While receiving the King of Ruby Award by the Centre for Black And African Culture in Lagos on Monday, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has refuted the Pentecostal claim that the World Black Festival of Arts and Civilisation, held in Nigeria in 1977, brought calamities to Nigeria.
“We celebrated FESTAC to show the world what black and African peoples have culture and know where we want to go. I think we must remind ourselves about having those things. It is not a fetish celebration or a fetish festival. FESTAC ’77 is what it was for – culture,’ he said at the opening of the 40th anniversary programme of FESTAC.
According to him, what he as military president did that time was meant to bring to light the diverse contributions of blacks and African people.
“Some people even say we have no history, and yet human existence began here in Africa. We are the ones who globalised the world, from Africa; and they say we have no history. So, it is important for us to remind the world that we all emanated from Africa. And that was one of the things that I said at FESTAC ’77.”
He also said the event was meant to provide a forum for the rediscovery of ties which bind together all black and African peoples the world over.
He said the colonial masters took away a particular symbol from Nigeria, and all efforts to recover were not successful.
“And we said the expertise that created that one could still remake; and we said we would make another one. And we made it, and the symbol was exactly the same as the one that the British had taken away,” he said.
He also echoed the conspiracy theory that human beings moved out from Africa to occupy the rest of the world as we have it today.
“So when we are celebrating, our objective is to say to ourselves, ‘We are going to change the narratives that others have given us; the names that are not our names that they have called us. Africa is not a poor continent.”
CBAAC ‘s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ferdinand Anikwe, said the honour conferred on Obasanjo was in recognition of his valued contributions to the promotion and development of African culture and heritage.
“Named after the precious stone Ruby, the Ruby King award is a representation of an inextinguishable flame,” he said.
Among others, the anniversary is featuring an art exhibition, cultural dance, dance drama,
poetry, musical performance, wrestling and food exhibition.
Obasanjo has been getting such larger-than-life recognition since he left office in 1979. He’s currently the Africa rep of the Queen on the continent; he is among the crop of fomer presidents around the world; he has also been mediating in regional crisis in Africa.
At a point, his former party PDP branded him the Father of Modern Nigeria.