Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, has urged Africans to unite for the benefit of humanity by consciously reenacting cultural traditions and beliefs.
Obasanjo made the statement on Monday while Ms. Oluwabunmi Amao, the director-general of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), paid him a visit at his home in Abeokuta.
This is stated in a statement Amao sent.
The former president, who reaffirmed his support for the 45th-anniversary celebration of the Festival for Arts and Culture (FESTAC’77), stated that the festival was lovely and that it was crucial to preserve pan-Africanism.
”There is a need for Africans to be united for global advancement. This should be the essence of the forthcoming festival, meant to commemorate the 45th anniversary of FESTAC”77.
” For Africa to achieve certain goals, the glory and beauty inherent in their different cultures must be dynamically harnessed and exported to different countries of the world.
” When these cultures are fully recognised overseas, more openings would be paved easily for several other Africans to preach their creativities at a global level,” he said.
As the Head of State of the host nation, Nigeria, Obasanjo nostalgically recalled the FESTAC ’77 events that took place 45 years earlier.
He praised CBAAC for its tremendous job in reviving the glorious period of Nigeria symbolized by FESTAC”77 and preserving the spirit of Pan-Africanism.
He expressed his desire for future events that will unite African and Black people since he thought the remembrance would achieve that goal in far more ways than had been anticipated.
In order to recreate the event, he advised cooperation and partnerships between nations, international cultural organizations, particularly the African Union, and other stakeholders.
He was extremely grateful to CBAAC for consistently preserving memories of the FESTAC”77 through their numerous programs.
He expressed his happiness that FESTAC”77 had now been permanently etched into the annals of African history.
He stated that although taking place 45 years ago, the festival was and still is the best Pan-African gathering ever.
Amao had earlier claimed that the visit was necessary as part of preparations to inform the former President of the CBAAC’s intentions to commemorate the 45th anniversary of FESTAC’77.
” We are here to invite you to the event and solicit your support through your wide and far-reaching network.
” We are optimistic of extensive participation and we believe your involvement would make a huge difference in the eventual execution of the programme,” she said.
Amao presented a cropped life-size image of Chief Obasanjo, who was then a Lieutenant General during FESTAC”77 with ten volumes colloquium on “The Arts, Culture, and Civilisation of Black and African People” by the CBAAC director-general and the other members of her delegation.
