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By Vincent Kalu
A member, Board of Trustees of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artists (SONTA), Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, has admonished members of the society that they must all be in the vanguard to make Nigeria great as the creative artists of the United States, Japan and India did and have continued to do.
Prof Hagher, a former senator, minister and ex-ambassador, gave the counsel in his goodwill message at the July 2023, Annual SONTA Conference at the Benue State University.
He remonstrated with his Theatre colleagues and past students about recycling the juju, and witch doctor mentality, which he said, is today the raging ideology terrorising Nigeria and Africa.
According to him: “Instead of pulling up the tribal mentality through education of the average citizens (the main source of national greatness), we are pulling ourselves down into the rotten sewers of diabolical rituals, archaic customs, and horrific disdain for human life.
“My grouse is with writers who have failed to write for Nigeria and Nigeria’s greatness, but are merely megaphones of tribal anthropology, promoting tribal consciousness, and ‘my tribe is better than your tribe’ mentality. Wholesale plays and novels that continue to seek refuge in the tribal, take public space as merely tribal promotion instruments.
“Today, I wish to encourage us to launch the movement for the Theatre of national consciousness and pride, which is the significant step to take if Nigeria will ever be great. To be a great nation, we must first of all, have national pride, and consciously, intentionally decide to be great. We need to make Nigeria a nation and not just merely a collection of tribes as we have now. We have the tools to do so, if only we can pull off the burning toga of tribalism tied on our backs.”
