Africans were filled with pride in their heritage when Nigeria hosted the World Black Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC ‘77, during the military regime of then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1977. The fiesta has since spurned several mini-cultural events. One of such was the African theme beauty pageant, Sisi Oge, initiated by Idris Aregbe, which ran for 11 years and has now been rebranded and repackaged as Culturati, to expand the scope of the event, which is billed to become Africa’s largest cultural fusion. In the run up to the 12 edition holding on June 30, Aregbe speaks on the event which will celebrate and promote the African culture.
You have been surrounded by beautiful girls for the past 11 years of organizing the Sisi Oge Pageant. Don’t you feel tempted at times and how have you been able to cope?
Organising the event has been 10 years of labour and excellence. For this reason, we have been conscious to shield the business from distractions. That has been our strength over the years. When we talk of values, we must also be seen to represent those values. That’s how our fathers lived and it helped them and it’s also helping us too. The essence of the pageant is not to mess around with the girls but rather prepare them for challenges in life.
What’s your motivation for these pageants?
I’m not just a pageant promoter, I also believe in African values, identity and pride. So, being able to groom and crown a cultural ambassador is a means to satiate my beliefs. That’s why raising beauty queens that would compete and become our cultural ambassadors around the world and impact their generation. That is the whole essence of it.
In what way has your childhood influenced what you do?
It’s imperative to note that my passion is beyond the pageant. It’s one of various beautiful means to drive my passion. My passion is to see and utilize culture and tourism as a veritable tool for nation building. The concept consists of different unique aspects including art exhibitions, fashion, dance, drama, music, special recognition awards for social workers and all. Growing up around those who appreciate our values has had a great impact on my life today and I’m glad to be a cultural ambassador and not just a promoter of cultural pageants only.
There have always been controversies around pageants in Nigeria. How have you been able to stay the course these 10 years?
We have not been involved in any controversy over the years and that is because when you promote African values, you must be able to stand by them. We have a lot of problems in this country today because we are losing our culture, values and identity, but if you stand by these you should be able to know the son or daughter of whom you are and where you are coming from. We are losing these things, because people are not going towards that direction.
Who has influenced you most, your mum or dad?
Both of them did well, but I benefited immensely from my mum. She taught me so much about entrepreneurship, African values and also influenced my love for politics and governance. She is a sweet mother, an active political leader in state politics and may God continue to give her strength because I am still learning a lot from her.
What has life taught you?
It has taught me to always move on, dig deep and believe that you can achieve what you set your mind to do.
What informed your decision to rebrand from Sisi Oge to Culturati?
Culturati is a cultural festival inspired to showcase African culture. As a matter of fact, it is a concept designed to showcase the good side of Africa to the world. In some sense, you could say that the cultural pageant and the sub-events built around it represent our own way of sustaining the ideals of the World Black Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC, hosted by Nigeria in 1977. So in essence we have revived the spirit of FESTAC and deepened it to create a sustainable platform for promoting its ideals for the present and future generations of Africans and Black people everywhere. We have quite a number of people who are doing great things African in Africa and all over the world – people who are growing the African continent. That was why I decided that we needed to take this brand further by rebranding from our usual Sisi Oge, which has been an annual cultural event to a more encompassing brand, Culturati, after celebrating the 11th edition, which was a resounding success.
Now in its 12th year, the brand has passionately rewarded the contributions of creative minds, nurtured cultural ambassadors, and empowered burgeoning art and fashion enthusiasts while propagating the beauty of the African culture within and beyond the proximity of Africa.
Culturati is an edutainment cultural festival channelled towards a thorough acknowledgement and enlightenment of Africa’s rich history and values. It is a sustainable fusion and celebration of Africa’s arts and culture with a mission to revive indigenous culture on the brink of extinction on account of reckless abandon as well as the rapid influx of westernisation.
Now, this cultural amalgam is intended to celebrate Africa’s exotic culture with a variety of entertaining engagements from arts and fashion exhibition, music/dance drama, cultural festival/pageantry and a host of other electrifying performances.
Culturati, formerly known as “My Heritage, My Pride and Sisi Oge,” is not just an annual festivity, it’s a cultural movement aimed at promoting the African heritage with a strong commitment to instill our fading cultures in the hearts of today’s youths. It is designed to sustain our culture and of course, we are also incorporating SMEs and expanding our scope.
So, the notion behind Culturati 2019 is to explore nature’s creative beauty, create a renaissance of our cultural heritage, raise cultural ambassadors, and grow SMEs in the creative industry. To this end, we are building up programmes that are ongoing, to create the right momentum for the major event. The objective is to see how we can empower Nigerians. We are looking at culture from the prism of business and trying to tell the world that Culturati is not just about beauty pageants, nor events but promoting our culture with a perspective to also explore the business angle of culture.
The brand, Sisi Oge, was rebranded to Culturati in order to create an urban appeal that will distinctively capture the vast beauties of the African culture in its entirety. The objectives of Culturati include, amongst others, to rebrand and re-introduce African cultures and traditions such as art, dance, fashion, music, food amongst others to the international community. It also aims to attract international tourists to Africa as well as to resuscitate our fading cultures through enlightenment, education and association.
It will also create a favourable market to showcase our amazing heritage while stimulating discourse around shared value themes that participating bodies and individuals can buy into to foster socio-economic development beneficial to all and sundry. It will also reward creative excellence and provide soft footing to tenderfoots in the creative industry, which is why Culturati Fashion Hub was orchestrated.
How would you describe the impact of the concept on Nigerians, given that it has been running for 11 years?
It’s been great. With the pageants alone, we have trained over 50,000 models and we have had 11 queens over the years. When you look around today, you would see some of our models featuring in most of the big shows in the fashion and entertainment industries. I’m glad that in the last 11 years, we have been empowering young people, directing them in the right path and providing them with amenities to excel. So, for us, we are not just a pageant promoter, it is about trying to redefine the African youths and the African woman in particular. So we thank God for where we are today and I also thank God that we are fully rebranded and that we are fully ready for proper business platforms to see how we can take small business owners from the level they are at the moment to a better level. That is why for this year’s edition of the show, we are partnering with a lot of big brands that also would be giving values to our youths.
So, 11 years is not a joke. It has not been easy but we thank God for where we are today. We are here today because we understand what we are doing. Today, we are not just celebrating the 12th edition but we are rebranding into a bigger and better platform to accommodate many more youths, more local business owners and to encourage more local Culturati heroes – those who believe in Africa and in African businesses. So, Culturai is not just an event but a platform for many to excel.
Now, you are going beyond the usual beauty pageant, extending your scope to incorporating budding SMEs and others. Won’t this make you deviate from the original concept of Sisi Oge?
Well, I have always said that I am not a pageant promoter. I wasn’t doing that because I wanted to parade models. I was doing it because I understood that with this concept, we can grow a better content. And that is what we have witnessed today with the birth of Culturati. Sisi Oge has always been content and it is that content that has grown to be what we are today – a better content, better platform.
Looking back at 12 years ago when you started Sisi Oge, did you envisage what it has turned out today?
Maybe I didn’t see it this way but I knew it was going to be different from what was on ground then because I understood what my content and concept were all about. I was ready for it. And I thank God that today, it is even bigger than what I envisaged.
Starting about 12 years ago was tough but because it was what I really believed in, I had to push hard on it. I didn’t allow any obstacle to hold me back. I was willing and ready to contribute my own quota to the society; I was willing and ready to support people because I am also a product of people’s support.
What is your vision for Culturati?
It is for us to continue to grow and create more platforms for the younger generation, so that in the next five years, we would have so many beautiful things to show. I am using this opportunity to call on Nigerian youths to come up with beautiful ideas that would better our society.