Africans do not talk to each other more, and so do not know each other well. And this is the reason why Africans not only do not get along as nation-to-nation, but also as tribe-to-tribe as exemplified by the deep ethnic divisions even within their countries. In this interview in Accra, Ghana, Chairman of Festac Africa, Engr. Yinka Abioye assures Martin-Luther C.’ King that Festac Africa 2025, which holds in the Ghanaian capital from 21 to 27 September 2025, will bridge the gap by building compassion and understanding among Africans not only in the homeland but also across the world.
Why is Ghana the choice to host Festac Africa 2025?
When we brought Festac (Festival of Arts and Culture) back — the renaissance of Festac in 2022 — after the Covid, we asked ourselves ‘Where could we put this post-Covid?’ South Africa could have been the easiest place, because we (the platform that organizes are based out of South Africa. However, we knew that South Africa was a country that was not readily open because of Covid, When we made the announcement, believe it or not, the Maldives requested that we bring Festac to them. At a time when ll the tourism locations were looking for new businesses. But it was just too difficult for us to renaissance something after 40 years and go to another continent. The money was tempting, especially at a time hen tourist locations around the world were looking for ways to resuscitate and rejuvenate their travel economy. After we considered South Africa closely, we then asked ourselves which other countries in Africa are very unlikely to shut down should there be a spike of Covid again. We realised the best bet would be Tanzania. And within Tanzania, the island of Zanzibar is ninety-something per cent inclined towards tourism. So we knew that if there is any country that would be dependent on tourism, it would be Zanzibar, and that the chances of them closing down because of Covid was very small. So, we chose Zanzibar. Interestingly, omicron happened in February (2022), so we are thankful to God that we didn’t pick South Africa. That would have made all our efforts to have gone waste. We picked Zanzibar and went into Zanzibar. Our thinking was to go to somewhere where we could incubate for three years, learn, make mistakes, and then know where to go next. When we got into Zanzibar, a lot of people laughed at us, saying Why do something that would bring a lot of people together right while Covid was still around.
But, we knew Covid had to end eventually; and that the world cannot move forward without coming together. So, we took the risk of doing it in 2022 over there in Zanzibar . When you look at the number of participants (at that event), around 2000, you might say, Wow, that is very low for a (continental) festival that lasted a week, for that matter. Yes, it is. But, it was at a time when Covid was still in town. Also, we were renaissancing a project that had been dormant for 45 years. But we knew that eventually we would climb. And that’s why we took the risk. So, we did Zanziar; and, the leadership in Tanzania now said ‘O’ wow, we see the future of this, we see the value in what you are doing; please, bring it to the mainland’. that was how in the following year we went to mainland Tanzania, that is Arusha, Tanzania, 2023. I can tell you that the management (of the organising company) was hands-on in what we are doing. So, every lessons learned were all learnt by all of us All the mistakes made, anything you can say, we all have been through it with a lot of confidence. That is not to say, though, that we couldn’t have been better. But we know now what things that we did right and what things we did wrong. So all those helped us to move into the next phase, which was 2024, and, for a lot of reasons, in Kisumu, Kenya. At a point after we did Kisumu, we realized that consecutively we had done three years in east Africa. The east Africans don’t know anything about Festac. When I say ‘don’t’, I mean 97/98% of them do not know anything about Festac. Now they know, they have an idea. Even in west Africa, other than Nigerians over 50 there are not many that know about Festac. When you ask the younger ones about Festac, they’ll tell you Festac was a bus stop, it was a police station, it was barbering salon, or it was Festac Town; that’s all they know. Because it had turned into so many things. And, I don’t blame anyone. Because, the acronym or the word ‘Festac’ came out of the designation ‘Festival of Arts and Culture’ So, it was really not the title of the festival; it was just a name; it was a spin-off. So, we started looking for where we had to go next. We knew we needed to look at west Africa very closely. Especially as Senegal braces for the 60th year anniversary (of the first ever Festac event held in Senegal in 1966;; and, Nigeria braces for 50 years of the 1977 Festac event held in Lagos. Therefore, bringing it this way (to Ghana, a country in west Africa) is the right thing to do. We’d done three years on that side (east Africa), now let’s come in and do three years on this side (west Africa). Maybe other things will metamorphosise in the next several years about what we are doing. And, this is part of why we came here (to Ghana). We picked September because it is tourism month, and September 27 is tourism day. We also picked September because it is Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday month. So we are so lucky to have a Sunday to Sunday event week that encompasses Nkrumah’s birthday anniversary and World Tourism Day. That’s why we are here. And, we are very grateful.
Why was there a long period of inactivity between Festac 1977 and Festac 2022 when you revived the event?
There are two schools of thought as to why. One school of thought said it was due to negligence on the part of African leaders; the other said it was due to the influence of external forces that were against our people coming together again in that size and in that volume as was seen during Festac 1977. But for me, I don’t want to blame anyone for my problems. Regardless of what had happened, it is our job to make sure that we deliver on what we need to do. So, I will go with the comment by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that it was actually our own leaders on the continent who did not follow through on what needed to be done (to sustain the Festac initiative). We cannot blame others for our misfortunes. To have overlooked a project of the size and magnitude (of the Festac celebrations) and which tells of who we (Africans and blacks) are and what we stand for was a mistake on our part as Africans. (Luckily) we have now resuscitated it. The only thing I can say now in that we need everybody around us to come together and support us to make sure that it (Festac) does not die again.
What activities have been lined up for the week-long event?
It’s going to be a ‘Come and experience Africa in a week’ kind of event. In reality, it’s going to be a little bit beyond one week. Because we (started with) the first-ever inter-country float (on Friday 19 September). Most times if you go to the Caribbean you see the floats; especially in Trinidad and Tobago, in Jamaica, among others. These are floats that would move around the neighborhoods. We (took) a float, a dancing caravan from Lagos (Nigeria) to Accra (Ghana); meaning they (had) to cross four countries. We (did) that on Friday 19 September. We (did) it on Friday the 19th because we (wanted) to use Friday (the next day) to rest. We (had to) secure some bikers to come along with us and to give the float a carnival atmosphere. We are grateful that ECOWAS’ free movement protocol is (worked) with us to lessen the headache at the borders. We ((had) over a thousand people that travelled (on the float). We are very grateful to (the) ECOWAS (Commission) for helping us on this. They (had) talked to all the immigration people in all the countries the float (had to) pass through about what we are doing. We had 50-seater buses and other smaller vehicles. Because of laissez passér, or cost of crossing over, not every bike that (came was) able to cross over. So we (had to talk) to different bike groups from the respective countries and discussed with them that the Nigerian bikers (could) ride with the float from Lagos to Seme border post; the Beninois bikers (met the float) at the Seme border and (rode) with them to Hilacondji border post; the Togolese bikers similarly (met) the float at Hilacondji border post and (rode) with them to Aflao border post. At the time (the float arrived) at Aflao border, the Ghanaian bikers (met them there). And, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), our partners, with their yellow bus, also (bussed) with them into Accra. The idea is that (the float) should arrive between 2pm and 4pm, during the day for safety reasons. When they arrived ((Accra), we all met at the Accra Sports Stadium with the deejay just to have a beautiful welcome into Ghana. (Next day,) Saturday, will be a day of relaxation. If I can plug this, because you never know who is listening (or reading), I still say that we will love to have (the) ECOWAS (Commission) do something on Saturday, even if it’s just to sponsor a deejay and some drinks Because ECOWAS turned 5 this year. I don’t think the citizens of ECOWAS know that ECOWAS has turned 50. The leaders know that ECOWAS has turned 50, but the citizens don’t know. So to celebrate and impact what ECOWAS stands for, people need to know what happened. So we are asking them to let us do something on Saturday. Even if it is one hour of playing music to remind people, let us do that. September, and Dr. Nkrumah’s birthday. We are not going to do anything on that day because we do not want to dilute the Ghana government’s national effort in celebrating Dr. Nkrumah. We won’t do anything on that day, except, maybe, to have a cocktail on Sunday evening. And then on Monday (22 September), there will e speeches in the morning, and in the evening we’ll do the ‘dinner in the dark’. Everyday at the main ground of the Independence Square, from 9 am the exhibition will open, because there is exhibition going on, and it will go on till about 6pm or 7pm. Side by side with that, there will be music, and all the entertainment, cultural and everything, from 10 am to about midnight, everyday throughout the week right up to Saturday (27 September). While those are going on, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (23-25 September), are the conferences. And, those will be at the Accra International Conference Centre, which is like a block away from the Independence Square. On Tuesday (23 September), we’ll have a session on trade, tourism and tech. On Wednesday (24 September), we’ll do women empowerment, youth, and the Writers’ Retreat as I said earlier. On Thursday (25 September), we’ll do peace, food, and climate action. Those are what we’ll be doing at the conferencing. Conferencing will normally be from 9 am to about 2pm or 2:30pm. After that everybody would come to come to have lunch at the main grounds. After they would not need to go back to the conference anymore, because we want people on the ground (of the Independence Square). On Monday evening there’s the ‘dinner in the dark’ as I earlier mentioned. On Tuesday evening, there’s not much planned for the evening other than the entertainment activities on the stage that would still be going. Wednesday (24 September) is Heritage Day in South Africa, and it’s a day we also want to use to promote more togetherness. The South African Embassy and the Zimbabwean Embassy in Ghana are going to compete to show who between their two countries have the best meat, and who can grill meat better. (For that completion), the two countries are importing meat from their respective countries. On Thursday (25September), we are focusing on peace. We are encouraging people to wear as much white as possible, because white symbolizes peace. On Friday (26 September), we will do the culinary experiences; and we are pairing every food out there with the Ghanaian chocolate: Kenyan tea and coffee against the Ghanaian chocolate. Same with Ethiopian coffee. Interestingly, it’s also the day for the Ghana versus Nigerian jollof rice competition, the final showdown. Believe it or not, we are even going to pair the jollof rice dishes with Ghanaian chocolate, to make sure we bring out the power of the cocoa and what have you. Also on that day, there will be fashion show in the evening with about 12 artistes from all over Africa coming to display their works. On Saturday (27 September) morning, there will be a five-kilometre walk.
How many countries are going to participate in the fashion show?
There are at least six to eight different countries: Tunisia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana, among others. On Saturday, there is a walk, a five-kilomtre walk against gender-based violence, and to promote awareness of the harm caused by galamsey (Ghanaian coinage for illegal gold mining) against the environment. Don’t pollute (the environment. And the walk is tagged ‘Let’s paint Ghana gold’. Everybody is going to wear yellow with the black star (t-shirts) for the walk.
Those shirts are going to come from Festac Africa organisers?
Yes, to the people who are walking. We close with a gala dinner on that Saturday. Sunday (28 September), we will be breaking down and just enjoying what is happening. While all of these are going on starting on Monday 22 September, the Ghana National Sport Authority, which is also a partner of ours, will be doing a lot of sporting events at the (Accra Sports) Stadium. So, once you come to the Independence Square, you can conveniently walk across to the sports stadium. In addition tothat, we are lucky that our friends at FIBA (International Basketball Federation) are bringing the Zone 3 (covering west Africa) of the basketball tournament to Ghana that week because of us. So we have about 10-15 people from ten countries participating in the tournament, and that will pull in about another 150 people to Ghana to the Festac event. We do everything we can to bring (black and African) people together. And then we talk about self-pride, self-promotion, a better Africa, be strong, be safe, be successful. Hopefully, all these will come together (at Festac Africa 2025) and give us all the positives we are looking for.
Who is behind the Festac Africa orgnisation?
Festac Africa’s parent organization is called Inspire. We have always done a lot of networking events. We actually started this networking thing as far back as 2015. And we’ve been doing bilateral networking, putting two countries together. And, maybe because many of us are from Nigeria, we had always pitched this or that country against Nigeria in so many ways, but always in a positive way. We started with South Africa and Nigeria. South Africa’s nickname is Mzansi, Nigeria’s is Naija. So we have a brand called Mzansi-Naija. What it does is a weekend of people getting together and playing soccer. We are in one country this year and in another the next. If we are in your country and we can’t find eleven people to play, we take the local people there, put jerseys on them to play for the enjoyment of the people there. It’s not a competitive thing but just something we put together to network. We did that for a couple of years, and Covid hit. After Covid, we said Let’s go into picking up the whole continent. Because when we were doing those bilaterals, we found out that when we called a third country to come in, their energy is not there because it doesn’t have their name. For instance, we do Mzansi-Naija and we call Tanzania in to join; they join alright, but they are not totally excited. This was why we looked at Festac as a platform to bring everyone together.
You are a trained engineer. What is an engineer doing organizing something like Festac Africa?
I don’t know. If I tell you I know, I will be lying. I’ve worked in a lot of industries. I used to design pharmaceuticals. I’ve worked in plastics. I’ve worked in solvents. I worked in oil and gas for so many years, petrochemicals, lubricants. In what I call my sojourn in corporate life, I made some impact that I am proud of, especially my running around the streets of Africa as a corporate leader. So I have a lot protégés around Africa that I had invested my time in, and that I can be proud of who they are today and where they are. When look overall, you have to look beyond just paycheck but more on what can you give back. I have been most fortunate. I have been to over 80-85 per cent of African countries, and worked in a lot of them. I was MD of Mobil in Senegal some 23-24 years ago. I have travelled the continent very well all the way to the villages. What I see as a gap is the fact that because we don’t know one another we (Africans) don’t get along (with each other) the way we need to get along. When you live abroad, say in the US or UK, and a Zimbabwean sees a Nigerian, he sees a brother, because they are in a white man’s land, and both of them are, perhaps, the only ones that look alike in that environment. But when they come to their own continent, they put the wall up there. And some of it is ignorance. So, to me, I see it that we need to keep talking more and more and more with each other. There are so many of us, 1.4-1.5 billion, that we need to do this talking more. So what came out of all of this is that in as much as I can design software as an engineer, I can make more impact by bringing people together. Also because majority of us are in the corporate world, we’ve also kind of done the platform so that it can serve as an activation to also grow businesses. Because we are going to need that infusion for business to perpetuate what we are doing. And, because it is time-costly and financially straining. But we thank God.
After Accra, where will the next Festac Africa hold?
I believe we need to metamorphosise. The continent still needs 200 Festacs. Eventually, what we ‘ll get to is to regionalize. And then we can have one continent-wide event every four years. We are still going through a whole lot of permutations about what makes sense long term. We are talking to some countries. Even for the countries where we had done Festac we encourage them to continue it every year. They can still use the platform to bring their tribes together every year. Not only do we not get along as nations to nations in Africa, we also have the same divisions even within our countries. So we are hoping that this platform builds compassion and understanding. If we have that, we all win.
