By Prisca Sam-Duru

The Black History celebration observed every year, celebrates the rich cultural heritage, achievements and contributions of Black people throughout history.

For the 2024 commemoration, Centre For Black and African Arts and Civilisation, CBAAC, held a series of programmes aimed at honouring the past, celebrating the present and inspiring the future of African Diaspora.

During one of the programmes held last week at the MAD House, University of Lagos, the contributions of Diaspora Africans and the need for Africans to tell her stories, were major highlights.

The celebration supported by Sterling Bank, witnessed a gathering of eminent personalities including the Hon. Minister, Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa who was represented by the DG, National Gallery of Arts, government officials, art and culture enthusiasts, and students.

The 2024 Black History celebration was themed “Resilience, Innovation and Unity: Strengthening the African Diaspora”. According to the CBAAC DG, Hon. Aisha Adamu Augie, “Resilience reflects the enduring strength and perseverance of African and African-descended people throughout history. Despite centuries of enslavement, colonisation, systemic racism and various forms of oppression, the African Disapora has continuously demonstrated remarkable resilience.” This part of the theme therefore, explored how historical challenges have been met with courage, resistance and unwavering determination to survive and thrive.

The event highlighted the insightful contributions made by African Diaspora to global culture, science, technology and thought. The rich traditions of African Art, music and dance, groundbreaking inventions and intellectual achievements, and innovations, have been the hallmark of the Diaspora’s influence.

Hon. Aisha Adamu Augie further added that “Africans had negative stories but we are beautiful people. We are great people who have contributed to the development of the entire world in all spheres of life.”

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, said that “We always believe that if we don’t tell our story, somebody else will tell it for us and this is why we’ve supported various art events like the Ake Festival, book tours across the country, etc, because we want people to read so that they can know our history.”

According to him, “What CBAAC is doing is a month-long programme which is a way of setting a new agenda for younger people. We like the fact that they brought it to the University of Lagos, to engage young people and the fact that they brought in an experienced professor to share his experience and history. We are also excited that we had the opportunity of handing over books to the participating students with the hope that it will encourage them to read more and eventually write in the future because if you don’t write your history somebody is going to write it for you.”

In his Keynote speech, Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and International Studies, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, Lagos, Dr Britto Bonifacio Aderemi, stated that Africa’s history is a long history of suffering as Europeans dehumanized Africans, made them play second fiddle in their own countries until 1994 when we had a free South Africa.

He said that due to the dispassal of Africans to foreign lands during the slave trade, many lost their names to foreign names. Being a victim, Dr Britto Bonifacio Aderemi disclosed that the only reason he retains his Latino names was to attract generations to ask questions about how he got them.

Dr Aderemi further shared the history and impact of the slave trade on Africans, how the industrial Revolution in Europe ended the inhuman transaction and the subsequent return of the discarded slaves to a place later known as Freetown which became the capital of Sierra Leone.

In as much as Africans were dehumanized during the period of slavery, Dr Aderemi pointed out that the continent also gained in some way as the slaves exported our rich cultures to the outside world.

Sadly he noted, while the earliest Africans were forcefully evacuated to foreign lands, this present generation is voluntarily leaving Africa in what is known as Japa syndrome in Nigeria.

The celebration also featured a Panel Discussion which focused on the theme, “Resilience, Innovation and Unity: Strengthening the African Diaspora”. It had Prince Jon James Olomo, a pioneering cultural leader and the visionary founder of Tribal Tapestry; Amb. Nneka Isaac-Moses, a trailblazing Heritologist and revered culture and destination promoter who is also the co-founder of Goge Africa; Osarume Akenzua, a leading speaker and thought leader in the youth development and organisational leadership space and Dr Kehinde Adepegba, an artist, art critic/historian on the panel.

Subjects of discussion by the panelists included the legacy of resilience/overcoming historical challenges, how the present generation can draw inspiration from the past to tackle future challenges, creativity and innovation as tools for empowerment, and innovative voices in the Diaspora/shaping the future. It also highlighted the achievement of African innovators in technology, arts, and social entrepreneurship.

Amb. Isaac-Moses pointed out that Nigeria has soft power which lies in the creative industry though not fully harnessed noting that it’s hard to think of an American artist who would not want to collaborate with African artists. Nigeria, she stated further, is endowed with creative people making impactful contributions in the fashion, music, visual arts industry, etc.

She however averred that Nigerian leaders needed national orientation to fully leverage the country’s endowments for development. On preservation of the country’s rich cultural heritage, the cultural icon frowned at the idea of sending children abroad to learn Western education, noting, “We need to be proud of our mother tongue and communicate with our children in our diverse indigenous languages.”

While harping on the importance of reading books by Africans, the panelists identified literature as a powerful tool for reshaping stereotypes other continents have about Africa.

Based on his experience as well as his Tribal Tapestry platform, which is dedicated to reconnecting people of African descent with their ancestral heritage, Prince Olomo widely known as Prince Omowale, spoke on the importance of technology. The identities of lost Africans in the diaspora, he noted, were discovered through DNA testing.