AFTER the 'yellow card' immigration row that threatened the fragile bond that had existed between Nigeria and South Africa, Ayoola Shadare's Inspiro Productions is set to straighten the bilateral relationship through a project tagged A Tale of 2 African Cities. Already endorsed by the South African High Commission, Lagos, the initiative is conceived as a platform for the exposition of arts/culture, tourism and business with participants drawn from both countries.The fusion showcase, which is billed to run alternately in both cities of Lagos and Johannesburg, will be staged at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, from October 3 to 6, 2012, while Johannesburg will play host to the South African leg early next year. The economic and social roles of both cities in shaping trends in Africa will be the major highlight of the package.Already, three of Nigeria's notable motion picture producers and directors, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Tunde Kelani and Kunle Afolayan will fly Nigeria's flag during the programme. Their films Tango with Me (Ali-Balogun), Maami (Kelani) and Phone Swap (Afolayan) have been selected to be screened at the event that is broadly designed to celebrate a planned two-legged Nigerian/South African week.'The idea is to showcase the essence, character and culture of two of Africa's leading cities through this fusion showcase of arts/culture, business and tourism and the three films we have curated from Nigeria and Johannesburg fits the bill,' Ayoola Shadare enthused.SPEAKING on the project, the South African Ambassador to Nigeria, Kingsley Mamabolo, who has thrown his weight behind the project, observed that initiatives such as this, would go a long way in pushing the frontiers of relations between the two leading African countries.'This is a good way of dealing with the problem of perception, which has become a challenge to both countries. We are very happy that there is this project, which is being organised by Inspiro Productions and the South African Mission because we need to deal with those issues that hamper the development of our nations. We can only do that by people-to-people engagements; no amount of government relations alone is going to help. You can't say it should be on the political level or it should be trade pure and simple.'According to the envoy, the Nigerian movie industry popularly called Nollywood remains a major factor that has connected both countries in recent times, adding that football has also played major roles in the past.'It (Nollywood) is very popular in the townships because it talks to the hearts of the people; the tendency to believe certain things, witchcraft and so on. It is the very same thing with our people down there; so they associate with it. I have always said one way of reaching the people is through things like that.'When people ask me about the number of Nigerians in South Africa and I say I am not quite sure about this, they laugh at me. However, the one measure you can use is that when Bafana Bafana plays the Super Eagles, Bafana Bafana does not have home-ground advantage; one half is Nigeria, one half is South Africa and that shows the real exchange. Soccer is a very important medium to ensure that we get to know each other better.'To Mamabolo, Nigerian cuisine has become very popular in South Africa, with new restaurants springing up on a daily basis.'There is no doubt that the number of Nigerians in South Africa is on the increase everyday. On the one hand, South African companies are coming to Nigeria in droves. We arebeginning to have a lot ofNigerian restaurants which are mushrooming in South Africa; you have some in Pretoria, in Johannesburg, Cape Town and so on.The cuisine of both countries is one of the things that will receive more than a passing attention during the Nigeria-South Africa Week, which comes up in October in Lagos tagged A Tale of Two African Cities-Lagos and Johannesburg.'With this type of exchange, more solid grounds for living together are being established. In the process, there are marriages, which have forged deeper brotherly relations and strengthened the people-to-people relations,' he said.Above all things, Mamabolo would like to see relations between Nigeria and South Africa follow the correct path of exchange of warmth and friendliness as two countries in the continent with great potentials.'Nigeria has this huge population; she has the significance of being the country with more black people than any other country in the world. Rather than a drawback, Nigeria's huge population is an asset to the country and continent in general. Nigeria has potentially a great asset if they do it right by investing in the people.'South Africa is also developed technologically and otherwise; this places her together with Nigeria in a unique position, which demands of the two countries to steer this continent out of the big problems we have. To turn around this continent we should have a bigger agenda. If you are a South African, you should not think about South Africa only; you should think about the African agenda.'To the Ambassador, other African nations are looking up to both countries for leadership.'We have the potentials to pull this continent out of the crises that we sometimes experience. We are already moving as a continent, but we are moving too slow, particularly in view of the fact that this is our era as Europe is collapsing, in a sense. We should step in now and take this opportunity. We can't let this opportunity pass by. Everybody is looking towards us and it requires good leadership; it requires that the two foremost countries-Nigeria and South Africa- should have that understanding.'AN Ex-officio Member of the IBB Golf Club, Mamabolo would love to see a South African/Nigerian relationship that is free from hostilities.'Though there will always be differences borne out of competition and a natural need to be the best, the rivalry should be defined on healthy parameters fired by a quest to develop Africa. During the bid to host the World Cup in 2010 and Africa's candidate for the President of the World Bank, both countries considered the one with comparative advantage, allowing the bigger African agenda to guide its decision rather than fighting and focusing on very small, insignificant things.'The envoy is of the opinion that A Tale of 2 Africa Cities offers a platform to answer some of the questions that have been agitating his mind for some time, assuring that the project will not only bring about a better understanding between the two countries, but will also change the long-held perceptions.'Unfortunately, sometimes, these perceptions are very bad. When you think of Nigerians, you remember narcotics, drug and human trafficking. This generalisation might be a problem. You have a whole lot of Nigerians who are doing very good things ' professors, doctors in very key institutions in South Africa. If you want to say this one bad person must representthe entire Nigeria, it becomes a problem. You are not going to get to know the good ones until such time that we begin to talk about them and write about and showcase them.'He continued: 'I feel very much at home and comfortable in Nigeria; two of my children had their high school education here. I have lots of friends; I make sure that I travel. I tell myself, 'you can't say you know Nigeria, when you just know Abuja.' I have lost count of how many states I have been to. It is only in Nigeria that people greet me on the streets. They would say, 'good morning sir,' whenever I take my walk in an effort to reduce weight. People would say, 'well done, sir'. There are some places where because you are foreigner, you are afraid to walk on the streets. The easiest way to change the perception of South Africans would be to take South Africans down to see things for themselves.'Of course, we can't do that; we can only do it through things like A Tale of Two African Cities. We can do it through Nollywood and so many other things.
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