African Stages Association Members performing. | Photo courtesy of Comfort Ero.
The 2014 Surrey Fusion Festival will take place on July 19 and 20, and this year Nigeria will be one of six new Cultural Pavilions among the 38 to be showcased at the festival. Nigeria is the most populous and most economically influential country in Africa, and boasts a diverse array of cultural history and traditions. Comfort Ero, a storyteller with the African Stages Association and president of the Nigeria Canada Development Association of British Columbia (NCDABC), shares her views about Nigerian culture and the situation with Nigerian immigrants hoping to come to Canada.
Nigeria’s ethnic and religious groups are roughly divided between the Muslim-based cultures in the north, where the Hausa are the dominant group; a mix of Christian, Muslim and indigenous faiths in the southwest, which is largely Yoruba; and the mostly Christian southeast, where the Igbo ethnic group is the majority.
When Ero lived in Nigeria during the late sixties and early seventies, Nigerian life was peaceful and safe. She credits the government at that time for focusing on education and infrastructure building, which brought the country together.
“[At that time], Muslims and Christians lived in peace and there were no religious terrorists like we have today,” Ero says. “There are about 350 different tribes, each with its own unique cultural history. The cultural traditions vary according to the different tribes and ethnic groups, although some traditions – like marriages, way of dressing, storytelling and respect for elders – are common to almost all the tribes.”
Dancing and festivals are the customary ways to honour these traditions. Two important festivals include the Egungun Festival, where the ancestral spirits are honoured and appeased in order to cleanse the land from evil and sickness, and the New Yam Festival, thanking God and celebrating a successful harvest of the yam, which is a staple food in Nigeria, especially among the Igbo people.
Struggling to immigrate
As president of the NCDABC, Ero wants to provide a meeting space for Nigerians where children and youth can learn about Nigerian culture and values, establish consulate offices, and promote trade, commerce and intercultural exchange between Nigeria and Canada. Established in 1984, the association has provided support to Nigerians hoping to fit positively into Canadian society.
However, despite the association’s best efforts there are still problems facing young Nigerian immigrants. For example, since Nigerians applying to come to Canada must use the visa application centre in Ghana, the immigration process entails large financial and physical problems for young and elderly Nigerians.
“Unlike other immigrant groups who have critical mass to give support to new immigrants, the Nigerian immigrants are mostly still first generation immigrants and still struggling with settlement issues,” Ero says.
“Tohio! Hia hia, hia hia kpo!”
Comfort Ero. | Photo courtesy of Comfort Ero.
As a storyteller, Ero begins her stories with the chant “Tohio! Hia hia, hia hia kpo!”, which announces that the storyteller is ready to tell a story and the audience has come together, ready to listen. She has been listening to, dramatizing and bringing stories to life since she was a young girl and she helped found the African Stages Association, which allows her to perform her stories in schools, libraries and festivals, and provide a place for African artists to create and perform.
The African Stages members will perform at the Fusion Festival on July 20, and they will entertain and educate with Nigerian stories and dance. They will also have a tent to showcase Nigerian food and crafts.
To learn more about the African Stages Association, please visit: www.africanstages.org
To learn more about the Surrey Fusion Festival, please visit: www.surrey.ca/fusionfestival
