own cultural platform which in this study is the Lhmb Zaar festival of the Zaarsayawa
speaking people of Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa Local Government areas of Bauchi
State.
1.3 Aim of the Study
The aim of this study is to
project festivals as possible strategies for promoting sustainable communal
development. Using the Lhmb Zaar
festival of the Zaar Sayawa people of Bauchi State, It will explore the possible
links between festivals and the various institutions in order to seek ways
through which they can mobilize each other for the purpose of making social
realities meaningful for the people and the community at large.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The research
is set to achieve the following objectives:
i. To interrogate the
activities of the Lhmb Zaar festival
and their implications for development.
ii.
To investigate the
challenges encountered by LhmbZaar
festival in bringing about sustainable communal development.
iii.
To suggest ways through
which sustainable development can be achieved through
Lhmb Zaar festival.
1.5 Research Questions
The study will work towards answering the
following questions:
i. What
are the activities involved in LhmbZaar,
and how can they foster sustainable development? ii. What are the
challenges that hinder the attainment of communal development in
Lhmb Zaar festival?
iii. What better
ways can sustainable development be achieved through Lhmb Zaar festival?
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study reveals how festivals
can be effectively used to enhance positive development in communities, thereby
changing people's views and perceptions about festivals and the role they play.
This study further serves as a model for other students of culture to emphasize
the need to appreciate and project these festivals to other frontiers beyond
cultural practices and entertainment.
The study has served as a model
to Zaar community and those in the
culture and tourism sector on how the ministry can be expanded through the use
of many other festival performances in the country that have not been given due
attention especially those performed in the local areas and are richly
embellished with cultural artifacts. This study further emphasizes on the need
to utilizing festivals by communities and government for the purpose of
instigating change which have social impact on the host communities by
enhancing their reputation and strengthening the identity of the ethnic
minority.
The study has also served as a
means of documenting the festival thereby contributing in the preservation and
promotion of indigenous African traditional practices that are fast being
submerged by the flood of globalization.
1.7 Delimitation of the Study
Festivals are performed in many parts of the world and
Nigeria in particular have festivals that date back to prehistoric times
starting from the arrival of new religions as well as westernization and they
cover a very wide range of events from harvests, installments, initiations,
commemoration and transitions among others. This study therefore cannot cover
all but would capture the Lhmb Zaar
cultural festival performed by the
Zaar Saya was peaking people of
Bauchi State in Tafawa Balewa LGA on 7th November 2015.
This cultural performance speaks
a lot about the people's history, culture and the importance they attach to it
in their community as it brings the people under one entity with a common aim
and desire to move the community forward. Like other festivals, the performance
is sight captivating and entertaining as it collects and presents series of
performances and activities which are heavily nourished with the people's
practices, values and beliefs‟. Much attention and emphasis would be made on
the forum it provides for the community for communal dialogue about the general
welfare and wellbeing of Zaar community.
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