THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN NAKENYARE FESTIVAL OF THE CHAMBA LEKO PEOPLE OF ADAMAWA STATE OF NIGERIA

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THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN NAKENYARE FESTIVAL OF THE CHAMBA LEKO PEOPLE OF ADAMAWA STATE OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Every society struggles for the survival and progress of its norms and values. This struggle against cultural extinction is manifested in the display of its culture. The recognition of Africa‟s great culture in modern civilization underscored by Western influence has been seriously undermined and de-emphasized. The communal nature of most African societies is expressed through their common observable kind of behaviour based upon established traditional rules known in African societies and dependent on their belief system. African theatre and drama have roots in these traditions, which, in Africa, are predisposed to be ritualistic or communal in nature. Entrenched in these periodic events/rituals are weighty and inimitable theatre elements such as costumes, make-up, music and dance, theatre space, masquerading, impersonation, enactment, dialogue and repetition. The study identifies and examines the various theatrical elements within the Nakenyare festival performance. The study adopts performance and ritual theories which provide frameworks for making generalization on the performance and function of theatre elements within the performance. The research employs mostly the ethnography qualitative methods of research approach through a careful descriptive analysis of books, journals, reports, and other secondary sources. Qualitative method was used to gather primary information from recorded tapes and videos while observation and informal interviews were applied to get first-hand information from respondents and the recorded performance. The respondents were sampled purposively to get the required sample size from the closely estimated total population of 600,032 of the Chamba Leko people. Respondents consisted of youth groups, women groups, title holders and custodians of the traditions and custom. The Nakenyare performance of the Chamba Leko people of Adamawa state of Nigeria was used as a paradigm. The research study looks at various theatrical elements that preoccupy the Nakenyare festival in Chamba land. It also advances reasons why these theatrical elements have taken the certain changes and different form from that of the west and is against this backdrop. It postulates that the researcher finds out that these changes, within the festival performance were as a result of great custodians embracing the two new found faiths (christianity and Islam) that lead to the dwindling of various knowledge of craft made to be passed on to the next generations and which in turn lead to leaving the attendance of the festival to the rural dwellers only, as those in the urban view it as fetish against their new found religion and also termed it an old fashion.These affected and hampered the oral nature of the festival as the little people who made it to the festival from the urban can not speak the local dialogue or they want most of the theatrical elements to be rendered in the modern ways, against the traditional acceptable norms within the Chamba Leko traditions. The research work recommends that, those in diaspora should attend the annual festival to get to know it, and annual documentary and broadcasting of the annual events be made within and outside Nigeria to give the festival the much needed awareness and acceptability and in turn help bring back its lost glory and glamour.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Festivals would seem to be ephemeral happenings. Even those ritual festivals whose celebrations are closely bound up with a people‟s spiritual and corporate existence and are therefore performed regularly still tend to have this evanescent character.

Festivals that have to do with the ritual cleansing and rehabilitation of society seem to whip up just about enough current fervour… In festivals, the qualities that tend to catch the imagination and linger in the memory are the music, the dance, the victuals, the pageantry, and the kaleidoscope of colours and the concourse of people. The soul and essence of most festivals are lost to a vast majority of the participants. And since human memory is such an enviable sieve, even the commoner aspects that have been mentioned above, superficial as they are, are soon forgotten (Theo Vincent, 1981, p. xxi).

As mentioned above, a festival is an accepted pattern of laid down procedures observed periodically to mark or commemorate events of significant value to the communities or as celebrations marking important events in the life of the society for the purpose of perceiving their ideas and aspirations for a meaningful living. The annual repetition of the performance makes it a ritual since it has a series of events done in a circle, to help preserve its basic memories in the mind of its participants or audience and this has helped keep such festival performance the likes of Nakenyare alive.

„African Festival performances have served as means of communication between the gods and the people‟ (Doki, 2006, p.47). Festival performances are mediums of transmitting or conveying knowledge to man and his entire community. However, to most people, festival means much more than a source of entertainment (Doki, 2006.p.44). According to Ogunbiyi (1981), festivals all over the world have been linked to a lot of myths and legendary origin. They are commonly found in events such as harvest, funerals, circumcision, marriages and other form of sacrifices of ushering rain for the farming season and pouring of libations at graves of deceased persons. These festival ceremonies are usually done on family, clan or community basis.

However, in most cases, quite a number of festivals are performed or celebrated for community ritual rites such as circumcision, rites of passage, thanksgiving, memorials and appeasement of the gods; where religious ideas and goals are perpetuated and passed on to the next generations. „The celebration of events in an individual or a community includes occasions like the birth of a child, circumcision, initiation ceremony, harvest festivals and marriages‟ (Mbiti, 1975, p, 16). This further support what festival is to the common man, and its significance to his community and the tradition he represents. And is the very stand point of the Nakenyare festival performances of the Chamba people.

Taking a festival as an integral part of each community, the Chamba Leko community is not an exception in the celebration of its festival performance. The Chamba Leko people celebrate Nakenyare festival with music, dance and masquerade displays. Thus, this study examines the various theatrical elements in the Nakenyare performance, bringing out its existence and its significance that leads to the sustenance of the festival and its dramatic essence.

1.1 Background of the Study

Oral performance is an important artistic expression that predates written literature in all societies of the world. If indeed literature is a written portrayal of human perceptions, experiences and sensibilities, it becomes obvious then that man did not wait for literacy to develop before the seeds of artistic perception and creativity were sown. „Oral performance is indeed one of the most effective means of expressing the intellectual, the physical and the spiritual experiences of man in its most natural form‟- Akporobaro, (2012, p. 389).

Oral performance is „an expression of man‟s interest being in words, and the articulation of his changing mores and models‟ (Ikiddeh, 1987, p.55). In articulating and projecting their cultural tenets, the performer in African theatre festival employs both the verbal and non-verbal means of communication. The latter relies on signs, gestures and symbols to complement verbal communication. Abalogu et al. (1981, p. 7) state that:

In any typical performance, therefore, communication besides speech is enhanced through such means as props, costumes, gestures, mime, movement, dance patterns, music, types of drums used, drumming techniques and acting styles.

The above statement shows that Festival is an important artistic convention that permeates the entire African oral performance form and is communicated not only through oral rendition as songs delivered as speech in a performance, but also through the exhibitions of various theatrical elements performed before a live audience as it is done in the Nakenyare festival performance with the help of different theatrical elements. Indeed, „virtually all oral forms possess dramatic elements, and are actualized only through performance before a live audience‟ (Kumba, 1994). In secular arts or in the more serious sacred art forms, dramatization, participation and/or appreciation by a live audience are compulsory.

To actualize a certain degree of good performance, African oral performance emphasizes a certain degree of perfection, through skillful people that belong to the guild of artists within the festival performance. To attain appreciable level of quintessence in performing arts, there is recognition of natural talent and ability nurtured and refined from an early age when natural talents are identified. Similarly, long years of apprenticeship and training also guarantee a high quality artistic performance. Before an oral artist can attain the level at which he could operate independently in the society, he must have undergone a long period of training under the tutelage of a master. It is „believed that, apart from just learning from a master, it is also important to know the art from birth or something to be inherited and is a well-known art within the family‟ (Kumba, 1994, p.38).

The above statement shows the significance of mastering the art of various skillful arts within an oral performance. The Nakenyare performance is with a good example of skillful people who are mostly talented in what they do, as most of them have had both training under a master who is well known in what they do and are mostly from the same clan. The role of a Banba‟ado within Nakenyare performance, are handed down within a clan or particular family from one generation to another. So also is the chief drummer (neng vandoa-suva‟ana) of Nakenyare performance, that position is left to the son of the late drummer, it runs only within that family.

Furthermore, the restrictions of arts to special guilds (expert hand of a master and inbred) are other traditional measures taken to ensure artistic quintessence. This restriction is especially peculiar to the sacred or religious art forms. The objective is often to protect the sacredness of the art against abuse and desecration. The masquerade cult in

Chamba Leko society is an example of this. It is the guild‟s responsibility to regulate the arts and conduct of their members through regulations. The guild ensures that the art is not adulterated and that the interest of the public is protected at all times. Although some „masquerades perform social rituals and dances to entertain audiences, they nonetheless belong to strict professional guilds‟ (Akporobaro, 2012).

The above statement shows the importance of the concentration of specific art forms in some families on the account of professionalism, religious roles, which are exclusively preserved for certain families in most African societies. Such families are saddled with the responsibility of organizing certain aspects of a given festival. These families have the responsibility of preserving the related art forms and ensuring their perpetuation through the ages within the festival celebrations.

Oral performance is used for certain definite purposes in the society. Apart from the aesthetic function of satisfying the emotional needs of man through music and dance, it is used to „educate, to inform, to promote unity and solidarity, to entertain, to propagate ideas, norms and values, and to correct anomalies in the society‟ (Ogunbiyi, 1981, p. 8).

Wasambo Were (2014) further explains that oral performances are in most cases theatrics which are embellished with music and dance. He notes that:

Man discovered how to use dance and music as well as masks in rituals that he hoped would bring rain and increase his crops. He (man) invented initiation ceremonies that required dialogue. His (man) ancestors became gods and he worshiped them with dance and song. Worship bred myth and myth had to be acted out if the human race was to live and survive. (p. 23)

These involved the displays of talent in drumming, dancing and singing, and dancing involves graceful movements to rhythm. And the songs encompass a harmonious blending of voices in rhythmic sound patterns. These are sometimes complemented with acrobatic displays, wise sayings and pun.

The bulk of social performances found particularly in satirical songs are targeted towards entertainment. Even in the most sacred performances, as quite a number are in Nakenyare performance, there are always elements of entertainment. “Entertainment is very essential to human development as a kind of recreation after a hard day‟s work, as a means to remove boredom, to alleviate stress and sorrow and as a time-filler” (Akporobaro 2012, p. 459).

This means that most African Festival performances, the likes of Nakenyare performance are not only observed as sacred art but can also be seen as a source of entertainment, an educational and a tedium remover.

In most traditional societies in Africa, theatre performances are an integral part of oral performance where the oral artist is saddled with the responsibility to teach the norms and values of society to the younger generation and remind the older generations about its social and political responsibilities, among other things. Kumba, (1994, p. 36.) avers that “the oral artist is a relentless chronicle who mentally documents historical events in his society.” Banba‟ado (a narrator and curator of the tradition) in Nakenyare performance narrates and enacts tales to teach traditional ethics and virtues and rationalizes why the youth must shun abominable acts. In numerous African societies, such messages are passed through a performer in a given theatre performance.

Most, if not all African theater performance are performed or celebrated for a purposed within a given society. „Some performances are used to pay homage and allegiance to reigning monarchs and to ensure social and political stability‟ (Ogunba, 1982. p.11).

Such festival performance like the Nakenyare performance begins with prayers to Su‟u (god)-seeking for protection against both internal and external forces and the steadiness of the Chamba Leko nation both politically and socially. These are done around the personality of the (Gara/Ganwari) king, his subjects and the community by the chief priest.

Such performances afford opportunities for the reigning monarch to know how his subjects feel about him and what is happening in and around the community on issues relating to the economic, social, political and religious matters. Other examples of such hegemonic theatre festivals are Obanta festival of Ijebu-Ode found in Ogun state of Nigeria by the Yoruba speaking people and the Odun Oba festival of Ondo state of

Nigeria, also by the Yoruba speaking nation. The festivals are ways of assuring the monarch that he is still in control of his community politically, economically and

socially.

It is noteworthy that oral performances are used to enforce law and order in the society, thereby complementing the system of justice in traditional societies. Although such enforcements are non-formal, they are usually more effective than the formal traditional judicial structures. This is achieved through the use of satirical songs which serve as checks and balances against misdemeanor in society. Satirical songs are particularly effective in punishing those who escape formal punishments. Laye, (1959) makes the point that;

While major crimes against society are penalized seriously with execution, being ostracized or being sold into slavery, minor conflicts and crimes are often overlooked. Satirical songs, therefore, take up the challenge of completing the judicial responsibility of taking care of such offences (p. 18)

This explain further why most oral performance are sometimes used in the civil society to achieved cultural and social change, a good example are the various satire songs during the Nakenyare performance, where people who commit societal crime are punished through songs. This is achieved when the composed song is sang for generation and all these generations are informed about the sad events through songs about the crime committed by an individual generations ago. It is a dishonorable act that no clan or family will want such to be associated with it. A good example is the song tittle Kpa‟a which deals with the theme of theft. It is in these oral performances that the true spirit of traditional African festival can be found.

1.2 Brief History of Chamba People

The Chamba people are found in the present day borderline between the Republic of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nwana Eliias (1990) and Richard Fardon (1988) agree that the Chamba people speak two different dialects: Chamba Leko and Chamba Dakka. The Chamba language belongs to the Niger-Congo group of languages; The Chamba people are mostly found in the North-East of Nigeria on the

Cameroon border in Adamawa state. The area was called “Chamba Native Authority” during the Colonial Era, (Fardon, 1988). They (Chamba people) split into Nigeria and

Cameroon as a result of the United Nations plebiscite of 1961. Chamba land was a German territory but when the country lost the First World War, its territories in Africa were taken as mandated by the League of Nations and were given out in trust to the United Nations.

The Chamba people are found mostly in the British and French colonies. They straddle the present border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Today, the Chamba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in the North-Eastern Nigeria. The Gangwari/Gara

(kings), are considered the highest ranking traditional rulers in Chamba land. The closest Chamba‟s neighbours are the Mumuyes, Fulanis, Jukuns and the Kuteb people.

Despite the dialectical differences, the Chamba share other cultural features like food, attire, masquerades and dances. The languages are sub-divided into dialects and each dialect occupies a specific geographical area where it is commonly used for communication. These varieties of Chamba dialects found both in Nigeria and Cameroon refer to themselves as „Sama‟ (a nick name for simple identification by each other) and can be categorized as follows:

S/N	CHAMBA DIALECTS	LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA	VILLAGES/TOWNS
1.	Chamba Nakenyare	Jada, Ganye fufore-Cameroon	Mapeo, Jangbun, Karlahi, Ganye town
2.	Chamba Leko	Jada and part of Cameroon	Sapeo, so‟o, Kojoli, Yelli Balauro
3.	Chamba Donga	Donga, Takum	Donga,wukari,Takum
4.	Chamba Jangani	Ganye	Sugu,Mountainous Areas
5.	Chamba Dakka	Bali Toungo and Takum	Bali, Kungana
6.	Chamba Lamja	Jada	Binyeri and Tola

The main thrust of this study is on the Chamba Leko from Mapeo district of Jada/Ganye Local Governments Area of Adamawa state. It is one of the major dialects of the Chamba speaking ethnic group. According to Fardon Rechard (1988), this dialect has expanded to the standard of “Lingua-franca” among the entire Chamba speakers in Northern Nigeria. It is widely spoken in towns of Adamawa state: Jada, Ganye, Toungo, Fufore (Mbulo, Yelwa, Kojoli, Sugu and Mapeo). Indeed, it is the language of commerce, politics, and social interaction in these towns.

Mapeo, an ancient town of Yelli origin, was discovered by a patriarchal group called “Gbandu” (Fardon, 1988). But today, Yelli is dominated by some western immigrants who are Leko speakers of another Chamba dialect.The cosmology of the Chamba is basically monotheistic. They believed in one god who interacted with the dead, wild animals and humans. The animist doctrine of souls and spirits formed a major part of the Chamba cosmic belief as reflected in their daily lives.

To the Chamba, all occurrences in man‟s daily existence are the will of the gods. They also believed that the departed continued to live as they did while on earth though they possess abilities than mortal that are still living on earth. To the Chamba, only those who could connect with the spirit world can interact with these departed souls. They believed ordinary mortals did not have the power to do so. The Chamba Cosmology therefore was greatly associated with superstition.

The Chamba are firm believers in a universe in which the interaction between

God, the dead, the creature of the wild and the “children of men”, constitutes a common arena of daily concern. In the habitual natural life, God (Su‟u) associated with the dead

(creatures of the past who live below), interact with men and “things of the bush” (Bobzom, 1972, p, 69-87).

The Chamba people believe that God‟s will is predominant in all affairs of men.

They believe that the dead (Wurumbu) follow the same lifestyle of humans, as they live in houses; keep livestock, in the realm of the ancestors. Only a certain category of people, seers (persons with mystical eyes) are able to see what is happening in the realm of the dead. For example, it is believed that, the dead can communicate to the seers on either the cause of their death or messages intended for a particular relation or member (s) of their direct or extended families.

Voma, a non-royal institution, is a male cult found in all Chamba kingdoms. Founded by Nah‟ Nyonga, in the 1860s, it was re- established in Bali Nyonya by Galega I when he succeeded Fonyonga I. The annual Voma celebration is conducted at the Voma shrine known as „dola‟ to revoke the rain; this festival takes place in the dry season around the months of January and February. The community performs ritual ceremonies throughout the year, notably in October and in January-February when it celebrates the festival of first fruits and the closing of the Voma year Known as “vomnunga‟a” (Fardon, 1988, p.186).

The Chamba‟s have three Voma shrines in located in Bali: the Dola Ngau (Great shrine) found in Ntatio, Dola Tsenye compound in Tilka, and Dola Tandsong found at Titanji compound. The Voma society guards the community against evil spirits and is concerned with fertility rites. Its leaders were originally the Gara (king) Guards and were thus given the title „Nwana‟. Subsequently the Nwanas became kingmakers, a role which enhanced their political participation in Bila.

Appointment to the office of Nwama was hereditary; hence most successors of the original appointees carry out functions attributed to the office as their predecessors in the

Voma society. It is an organized hierarchically as follows:

Ba Nwana (Nwan- Billa) is charged with organizing burial rites, installation and initiation of the Fon into the secrets of Bali society and enlightening him on the art of governance. Tita langais is responsible for anointing the Fon. There are 13 nwama positions, of which nine are of original nwana, usually ordained in the special ceremony called Ma we musu” or ma pob musun” (Fardon, 1988, p.188).

Titawang‟a voma – meaning senior members of Voma, this special group of the selected officials substitute the Nwama on certain ceremonies except the installation of the Fon. Title of Tikwanga is also given to ward heads that belong to the Kom Ngong (Fardon, 1988) but do not have the protocol rank of Koma.

Voma keina – means the wives of voma. They are nominated by Nwans from the female members of their families. They could be the wife or the daughter of the Nwama. The major role of the Voma Keina is as choristers, singing voma music during public appearances.

The Nakenyare performance commences with the pre-performance rites in the month of April, in respect to the gods for guidance, protection and bountiful harvest. The performance proper is in the month of December and it lasts for a period of five days. After the period, the performance is preceded by some ritual performance and contacts among priests in Chamba Leko land. Various dance groups will be informed and the news will be passed out to the members of the communities. The masquerade will also be informed officially and the Su‟u will give a signal for the commencement of the performance proper. Three days are marked by singing and dancing, masquerade display and exhibition of arts materials. The remaining two days are dedicated to community cleansing at the arena and the initiations into various societies will then commence.

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem

The recognition of Africa‟s great culture in modern civilization underscored by Western influence has been seriously undermined and de-emphasized by early Western researchers like Ruth Finnegan who asserts that drama in Africa is not typically a widespread and developed form because it lacked dramatic elements unlike that of Europe. At best, Finnegan argues, it is a quasi-dramatic phenomenon. However, these type of

Eurocentric views had long been defeated by scholars like Soyinka (1975) and Jeyifo (1985) and the logical argument that African drama is deriving, from its ritual origins and its oral art forms, remains functional.

In the face of modernization, the Nakenyare festival is under threat of adulteration if not extinction. As ancient practitioners pass away, the new ones with strong Western influence could begin to dilute the form and content of the Nakenyare festival having lost touch with its salient ingredients and constitutive elements. In this regard, identifying its theatrical and dramatic elements is crucial.

In addition, there is also the urgent need to document the Nakenyare festival for posterity and into academic landscape so that scholars can continue to engage with it both at the level of theory and practice.

1.4 Research Objectives

The general objective of this study is to investigate the theatre and dramatic elements in Nakenyare performance. Specifically, the study addresses the following objectives:

To identify and examine the various theatrical elements within the Nakenyare festival performance.
To interrogate the significance of theatrical elements in Nakenyare performance of the Chamba Leko nation with a view of establishing their communicative functions.
To explore the ritual and dramatic essence of Nakenyare performance.

1.5 Research Questions

What theatrical elements exist within the Nakenyare performance?
What is the significance of the theatrical elements within the NakenyarePerformance of the Chamba Leko nation?
What is the dramatic essence of Nakenyare performance?

1.6 Research Assumptions

This study is based on the assumptions that:

The Nakenyare performance has various theatre elements.
The theatre elements are of crucial significance within the Nakenyare

performance.

Theatrical elements in Nakenyare festival performance are dramatic in nature from the African Theatre perspective.

1.7 Significance and Justification of the Study

The significance of this research revolves around identifying and establishing the existence of the theatre elements within Nakenyare performance. The research results provide literature for future researchers working on African theatre/ African oral performances. It also provides a rich source for dramatic literature text.

The research also adds to the existing discussions/discourse on African Theatre Festival performances and its various theatrical elements, especially as it relates to sustaining and igniting the continuation of African festivals and ritual performances. Furthermore, the study serves as a resource document for the younger Chamba Leko nation who might be interested in studying theatre or African drama with focus on performances of the Chamba Leko people. An important aspect of knowledge is the written form.

This study will also contribute in sharing this Nakenyare festival experience with the world. The study will elevate the Nakenyare festival discourse on the world stage as a notable reference material. The study draws attention to the essence and dramatic nature of the Nakenyare festival as performance in its own right given the presence and manipulation of theatrical elements. Above all, this study will serve as a source material for a dramatic/film text, thus exploring the commercial venture of the festival.

1.8 Scope of the Study

This research work covers theatrical elements of the Nakenyare performance. The study is restricted to the four Chamba Leko communities of Ganye, Jada, Toungo local governments and Fufore local government area of Adamawa state in North-Eastern Nigeria between the years 1990-2000.

The following theatre elements were analysed: Theatre space, Costume, Make-up, Music and Dance, Audience, Properties, Character, impersonation, Enactment, dialogue, repetition and plot. Their applications on how they are used to communicate values to the Chamba Leko people were also examined.

1.9 Literature Review

In Africa, the origin of festival theatre bears close similarity with that of Greece, though the experiences of each remains completely different. The European experience evolved from the Greek worship which started as a religious festival in honour of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility, whose worship in the city of Dionysia involved rites known as the Dithyramb‟s. The ritual was said to involve the sacrifice of animals. In Africa, the festival theatre cannot be divorced from traditional religious ceremonies of African people irrespective of their ethnic group (Victor, 2012, p. 48).

Hence, according to Clark (1981) „…as the roots of European theatre go back to the Egyptian Osiris and the Greek Dionysus, so are the origins of drama likely to be found in the early religious and magical ceremonies and festival of the

people…‟(p.57).The above statement justifies the dramatic essence deeply rooted in the Nakenyare Festival of the Chamba leko people.

This shows how drama in Africa represents aspects of the lives and struggles of the people, such as the representation of the following: through performances, childbirth and christening, initiation to adulthood, marriage and funeral ceremonies, with the whole community participating through the intense combination of music and dance. The strong religious importances attached to these performances are still upheld in so many parts of Nigeria and Africa as a whole, where they still remain strong with features of their existence.

It is a common characteristic in African ritual festivals like Nakenyare festival, that it requires the use of costume, make-up, music and dance. They are not only for the purposes of entertainment but to add meaning to the ritual nature of the festival performance being performed.

Scott Kennedy, in his book entitled In Search of African Theatre opines that most African theatre have their roots in festivals, rituals, dance, ceremonial occasions, storytelling performances, spirit cult enactments, speech and others. These forms reveal themselves in the kind of preparations attributed to the various performances whether

religious, artistic or political.

African theatre embraces life; it is also a celebration of life. Its language is verbal and non- verbal. Theatre in Africa is oral based in nature and the moment of composition is its moments of creation. Sometimes, it is danced, mimed and sung; while, sometimes it is in a form of squared elaborate costume with music and dance. Sometimes it employs the use of gestures, body and facial expressions and numerous non-verbal communications done with body movement. Scott (ibid) believes that the African actor is four dimensional; that is, he employs his vocal, physical, emotional and intellectual ability to send out the message across to the audience.

Traditional African festival is an indigenous cultural institution, Ogunba (1970) which is mostly attached to a supernatural being, deity or a defined ancestor. To this extent therefore, it can be said that most traditional African festivals are religious at base and inspirational.

Festivals tend to have a story within a myth to reveal its essence and each making use of its own styles in the dramatic realization of the story in the myth. Ogunba (1970, p.

105) in his essay „Traditional African Festival Drama,‟ is able to distinguish between a festival that can be regarded as drama and a religious communion. The traditional African festival is that which has in it the process of arts, of costuming, masking, drumming, chanting, dancing, and several others which are all utilized to bring out its dramatic nature. The other festival which he refers to as a religious communion is the ceremony in which everybody participates and that which does not admit spectators. Ogunba (1970, p.

98) believes that “drama is an imitation of an action”. He believes that in ritual sacrifices, there is always a role change as it is those roles changes that makes ritual possible, enabling the audience to cut the individual and substitute the character.

Aristotle in his Poetics argues that „man is the most imitative creature in the world and learns first by imitation‟ (127). The embryonic man used imitation to develop his society, to increase his hunting success and to bring rain for his crops. In these rituals, he used mask, dance and music. Thus, this theory has been widely accepted for the evolution of theatre. The view in summary is that the rites of the primitive man contain aspects of theatre because costumes and make-up, music and dance were constantly used. Horns,

(1981, p. 182) adds “man attempts to communicate directly with the supernatural, with the world of forces beyond his control”. To Horns therefore, the ultimate end of ritual is to cause the spirit and gods to commune with the living.

Ritual, like most drama could be experienced commonly amongst members of the audience in addition to its more central purpose. This in effect means ritual encapsulates religious service (Catholic Mass) or a procedure regularly followed with same patterns always. Ritual has a revolutionary potential which can be integrated in to the revolutionary essence of theatre. So, ritual is not just a vehicle of communication, but it is what is communicated. Soyinka (1986, p. 56) „declares that drama emerges from the recombining essence of ritualism‟. This is realized to the fact that most African festival are ritualistic in nature with lots of imitations of various actions as being depicted by the chief priest and other characters involved. According to Clark, (1968)

Theater and drama means the elegant imitation of some action significant to a people… if the ritual elements to such representation or evocation are speech, music, ritual, song as well as dance and miming. (p. 46)

A typical example is the role played in Nakenyare performance by the Banba‟ado who played or tried imitating the various characters, whose life styles were captured in the various songs sung during the festival with the intent of bringing the character to life and giving a vivid description of the character or the action depicted by the character in question.

From the several perspectives, it seems that in Africa, the roots of theatre and drama must be sought in the numerous religious festivals, and rituals ceremonies that exist in these societies Ogunbiyi (1981) asserts:

We can speak of Nigerian theatre and drama as a conglomeration of several ethnic dramas, each with distinct specialties of its own, even if it manages to share a few characteristic of basic features with others. (p. 16)

The above view is basically true of the diverse nature of Nigeria as a country, and its multifarious ethnic group is considered. However, if we accept the view of Aristotle that drama is essentially a product of man‟s numeric impulses, we cannot but agree with

Enekwe Ossei when he says that: „…any ritual display which contains numeric impulse ought to be classified as drama, not purely ritual‟ (1981, p.156). He goes further to say that, ritual displays that reveal their style of presentation, their purpose and great value of evidence of „imitation, enlightenment and entertainment, can be said to be drama, like the scene preceding the festivities is drama…‟ The relationship between theatre and ritual is not antipodal because according to Ossei (1981) „They are reciprocal in function and similar in structure‟ (p. 160).

Ossei further assert, that: „a ritual becomes entertainment once it is outside its original context or belief that sustains it‟ (1981, p.162). The intention here is not to go into the arguments of whether ritual should yield its story and create theatre but to indicate that traditional festival is subsumed in rituals and that most of its aspects constitute dramatic experiences.

1.10 Review of Related Literature

This section deliberates and reviews literature discourse that is related to the research topic and the research questions postulated in the course of the research.

African theatre is not merely an entertainment activity but a ritual and religious performance, with various theatrical elements which are abundant in various festival performances with a lot of rituals involved. In other words, African theatre is not just communal merry-making gatherings but a feast or fiesta for the deities, ancestors and for man‟s recreational purposes. While some traditional African drama falls within the sacred species that deal with the sacred cults as well as ancestral spirits, as correctly noted by Ogunbiyi (1981, p. 98), „it is a sacred dramatic ritual containing drama, dance and songs‟. This is further explained in the Ekpe festival of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria as stated by Amnkulor (1981),which is a religious/ ritual and dance drama that:

Possesses the germ of good drama …with great potentials of

African music drama art and religion. Like all great developments in the sphere of tradition, ritual and

Religions are ceremonies rites designed to solve practical problems by putting the worshipper in rapport with the forces that control him. (p. 138)

It clearly shows from the above statement that, African drama/ festival is formed from the act of worship of the various deities and man ancestors done by man as a sign of respect and religious observance done through ritual ceremonies as a means of devotion that can lead to channels of solution to its society‟s challenges. This is typical to how Nakenyare Festival of the Chamba Leko people got its origin.

This situation is very much akin to Andrew Horn‟s (1981) description of ritual drama and theatre in the Bori performance which he states as follows:

…frequently, there is a dramatic quality of cult behaviour. Usually it involves… the use of a specific spirit language or vocabulary and the assumption, often with notable

histrionic skill, of a pattern of behaviour accepted as appropriate to the spirit that is supposed to be present. (p.192)

This kind of ancestral cult and worship abound in virtually all traditional African societies and they find expression in traditional ceremonies and festivals thereby forming the nucleus of their culture.

The Ogori festival of the Ijo–speaking people who live around the Eastern Niger Delta, is a typical festival comparable to the Ekpe festival and the Bori spirit worship festival. According to Ekerejola (1970), this festival which is fully engrossed in dance, songs and music:

always takes place in the whole Akoko area in one form or the other. In Ogori, it is called Okeni

and was being accompanied with drumming and

abusive songs. (p.70)

The songs that accompany the Ogori festival are made to satirize social ills, behaviours and conditions such as drunkenness, physical ugliness, stupidity and mental illness in persons from the various clans.

Another traditional performance similar to those mentioned above as earlier noted by Andrew Horns (1981, p. 186), is the „Bori‟ ritual performance by the Hausa. Here, songs and dances are effectively utilized to aid in symbolic interpretation of the characters. According to kofoworola (1981, p. 176), these aspects tend to effect a sociopsychological and cultural fulfilment in the participating individuals as well as the corporate society.

As aptly observed by Ossei (1981), traditional African festivals and ceremonies are intricately embedded within their various cultures. He is of the view that African traditional ceremonies are:

Participative and celebrative…because they combine many art forms such as music, dance, acting, miming, mask, painting, singing, dialogue…(p.12)

This is to bring to an understanding the various forms and the availability of theatrical elements available within the African festival with the likes of Nakenyare festival of the Chamba Leko arts form having in it and the abandoments of music and dance, masquerading and acting through the imitations of actions by the Banba‟ado with miming and singing.

In a book titled Some Nigerian Fertility Cults, Talbot (1967), gives a vivid account of the festivals performed by the Igbo people in the beginning of the farming season thus:

At the planting of new farms, the members of each compound assemble beneath the family tree and give a great play. At such times they dance and sing robed in their best… Again at harvest time, another play is held to thank the gods for their share of crops. (p.12) Talbot‟s account of this festival is very similar to that of many other indigenous Nigerian festivals in terms of purpose, content and the period of the festival performances. The Kuchicheb festival of the Kuteb people of Taraba state, located in north-east geopolitical zone of Nigeria, is one example of such festivals. According to Emmanuel Taparki (1989, p. 8), the festival is conducted with the sole aim of inculcating traditional values in order to bring back memories of their ancestral beliefs and awareness of the temporal and spiritual past of the Kuteb society.

As in other similar festivals, the dry season is the time when the community gives thanks to the supreme God whom they refer to as Riman, for the bountiful harvest of the previous year while asking for more in the coming season. As features in the traditional performances of other Afican cultures; songs, drumming, dancing and rituals acts are among forms which the Kuteb consider as one of the most important aspects of their cultural existence.

The above examples of traditional African performances clearly show that although the traditional ceremonies which are deeply embedded in the African culture may vary from one community to another, there are similarities in the forms and methods of performance.

Victor Turner‟s (1987) write up on „Performance reflexivity‟ sees as a condition in which every socio-cultural group used the medium of rituals to examine the various ritualistic styles and its norms, codes, roles, statues, social structures, symbols etc, within a giving performance.

Turner‟s works are mostly on the threshold of a western festival performance. He discusses mostly the Western European culture, social and ritual processes in non-literate cultures of some complexity communities such as Swazi, Maya, and Pueblo Indians.

The Chamba Leko Nakenyare festival, though can be seen to some extent from a non-literate society, but the focus of this research work is quite different from the trust of Tuner‟s work, as the research looks at the various theatrical elements within an African festival and not focusing on the threshold of the performance nor just the various codes and system in relationship with culture and performative reflexivity.

This research work looks at the theatrical elements and its various communicative importances within the Chamba Leko culture and tradition. And this creates a gap between the two researches, as most of Tuner‟s research findings and what his works have discovered had nothing to do with the research topic under investigation and therefore, create a missing links between Tuner‟s research work and the theatrical elements in Nakenyare festival of the Chamba Leko people from Adamawa state, Nigeria.

On the basic contribution to the study of performance Schechner (1988) looks at the concept of what is known as restored behaviour. To restore to him it means to store, transmit, manipulate and transformed. Schechner looks at rehearsal as an essential element of the restored behaviour through rituals, funerals and its combination symbolic reflexive behaviour. Schechner (1988) believes that any event, action, item or behaviour may be examined as performance. He adds on the other hand that there are events that tradition and convention declare as performances. This is because such events do go through more than a few times of rehearsals to perfect it before presentation before an audience.

Schechner looks at performance from the Western cultural point of view, where performance is looked at as theatre, music and dance. He looks at what could be termed as a performance and what is performative about a performance. Schechner concept of performance is looked upon from the uniqueness of a performance and it‟s inherently nature of being unstable. His study of performance is from an academic discipline point of view. Richard Schechner (1988) claims that, performance is mainly looked upon from a cultural, political, ethnographic and hermeneutics both from a scholarly representation.

And the research topic on looks at the various theatrical elements within a traditional African festival of a particular African tribe, the Chamba Leko Nakenyare festival from Adamawa state, North Eastern Nigeria.

Since Schechner took a broad look at performances not only from a dramatic point of view but from Western performances made of musical opera and not at a particular African festival performance and its various theatrical elements. It then became the gap at which this study is bridging.

Ogunba Oyin (1967) sees festival as the overarching goal of economic activities in most traditional African society, with emphasis on the Yoruba traditional festival found in the south-western part of Nigeria. The overall objectives of all political, religious and social institutions and processes are achieved during the festival period. Where the community worships its gods, new title holders, new laws and political ties are created and made. It is a period where all the creative genius of an African people are produced within the course of the year to showcase their ability in making-clothes, masks, shoes, music, dance and the accoutrement of culture-are put on display for appreciation, critical assessment, entertainment and education of the community. Therefore, a festival is live, immediate and a cultural display. It is meant to animate life, celebrate achievement and oil the wheel that connects people to the divinities.

A typical Nigerian festival as mentioned by Ogunba in the above statement is a communal activity done by a specific community, through a performative means that involves all community members and with impersonative actions, physical movements and lots of gestures on a space created for the performance. Even though the Ogunba understand festival from the performance aspect, the consequences from the discourse and the research topic intended is that the research topic explores the theatrical elements of the Nakenyare festival of the Chamba Leko people while Ogunba is looking at festival performances from the Yoruba traditional cultures. It is important to draw out the difference between the above statement and Oyin Ogunba‟s discourse on the Yoruba

traditional festivals. While most Yoruba festivals are ritualistic in nature, the Nakenyare festival performance is ritualistic at the pre-festival rites, where it involved a complete adulation and imitation of the gods by the priests while the performance is free from ritual activities but concentrates with the beauty in the art of theatrical displays within the performance itself.

Just as the functionalists are concerned with the functions which oral art forms perform in the society, looking at the useful aspect of an “orator” rather than the beauty of theatrical elements within a performance, functionalists emphasize more on the important functions of an oral performance performed in the society.

Considering the above statement, the research work has acknowledged a gap in that, the functionalists are deeply concerned with oratory and the functions of a performance and not the theatrical elements which the research work aimed at identifying within the Nakenyare festival performance and bringing out its essence within the performance.

This study is concerned with debunking the view of the Eurocentric critics with the likes of Ruth Finnegan, that Africa does not have a literary tradition of her own which constitutes performances. The critics project the fact that before the advent of Western education, Africa had their literature which is oral in nature, and performative. The Eurocentric critics opine that African literature should not be seen as an appendage of western literature/performance and English language should not be used as a criterion for assessing African literature and theatre performances. This assertation has not addressed the issue and discourse on theatrical and dramatic elements of oral literature which is the basic elements of an African oral literature.

D.N. Bobzom and M.G. Govomsi (2001) in their write up, Teach yourselfChamba: the language and culture: basically wrote on the basic things young Chamba should know about their culture and tradition: things to do with meaning of names and basic communication. Nothing is mentioned on festival or theatrical elements. Likewise, Samani Emmanuel and Danbello I. Ahmadu both in their academic essays, gave analysis on various classifications of Chamba songs and their meaning and do not address the theatrical elements of Nakenyare festival performance.

Odipo‟s (2016) study centres on the use of theatre as a strategy for healing and reconciliation in the after math of a conflict. The research work makes use of plays performed at the Kenya National drama festival. It looks at written play text by variousplaywright and focuses on the themes they address.

Yamma‟s (2016) study, attempts to establish and analyse the dramatic and theatrical aesthetics (elements) in the Izara festival of Amo people of north central Nigeria. His research work is similar to this study in terms of both looking at theatrical elements. However, the two study‟s address different festivals; Izara festival of the Amo people and Nakenyare festival of the Chamba Leko people.

Were‟s (2014) conducted his research work on how Bukusu traditional initiation can be considered as Edurama. It also investigates whether drama existed within the

Bukusu land through their initiation festival ceremonies before the advent of colonialism. The research work provided answer to the type of drama and the nature of educational learning processes that exists in the Bungoma county of Kenya.

The observable gaps in all these reviews included the fact that they are referring to other cultures other than Nakenyare of the Chamba Leko festival. In addition, none of the studies mentioned above focused on the theatre elements within Nakenyare Festival. Thus, a careful consideration of the theatre elements in Nakenyare festival is necessary to bring out its aesthetics and essence in ritual performances. And a consideration of the theatre elements in any festival can help in not only shaping the festival for better value but modified to continue to be relevant in today‟s world. It would also enable one to know what is essentially missing and possibly investigate how and why.

1.10.1Conceptual Definition of Festival

Festival is a gathering of people celebrating an event that has a very unifying significance among the social group of people involved. It is one way of knowing the major goal and interest that exists between people of common objective, origin, task, and ideas. According to Otete (1979, p. 43), festivals have been a form of coming together of a social group with the intention of celebrating their history, way of life, belief system, custom and the communication of their traditional way of life.Just as Anpe (2015, p. 57) states, „festivals are important cultural recognition of the society which people live and it is one way of knowing people‟s identity in life‟. This is typical of the Nakenyare festival.

Amali (1985, p. 86) refers to a festival as an event or occasion, a feast, a celebration and, above all, a remembrance whereby all people involved no matter where they are and especially those in the society, remember the passing away of their forefathers, in the form of eating, singing and having merriment in oneness and love, by bringing people of different social backgrounds to gather together and perform what is required of them.

The origin of communal celebration is a matter of conjecture. Folklorists, for example, believe that the first festival arose because of the anxieties of early people who did not understand the forces of nature and wished to placate them. General agreement exists that the most ancient festivals and feasts were associated with planting and harvesting times or with honouring the dead (Amadi.1980, p. 133). These have continued into modern times as secular festivals, with some religious overtones.

African festival and feasts have many uses and value beyond the public enjoyment of a celebration. In pre-historic societies, festivals like the Nakenyare were believed to provide an opportunity for elders to pass on folk knowledge and the meaning of tribal love to younger generations. Festival is celebrating the founding of a given nation or the date of withdrawal of foreign invaders from its borders that bind their citizens in a unity that transcends personal concerns.

Festival is a period of re-union, a time to strengthen existing cohesion and group solidarities. Many festivals also help in the development of the human person in diverse ways-socially, morally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. This will help include in the young generations the cultural heritage of their fore-bearers, so that they may in turn preserve it for posterity. Festivals as we know have religious, ritual and educative functions which border very much on faith and the traditional values of a giving society. This has to do with the accepted principals or modes of approaches as beliefs by participating members of a given community; it is also believed that the Nakenyare

festival cannot be an exception.

Festivals of many types serve to meet specific needs as well as provide entertainment. These times of celebration offer a sense of belonging for religious, social or geographical groups. Modern festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic topics seek to inform members of their tradition through stories in the free leisure period of the elderly and it is marked as a time when the elders transferred certain knowledge to the next generation. The Nakenyare festival is a living example of such period of knowledge transfer by the older generation to new generation.

Festivals are feasts in various societies and are regarded as communal celebration involving carefully planned programmes, outpouring of respects, rejoicing or high revelry, established by custom and tradition of the people. Ogunba (1982, p. 38) asserts that: on the secular belief that festival celebrations differs from religious festivals and feasts in that the focus is not on the significance of the rituals of holy days of a particular faith but on the public honouring of outstanding persons, the commemoration of important historical or cultural events, or the re- creation of cherished folkways. In some parts of the world, however, particularly in Latin America and southern Europe, traditional secular festivities follow attendance at religious services.

Festivals and feasts in the modern Chamba Leko communities are centred on the customs of the people to enrich understanding of their heritage and traditional norms. Mbiti, (1975, p. 11) further stresses that: cultural festivals are very significant because they serve as avenues through which the people commune with their ancestors, worship and offer sacrifices to gods for prosperity and protection.

Festival in the Chamba Leko is a period of re-union, a time to strengthen existing cohesion and group solidarities. The Nakenyare festival also helps in the development of the Chamba Leko man in diverse ways: socially, morally, physically, emotionally and spiritually to include in younger generations the cultural heritage of their fore-bearers so that they may in turn preserve it for posterity.

Festivals as we know served but as religious, ritual and educative functions which border very much on faith and the traditional values of a given society. This had to do with the accepted principals or modes of approaches as beliefs by participating members of a given community.

1.10.2 Types of Festivals

Festivals are usually staged by local communities centred on their existence, tradition and the manner in which they celebrate some unique aspects of that community. There are numerous types of festivals in the world. Many Festivals have religious origins, while others involve seasonal change or have some cultural significance. The following are different types of festivals as postulated by Akporobaro, (2012, p. 10) which include:

Cultural festivals: The festivals of many ethnic and national groups are credited with the preservation of unique customs and traditions. This Festivals stress on family unity and cultural self-determination responsibility, purpose, creativity and faith. It involves communal feast as occasions for eating drinking and merry making.
Seasonal Festivals: Seasonal festivals are determined by the solar and lunar calendars and by the cycle of the seasons. The changing of the season is celebrated because of its effects on food supply. Akporobaro, (2012, p. 13). Ancient Egyptians would celebrate the seasonal foundation caused by the Nile

River, a form of irrigation, which provided fertile land for crops.

Day of the Dead: This is the festival of respect and honour for the dead, especially national heroes. It includes family reunions and ceremonial meals at ancestral tombs.
Harvest and Thanksgiving Festival: Harvest festivals are inheritance from the ages when agriculture was the primary livelihood. In Africa, for instance, the harvest festival is of religious nature and involves a lot of dancing and music. In some Eastern parts of Nigeria, the yam festival is celebrated with days of marrymaking and offerings of yams to the ancestors and the gods. Akporobaro, (2012, p. 16). Thanksgiving goes with harvest, it is a day celebrated in many lands across Africa and at various times of the year. It is a celebration of gratitude.

One can observe that even with this categorization, there is a particular African theatre with more than one of the features outlined. In Africa, a cultural festival can be termed as harvest season and thanksgiving festival. Examples of such festivals include; Abiya festival, Argungu Fishing Festival, Mumbara, Lela and the Nakenyare Festivals of the Chamba Leko people, celebrated annually in Adamawa and Taraba states of north eastern part of Nigeria.

The new Yam festival of the Igbo people in eastern part of Nigeria for example, is a ceremony carried out with intensive activities such as dances, music and feasting as a mark of jubilation of bountifully abundance of food. It is also significant for us to note that as societies change they affect the characteristics of traditional festivals, which may alter it, and new ones could emerge out of the alteration, some other ones may decline in its popularity and characteristic due to these changes. Most likely however, some festivals will remain unaltered for generations.

1.10.3 Functions of a festival

According to Adedeji (1969), festival is a medium that offers the people an escape from their everyday life and a way to express themselves through songs and other performative forms. It also offers the people a way to lease out their resentments on societal ills and some form of entertainment.

Akporobaro (2012) however noted to the individuals and the society at large, the functions festivals play in every African society. He asserts that:

In festivals the mimetic instinct, the desire to act, to demonstrate and mask and dance and speak and worship and be spectacular all come together to generate a unifying social activity that generates both social pleasure and fulfilment of multiple needs of the society. (p. 28)

Going by the above assertion therefore, Akporobaro states clearly that in most societies, festivals play very important roles that are linked to the survival of the society. The following are the functions of festivals as posited by Akporobaro (2012, p. 18):

Festivals provide the avenues for the proportions of gods, goddesses and spiritual powers.
Festivals do also serve as social means of ushering in a period of prosperity and fertility in the life of the community.
Festivals function as celebrations of some past historical events in the life of the community.
Through festivals, people re-invoke the gods and secure (gods) their attention and help towards the protection of the society.
Festivals help to empower the people in times of war.
To provide a context for myth making.
Festivals served as avenue for arranging marriages.
They are used for ushering the new seasons.
The purification of the land and forwarding of evil forces to show off to neighbours the power and strength and invulnerability of the community against external threats.

Akporobaro however concludes that all of these roles are fused together and each festival fulfils one or some of these aspects to varying degrees of cultural aesthetics and dramatic significance.

This study views Chamba Leko festivals as a social means of conserving the cultural heritage of the Chamba Leko people, and to adapt and teach their children the importance of the Chamba Leko physical environment and also teach them the societal norms, how to use it, and explain to them that their future and that of their community depends on the perpetuation and understanding of the tribal institutions on the values, norms and laws inherited from the past.

1.10.4 Performance: An outline

Kofowarala and Yusef make the point that; „most performing arts are either a celebration of life or an entertainment or sometimes a representation of imitation of life or something larger than life‟ (1987, p. 39).

The term „performance‟ has become extremely popular in recent years in a wide range of activities in the arts, in literature, and in the social sciences. Since it requires high popularity, its usage has grown too. Turner (1987) has this to say:

Performance is no longer easy to define or locate. The concept and structure have spread all over the place. It is ethnic and intercultural, historical and history… Performance is a mode of behaviour, an approach to experience; it is play, sport, aesthetic, popular entertainment, experimental theatre and more… (p.13)

Turner (1987) maintains that the word „performance‟ also includes ritual reading and worship recitations activities like catholic mass and other religion and ritual activities within a specific period of time.

The existence Oral performance is, unlike written literature, dependent on a performer who composes certain songs on specific occasions or imitates an action of a character. As such, their product is regarded as performance because of its nature. The writer can stop to ponder and re-arrange his paragraphs or sentences while an oral performer has no time to reflect and he is always composing under the pressure of sustaining an active communication process between his audience and himself.

Turner (1987) noted that, our everyday activity is performance. This is basically so because as humans, we play roles or positions that are known or unknown to us. Each of these performances has definite, limited time span, most times in an organized performance of activity, where a set of performance takes place; performance can also be seen in ritual and religious rites. Doki, (2007) puts it this way:

Symbolic expression of religious convictions that are usually performed at traditionally prescribed times. Such activities as prayers, reading recitation sacrifices, exorcism, dancing, fasting and feats often play an important part to religious and ritual songs. (p.37)

This is referring to the kind of performances that mostly take place around religious centres and grounds, where devotees make incantations, sing songs, pray and perform ritualistic acts through performance. Doki further affirms that performance of ritual songs can reassure worshipers that their faith in their religion is justified.

In conclusion, it is understood that the main means of oral performance is through singing, dancing and spoken voice.

1.11 Theoretical Framework

This study applied performance theory by Richard Schechner. It also drew from

Victor Turner‟s theory of the Ritual theatre. From a performance theory point of view, the study identified and examined various theatre elements within a theatre performance.

1.11.1 Performance Theory

Performance theory is credited to Richard Schechner (1988) as one of its founders. Schechner advanced the science of performance studies by examining the idea of a performance in terms of its repeatability, doubling (copying from something else) and the connection between “acting” and “being”. It is within the discourse of the theory

that this study examined the Nakenyare performance of the Chamba Leko nation.

In performance, the artist pretends to be someone other than oneself and such is an example of a particular kind of human “behaviour” that Schechner labels as “restored behaviour” (1988, p.11). Schechner‟s concept of “restored behaviour” points to a quality of performance rendered which has nothing to do with the display of skills but rather to show a certain distance that exists between self and behaviour; which in this context is analogous between a performer and the role he or she is performing on a given space. Even when the action is identical to one in real life, it is considered to be performed.

Performance is viewed from two different perspectives; the first, Schechner‟s point of view, examines the idea of a performance in terms of its repeatability, doubling

(copying from something else) and the connection between “acting” and “being”, while Olatunde looks at it from involving display, less of a particular skill than of a recognized and culturally coded pattern of behaviour inherited from one‟s family or clan or artistic master (1988, p. 47-50).

Oral performance in recent times involves special skills and the use of very human agencies in delivering the art of performance. Mostly, society and its people reflect upon and define themselves, dramatize their collective myth and histories and present themselves with alternatives. The performance also functions as a kind of commentary on the social and cultural circumstances which occurred in the past or in the present.

In the current study, the researcher assumes that the theatrical elements within a performance are marked by performance aesthetics that include theatrical elements and heightened enactments which stand out in a unique way above any aspect of the theatre performance. The theory shows how most African performances and Nakenyare Festival in particular has grew out of special skills of performances from artists who did not only just learn the art from a master but it was an art that grew out as a result of family identity saddling the responsibility of handling a particular aspect of a giving performance.

1.11.2 Ritual Theatre Theory

Ritual theatre theory is credited to Victor Turner (1987). In using the medium of rituals, Turner examined the patterns of cultures through the signification of ritualistic styles and norms. He saw in ritual the potential to release people from the binding structures of their lives into a liberating anti-structure tendency through performances.

Rituals appeal to tradition and are generally designed to repeat historical precedents accurately. Traditionalism varies from formalism in that the ritual may not be formal but still make an appeal to the historical. The performance of ritual creates a theatrical-like frame around the activities, symbols and events that shape participants experience and cognitive ordering of the world, simplifying the chaos of life and composing a more or less coherent system of categories of meaning onto it.

According to Amali (1985, p.4), “ritual is a solemn or religious ceremony which is performed in an established or preserved manner with spoken dialogue and action.” This assertion presupposes that the aura of spirituality around the would-be participants gives the ritual its religious inclination.

Similarly, analysing ritual theory as a component of religion, Doki, (2006) sees ritual as:

Symbolic expression of religious convictions that are usually performed at traditionally prescribed times. Such activities as prayers, reading, recitations, sacrifices, exorcism, dancing, fasting and feast often play an

important part in religious rituals. (p.36)

Doki looks at religious performance as not only an entertainment but a fully symbol representation of the people‟s belief through the various acts of worship that involved incantations, prayers at the shrines and worship centres. A typical behaviour of the Chamba Leko people during the Nakenyare performance, Su‟u devotees converge at his shrine to pray and ask for favours during the year‟s harvest, for good health and for protections from within and outside enemies. Thus, such acts of worship are performed with symbolic expression of a devotees mine.

Further contributing to the theory of ritual and religion in the life of individuals, Horns, submits that „man attempts to communicate directly with the supernatural with the world of forces beyond his control‟ (Horns, 1981, p. 182). To Horns therefore, the ultimate end of ritual is to cause the spirits and gods to commune with the living.

On the above standpoint, the performance theory and Ritual theory were used in this study in two ways. The first was through the performance theory to identify the various theatre elements and to enumerate their significance within the Nakenyare performance. These theatre elements include; costume, make-up, music and dance, theatre space, masquerading, impersonation, enactment, dialogue and repetition.

Secondly, the Ritual theory was used to analyse the significance and ways of sustaining the continuity of the performance through the ritualistic repetition of the initiation performances. Such analysis through the two theories yielded information important for understanding and identifying the various theatre elements and revealing their significance to the Chamba Leko communities.

1.12 Research Method

This study adopts qualitative ethnography research method. It is an in-depth-study of naturally occurring behaviour within a culture or social group. This method enables the researcher to understand the relationship between culture and behaviour; with culture referring to the beliefs, values and attitudes of a specific group of people. It also observes culture in a real-life setting because human behaviour or culture can be fully understood only by knowing the setting in which it occurs.

1.12.1 Research Location

This research study was conducted in three Local Government Areas namely

Fufore, Ganye and Jada in Adamawa State North Eastern Nigeria. This is because the Chamba Leko ethnic group is the dominant inhabitant of those areas.

1.12.2 Population of the Study

This refers to the group of people, items, or units under investigation. It is the totality or aggregate of events which form the subject matter of research observation.The population size is drawn from the three different local governments within the Chamba

Leko community which is documented as 600,032 (National population commission 2006) this was the last census conducted in Nigeria.

The sample size of 50 respondents was picked from the three local governments. An interview was conducted in groups to get good results. The 50 respondents were hand-picked: 20 youths (10 young men aged between 15-25 and 10 ladies aged between 15 -25 also were picked) 10 chiefs/traditional title holders; representing word heads and the different family clans. 10 women (representing the voma cult, market women and the age others ) 10 Artists (this group has the combination of singers, dancers, drummers, flute blowers ).The categories of respondents interviewed as mentioned above, did not represent the 10% of the population but it represented the active population involved actively during the Nakenyare performance. To justify this method adopted, each group mentioned above was given the same chance to express their view. Mapping the respondents into these groups helped the researcher to have some point of view of the general population of the community on the outcome of the festival.

1.12.3 Sampling techniques and Sample Size

The sample techniques used for this study were purposive and snowball random sample techniques. Purposive sampling is a sampling technique that allows a researcher to select respondents that provide the required information with respect to the objectives of his or her study (Mugenda, 2013, p. 41). The method enables the researcher to target informants that are well knowledgeable in respect to the objectives of the proposed study. It was useful in targeting the chiefs, youth, women and custodians of the tradition and customs who are directly involved in dealing with the pre-performative nature of the performance and the performance, in a group discussion, so as to give more highlight on the pre-festival happening and the performance proper. Likewise, purposeful sampling also aimed at the youths in a group interview, because they are the majority performers, so as to give clarity on issues that has to do with the performance proper. Random sampling techniques included a sample size drawn from the youth group, traditional Title holders (chiefs) and women groups.

1.12.4 Methods of data collection

The study used primary data gathered from respondents through observation, participation and semi-structured group interviews. The interviews involved a series of open-ended questions on the importance of festival performance in the Chamba Leko Nakenyare festival. The open-ended nature of questions provided opportunities for both the interviewer and interviewees to discuss the topic in more elaborate and detail. Under interviews, each of the priests from the three LGA was represented, and interviews were conducted in three groups namely youth, women and chiefs. Guides were developed for each group.

The questions were pre-tested and adjusted appropriately with a view of enhancing its effectiveness in collecting relevant information during the study. Section A of the interview guide solicited for information on the availability of theatrical elements and their essence within the performance. Section B of the interview guide contained question on the effectiveness of communication function of the various theatrical elements within the Nakenyare performance. The observation helped during the Festival performance.

Secondary data was obtained from a wide range of written material that contributed to broader understanding of the existence of theatre elements in the Nakenyare performance.

1.12.5 Data Collection Techniques

This study used both primary and secondary sources of data collection.The primary sources included: participant observation, analysis of recorded past Nakenyare performance, and recording of the current pre-performance rites through the use of digital and manual cameras and audio/ digital recorders, and a series of open-ended interpersonal interviews with the help of well-developed interview guides for each group, observation guide and personal information guide for the whole groups. The sample size was made of 50 respondents on face-to-face interviews.

The interviews were aimed at collecting data from the respondent‟s knowledge of the performance from pre-festival rites to the performance proper. Secondary sources included; textbooks, magazines, newspapers, reports, journals, periodicals, archival sources and online sources.

Data collection took up to a period of three months from the month of April 2016 to June 2016. The pre-festival rites took place towards the end of April. The main performance of Nakenyare is in December, but for the main performance, the researcher analysed recorded performances in cd/video tapes (DVD) of a period of 5 years for effective data gathering.

Thematically, the study set the various findings into objective-oriented groups for ease of analysis and interpretation. Consequently, for each objective, there was a corresponding set of data collected, which was appropriate for advancing the various discursive arguments proposed for each objective.

1.12.6 Data Presentation and Analysis

Data collected from these sources were analysed using content analysis approach, at the same time using performance analysis established according to Richard Schechner (2003) and propounded by Gloria Olatunde (2010). The theatrical elements of the research study area anchored within Victor Turner‟s theory of Ritual theatre.

The data is presented in a form of analytical discourse. This involves analyzing facts and information gathered through personal interactions, interviews, observations, and transcription of audio visual materials as well as secondary information gathered through review of related literature.The data was gathered under a thematic framework. The interpretation of semi- structured or unstructured data entails theory building. The data was arranged around the three research objectives. This assisted in weeding out unnecessary data/ information. After analysis, data was reviewed to see the patterns that emerged from the study objectives so as to help prioritize the findings and help in giving good recommendations that arose from the various findings.

1.12.7 Ethical considerations

Before going into the field for proper examination and data collection, the researcher sought permission from the following gate-keepers.

Voma-Is a non-royal institution. The voma society is a male cult in all Chamba Leko kingdoms.
Ba nwana (Nwana- Billa); the traditional custodians and king makers.
Vomakeina– a group of women whose major roles are the choristers singing voma songs during the public appearance in Nakenyare performance. They are the women cult of voma, devoted Su‟u female worshipers.

The researcher treated all respondents with sensitivity, care and dignity. The researcher made sure that the respondent‟s identity remains anonymous and this was achieved through not asking the various respondents their personal details like names, address and contacts during the interview. Respondents were given the right to ask any questions for better understanding and clarity of the exercise before and during the period of the interviews.

1.12.8 Reliability and Validity

Reliability is the degree to which a test consistently measures whatever it measures. Errors of measurement that affect the reliability are mostly random errors and errors of measurement that affect validity are mostly systematic or constant errors. Questionnaires are put to use before the informal interview to ensure that everything is clear and free from any ambiguity that may have arisen. To assist the study, three chiefs, six youths and five women were given the research measurement instruments for use as a pilot project to conduct the assessment of the validity of the research, it was meant to conceivably give a projection of the findings. From the pilot project, the study was analysed and discussed with the custodians of the Chamba Leko traditions. Items found to be ambiguous or unclear were reconstructed or deleted.

Within this study, the design selected was expected to control the effects of the most common threats to the internal validity to which experimental studies are often susceptible. Because the respondents were only interviewed just once, other meetings were organized between them and the researcher. Factors such as instrumentation testing and history did not threaten the validity of the study even as the study deals with the festival of a people.

In other to understand the discourse on the festival of the Chamba Leko people, the Nakenyare performance, the study examines a discourse on the descriptive analysis of the Nakenyare performance known as „Van Baruma‟.

THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN NAKENYARE FESTIVAL OF THE CHAMBA LEKO PEOPLE OF ADAMAWA STATE OF NIGERIA

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THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN NAKENYARE FESTIVAL OF THE CHAMBA LEKO PEOPLE OF ADAMAWA STATE OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

1.2 Brief History of Chamba People

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem

1.4 Research Objectives

1.5 Research Questions

1.6 Research Assumptions

1.7 Significance and Justification of the Study

1.8 Scope of the Study

1.9 Literature Review

1.10 Review of Related Literature

1.10.1Conceptual Definition of Festival

1.10.2 Types of Festivals

1.10.3 Functions of a festival

1.10.4 Performance: An outline

1.11 Theoretical Framework

1.11.1 Performance Theory

1.11.2 Ritual Theatre Theory

1.12 Research Method

1.12.1 Research Location

1.12.2 Population of the Study

1.12.3 Sampling techniques and Sample Size

1.12.4 Methods of data collection

1.12.5 Data Collection Techniques

1.12.6 Data Presentation and Analysis

1.12.7 Ethical considerations

1.12.8 Reliability and Validity

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ladychampionz

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ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

1.2 Brief History of Chamba People

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem

1.4 Research Objectives

1.5 Research Questions

1.6 Research Assumptions

1.7 Significance and Justification of the Study

1.8 Scope of the Study

1.9 Literature Review

1.10 Review of Related Literature

1.10.1Conceptual Definition of Festival

1.10.2 Types of Festivals

1.10.3 Functions of a festival

1.10.4 Performance: An outline

1.11 Theoretical Framework

1.11.1 Performance Theory

1.11.2 Ritual Theatre Theory

1.12 Research Method

1.12.1 Research Location

1.12.2 Population of the Study

1.12.3 Sampling techniques and Sample Size

1.12.4 Methods of data collection

1.12.5 Data Collection Techniques

1.12.6 Data Presentation and Analysis

1.12.7 Ethical considerations

1.12.8 Reliability and Validity

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About The Author

ladychampionz

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