CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Festival is an event ordinarily staged by community centring on and celebrating some unique aspect of that community and its traditions, often marked as a local or national holiday.

Festival is a periodic or accessional celebration, merry-making or feast day of special significance in the cultural calendar of the celebrants. Amankulor (1985:83) argued that, festival in traditional African societies and indeed most parts of the world are rooted in the culture of the people. Festivals in Africa, particularly Nigeria, are integral part which we cannot do away with, or separated from the cultural values and norms of the society.

The Akparemogbene community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, is a small community situated in a narrow creek but with a unique cultural heritage. The Eseleke-ere festival celebrates heritage of development, wealth, struggle in life and prosperity in general.

These themes are achieved through symbolic representation and dramatic features inherent in its festival.

The essence of this research is to analyse the important dramatic features of Eseleke-ere festival of Akparemogbene community and shows its dramatic features and themes at the festival. The factor relevant of this is only known by a small portion of people, who are in humanities or not in this field, but have the discerning ability to examine the dramatic features embedded in this festival. Akparemogbene Eseleke-ere festival parades with themes of struggle in life, prosperity, riches, wealth, peace, long life and development. During the festival period of celebrating their rich cultural heritage inherent by the indigenes of the community, men and women fashioned with white attires which is a symbol of peace. Culture is their way of life, thus depicts their distinctiveness as a people, a community whose cultural heritage is still alive.

This project hopes to discuss the dramatic features of the festival, the festival participation in arts and cultures. In performance of this festival, different dance steps are displayed with the accompaniment of songs, drums of different sorts, clapping, demonstrating, gestures, mime, etc. and well carved masquerades, built for the performance. Each of these masquerades symbolises, or means different thing and phenomenon. All these together portray the rich purpose of this festival and the dramatic features associated with the Eseleke-ere festival of Akparemogbene people.

Festivals are viewed as fetish rituals to the detriment of the aesthetic/dramatic features or qualities. Of a fact, almost, if not all aspects of festivals are dramatic in nature, but this is hardly seen as such.

Many Ijaw masquerade festivals are well recognised and properly documented for research purposes. But Eseleke-ere festival and the aesthetic dramatic qualities and importance is not known and documented for future use.

This study is aimed at examining the dramatic features of the festival. The aspects to be treated are:

1. Theatre, stage and costumes/masks
2. Preparation of venues and equipment
3. Performance, music, dance, audience/ spectators. Drumming
4. Themes stories, beliefs.

Other relevant features in drama which are not mentioned in the course of the study if necessary will be added to the above.

Some festivals of the Ijaw people have been studied but there is no academic study of the Eseleke-ere festival. The festival interesting dramatic features which should be brought out for people to appreciate. The name of the festival Eseleke-ere, a well caved masquerade image with a blazing cutlass signifies the strength and struggle in life. The wife polofinine symbolises that a man without money cannot get married properly. The bangles and beads on the ankles and neck signifies riches. The polofinine the wife is the second in the Ogale procession of the seven masquerades. The symbolic meaning of the name is, anticipated development of canalization of Akparemogbene creek. All the rest of the masquerades symbolizes different thing and meaning associated to them.    

In the project, the dramatic features of Eseleke-ere festival will be examined from the element of representation. The actors and impersonation, dance and music accompanied by drum of diversion chapping and ogale, procession, character of the seven masquerade, ranging from Eseleke-ere to the least Digbolomoweremi the whole performance is micked to the height of gallows and motivated by sings, dances and drums of different versions.

This project work is intended to investigate dramatic features in Eseleke-ere masquerade festival of the Akparemogbene people, since this is a more familiar festival and most, if not all traditional festivals are closely related. The essence of talking only Eseleke-ere masquerade festival as only sample to dramatize the dramatic features inherent in the performance is due to show thorough and explicated analysis of the festival. When joined with other festivals celebrated in the community or neighbouring ones will rather delude true essence of Eseleke-ere festival. Equally time and resources, will not permit extensive research on the festival.

In this project, I will apply a very simple method, oral interviews and consent materials relevant to this research. The study’s primary source of information is “dramatic features” in Eseleke-ere festival and major themes. The thematic issues will be viewed in order to enhance the developmental role and prosperity status of the festival. The others will be viewed to compliment the above. Also when its necessary to consult other related materials and sources, it will be applied.

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