IN the last few years, it has become customary for First Bank of Nigeria Plc to celebrate its CEO's Annual Merit Award (CAMA), which aims at rewarding outstanding members of its staff. However, a new dimension was introduced this year with the invitation of the internationally acclaimed South Africa-based dance troupe, Umoja to headline the celebration.Held last weekend at the Expo Hall, Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the colourful evening played host to top dignitaries, guests and staff of the bank, who had time to relax and unwind. Notable among the guests were governors Raji Fashola of Lagos, Theodore Orji of Abia, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Abiola Ajumobi of Oyo, Tourism and Culture Minister, High Chief Edem Duke and former Foreign Affairs Minister, Odein Ajumogobia. In attendance also were Chairman of Airtel Nigeria, Oba Otudeko, CEOs, captains of industries and business moguls who joined in the celebration that lasted all through the night.Though not a night of long speeches, the GMD/CEO of the bank, Mr. Bisi Onasanya had the opportunity to welcome his guests as well as commend the staff for their efforts in sustaining standards of the financial institution over the years.Anchored by actress Joke Silva and comedian Ali Baba, who spiced up the evening with jaw breaking jokes that got the 'big boys' reeling with laughter, the event featured live performance by Dare Art Alade, who serenaded the audience with both his original recordings and that of some Nigerian music legends such as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. A talented musician by all standards, Dare gave a good account of himself on stage, but it was the Umoja group that stole the show.TO the sound of the big drums and melodious tunes by the band, Umoja mounted the stage in colourful consumes that speaks volume of South Africa's rich cultural heritage. With well-choreographed dance steps and soulful voices, the group exuded so much confidence on the big stage, showcasing different dance routines to the admiration of guests. It was cheers all the way as the troupe wowed the gathering with their electrifying performance.To give opportunity to members of the public to see the concert, Umoja returned on stage the following day for a colorful performance. Supported by First Bank, the first show, a Martinee, was staged in the afternoon, and it was watched by hundreds of arts and entertainment lovers, while the ultimate show ' Command Performance -- later held in the evening with large turnout of guests from different walks of life. The show attracted eminent individuals in private and public sectors, corporate organisations and the diplomatic community.The choice of Umoja, according to First Bank's Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, was predicated on the share values between the bank and the group in the areas of contributing to the economic and social development of the people. While the group is committed to the empowerment of underprivileged South African children, First Bank, a leading financial institution is committed to deploying its financial expertise to provide quality, accessible and expertise affordable financial services to the populace with a view to enhancing the standard of living of Nigerians.''The show offers networking opportunities for high networth individuals, it offers a good platform to relax and enjoy good artistic performance by one of the foremost dance groups from Africa'', she said.UMOJA is a creation of two South African performers, who drew inspiration from stories of deprivation and segregation that characterise South African history. In 1950, the apartheid government passed a law, The Group Areas Act, which allowed the government to determine who would live where. Forced removals and the relocation of black people, who occupied valuable land or land considered too close to white settlements were the order of the day. This was to ensure that blacks remained in 'reserves' and only came to the white areas when needed for work.Over the years, tens of thousands of black people were forcibly removed, not compensated and dumped, often in the middle of nowhere. From lack of food to improper housing and little sanitation resulted in incredible poverty, malnutrition and suffering, it was bad news for blacks living in the South Africa. It is against this background that the ambition of a better life by the Umoja founders, Todd Twala and Thembi Nyandeni was being nursed.Todd grew up in a township outside Johannesburg called George Goch. In 1968, Todd and her family woke up to a bulldozer at their front door. They were forced to leave. The family then settled in Soweto (an acronym for South Western Township) on the outskirts of Johannesburg, or Egoli (City of Gold). The housing was in the form of box-like huts with no electricity or running water. There was limited access in and out of the township, and barbed wire surrounded the area with just about no transport available to the city of Johannesburg.When Todd attended the Vuka Ibambe Higher Primary School in Soweto, she met Thembi, who had grown up in the township of Soweto.'We just clicked! She knew that I was an outsider coming from another town. Later I moved to another school, losing contact with Thembi,' she noted.Although the two friends had lost physical contact with each other, their lives ran parallel, both choosing a career in the entertainment world as singer and dancer.Initially, South African law prevented black artistes from performing in shows for white audiences. In the early 70s, restrictions were relaxed so that black artistes could now perform to white and sometimes mixed audiences. A number of black 'tribal' musicals were produced such as Ipi Ntombi, Meropa (then called Kwa Zulu) and Mabatha (also known as the Black Macbeth). Hugely successful both at home and abroad, Todd and Thembi's paths were to cross again as both managed to get roles in shows that took them overseas.Todd began her theatre career in 1976 with Joan Brickhill and Louis Burke's production of Meropa. It toured locally and then internationally. In the meantime, Thembi was involved with Ipi Ntombi, which she had joined in 1976. Todd and Thembi met again in 1978 while working for these South African productions performing in London's famous theatreland, the West End. Meropa closed its doors in 1978 after a long and successful run, leaving Todd without work. Ipi Ntombi was auditioning for new cast members. Todd auditioned and was accepted, and from that day Todd and Thembi's careers and future visions merged.During the time Todd and Thembi were performing in Ipi Ntombi in America, they were given a few months' break. The two used this spare time to choreograph their own dance pieces, and performed in front of small audiences. These first pieces were the building blocks of Umoja.After a long and successful run with Ipi Ntombi, Todd and Thembi returned to South Africa in 1982 and formed Pals Of Africa, a two-man, or rather two-woman group that took Southern Africa and neighbouring Swaziland by storm. Todd and Thembi used to perform to backtrack of the South African band, Juluka.Todd later went to work as a backing singer for Hotstix Mabusa while Thembi went on to win awards for her work in television. They were still involved in their dance company, pouring money into it whenever they could and doing performances for companies and events. Pals Of Africa grew and the group began to perform internationally. They changed the name to Baobab, after inspiration from longtime friend and fellow artiste, Hugh Masekela.'He said, ''every time I see you, you are stronger than before! Like the tree, the baobab, always growing and getting stronger even though it grows in the toughest soil.'Baobab was doing well when Todd and Thembi decided to rename the show. They wanted to give it a name that represented what they were all about. The word Umoja (meaning 'the Spirit of Togetherness) came quickly to mind. They wanted to unite and empower as many underprivileged kids as they could, giving the kids the opportunities they had had. Today they are doing just that.And that was the story Umoja unfolded before the gathering of distinguished Nigerians last weekend courtesy First Bank sponsorship.' Between Umoja and Crown Troupe of AfricaIN Nigeria, dance director and choreographer Segun Adefila seems to have toed the line of the Umoja group by giving young artistes opportunity to showcase their talents. Over the years, Adefila has been doing great work with the Crown Troupe of Africa, a dance-theatre company comprising artists whose forte is the creation of new but socially relevant works.Established in June 1996, the company comprises artistes who share a common belief in the viability of the arts as a tool for social re-engineering, a major motive of our dedication to creating works that are socially relevant, thought provoking and empowering.Crown Troupe is famous for their ground breaking, unique and innovative rendition of works, which are flexible enough to be performed in conventional and unconventional spaces. Their success story in the country, especially in the area of renowned filmmaker Femi Odugbemi, who produced an award-winning documentary about the troupe, tagged Bariga Boys.It is believed that with opportunity to perform at high profile events and support from corporate organisations such as First bank of Nigeria Plc, no doubt, Adefila's Crown Troupe would obviously go a long way in exhibiting the rich Nigerian dance culture to the rest of the world, just like Umoja is presently doing for South Africa.'Nigeria's corporate 'bigmen' and impoverishment of the culture sectorIT is instructive that the last performance of the Umoja troupe in Lagos coincided with the 2012 World Dance Day '' a day set up for celebration of the craft of the dancer and his noble profession all over the world. For nearly two decades now, the Dance day has been celebrated in Nigeria by the multitude of Nigerian dancers under their collective body, Guild of Nigerian Dancers, GOND. The major problem of the Dance Day celebration and as well the dance (and indeed all artistic) profession in the country has been lack of funding and support from corporate Nigeria.As a matter of fact, due to lack of funding, the GOND had to stage its 2012 Dance Day package at the New Afrikan Shrine ' which was an assistance extended to them by management of the facility owned by Fela Kuti's children ' after the GOND executives could not raise enough fund to stage the celebration in a proper theatre facility such as the MUSON Centre.It is certain that if organisations like First Bank put their money behind the Nigerian dancers, they would be able to produce great artistic feat as Umoja presented. And this would have answered the questions raised by some discerning members of the audience on when Nigerian would be able to compose a professionally-competent and tested troupe that would be internationally applauded as the various troupes from South Africa that had come to Nigeria to perform in the past three decades starting with Ipi Ntombi during FESTAC in 1977; Sikulu (1992), Woza Africa (late 90s) and Umoja, which first came here in 2006.The same argument had been made in the past by some critics when a former governor in the SouthWest and some of his friends invested hefty sum in bringing to Nigeria the musical, FELA, from Broadway, whereas a fraction of such money would have helped set up hundreds of Nigerian young artistes economically and professionally.A lot of Nigerian corporate organisations are also known to always spend millions of Naira, sometime Dollars, to bring in hip hop artistes from especially the USA. Those artistes would simply float into the country, perform for some few hours and float out with Nigerian monies in their pockets ' they wouldn't even spend part of it in our hospitality facilities. A case in point was a so-called promoter who allegedly flew in an American diva, Beyonce, with as much as $2 million! The lady ended up performing for only 15 minutes!!! According to reports, the singer flew in in the afternoon, went straight on the stage at Eko Hotel and Suites, and after 15 minutes of performance, headed to the airport right from the stage '' claiming that she was only on a stop over to Nigeria. And yet $2 million had been paid for such aimless and fraud-ridden venture!This sort of practice has continued because the Nigeria environment has shifted from being the dumping ground for second hand and substandard goods from the West to being the dumping ground for cultural packages that do very little to add to the lives of Nigerians who are consumers of the products of the corporate organizations that sponsor such imported packages.And to some observers, it is such a worrisome trend, and perhaps a shame that Nigerian governors and political leaders who have consistently starved their State's Cultural Councils of needed fund are usually the patrons (sometimes sponsors) of the imported cultural performances. Some of them were the guests at the Umoja presentation; and it was such a tragi-comic scene seeing them throwing their legs in the air at the wonders wrought on stage by the dancers from South Africa. It is even such a sight to see the Tourism and Culture Minister in the audience licking up the glory of the South African troupe, when his Ministry is yet to initiate any policy or move to encourage the Nigerian dancers and artistes, even if it is to live up to the spirit of the volume of sweet talks he has been uttering about the potentials of the Tourism sector to help shore up the touristic image and fortunes of the country! More so when the National Troupe of Nigeria, which statutorily has the capacity to produce theatrical projects of the Umoja dimension has remained tied to fund kwashiorkor by the parent Ministry and the inherent corruption in budgetary processes of the Nigerian government.Yet the Government of Goodluck Jonathan daily trumpet its desires to create job for the teeming youths of Nigeria, who have, however, learned to believe that the country has no plan for ther future.
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