Project Abstract

<p> The main objective of the study is to evaluate the contribution of<br>National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) to National<br>Development. Since its inception in 1975, the extent to which the<br>council has achieved its stated objectives has not been determined.<br>A comparison of reports in the arts and cultural sector reveals an<br>increasing need for information by way of statistics, inventories,<br>evaluation among others to assess and monitor the achievement of<br>the planned objectives of the sector. A descriptive survey method<br>was adopted for this research. The population consisted of all NCAC<br>staff at the headquarters in Abuja and ten zonal offices in the country.<br>Cluster sampling technique was used in the selection of the<br>population. The selection of the respondents was based on the<br>status of the respondents; they include directors, zonal head, heads<br>of department and units. A total of 122 respondents were sampled<br>for the study. Two research instruments (questionnaire and interview)<br>were adopted for the study. A five-point version of the likert scale<br>was used for the responses. These are “strongly agree” (SA) “agree”<br>(A), “neutral” (N) “disagree” (DA) and “strongly disagree” (SD).In<br>analyzing the data, a mean score was selected as the dividing point<br>7<br>between acceptable and unacceptable responses. The major findings<br>showed that the right qualities of staff were employed by the council<br>to run the affairs of the organization and the objectives of the cultural<br>policy as stated by the NCAC are adequate and relevant to the<br>development of the country. The council has been harnessing the<br>various resources from different parts of the country as a way of<br>contributing to the development of the national culture, unity, selfreliance<br>and self-sufficiency. The council contributed to the promotion<br>of research canters, craft canters, inventories of technology, cultural<br>directories, festivals, traditional sports and literature. The council<br>encourages viable industries in Nigerian traditional medicine, fashion,<br>food, architecture and entertainment. As the national secretariat of<br>other cultural agencies in the country, the Council has been able to<br>harness the various resources from different parts of the country in<br>contributing to the development of national culture, unity and self –<br>reliance through the establishment and promotion of national cultural<br>research centers, inventories of technology, national festivals and<br>viable industries in Nigeria <br></p>

Project Overview

<p> 1.0 INTRODUCTION<br>1.1 Background Information<br>The culture trends in Nigeria since the 1970s witnessed an<br>increasing awareness on the part of our political authorities to assert our<br>cultural identity as a means of bringing about positive changes in our<br>national out-look, as well as establishing greater confidence in our national<br>values and aspirations. A close examination of governmental activities by<br>Bello (1990) and Anka (1991) reveals a conscious effort on the part of the<br>then Military Government to use culture as an instrument for promoting<br>national unity and integration.<br>Apart from embarking on the policy of national reconstruction and<br>rehabilitation, the government went further to provide the much needed<br>institutional and administrative arrangement for the formulation and<br>implementation of our cultural policy. To this end, a Cultural Division which<br>later became the Department of Culture was created in 1972 within the<br>main Ministry while the National Council for Arts and culture (NCAC) was<br>established in 1975 as an autonomous parastatal (Ashiwaju, 1990).<br>Cultural trends in the 70s will however remain incomplete without<br>mentioning Nigeria’s hosting, of the second World Black and African<br>Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC). Apart from the tremendous cultural<br>awareness, and relative upsurge in cultural expenditure, which the festival<br>21<br>generated, Festac ‘77 left behind two important legacies that have<br>contributed in no small measure towards the promotion and development<br>of Nigerian and African culture thus; (1) The Centre for Black and African<br>Arts and Civilizations(CBAAC); (2.) The National Theatre Complex which<br>acts as the custodian of all the relics of Festac. The National Council for<br>Arts and culture was established by the NCAC Decree no. 3 of 1975 as the<br>body for national coordination of cultural and artistic promotion and<br>development in Nigeria. The Decree establishes a National Council for Arts<br>and Culture and vests it with the function, among others, of assisting the<br>Federal Government in the planning, coordination and encouragement of<br>art and cultural activities and in the promotion, revival and development of<br>Nigerian culture.<br>With the National Council for Arts and Culture amendment Decree of<br>1987, which took effect from the 1st April 1987, the function of the Council<br>was further enlarged and clearly spelt out as follows:-<br>a. to promote and foster the appreciation, revival and development<br>of Nigerian arts and culture;<br>b. to plan and coordinate cultural activities in Nigeria and foster the<br>development of literary, visual and performing arts in Nigeria;<br>c. to assist the antiquities and commission established under<br>section 3 of the antiquities act in the creation, acquisition and<br>22<br>preservation of artistic works, culture, monuments and<br>dispositions;<br>d. to organize and promote exhibitions in visual, performing and<br>literary arts as may be determined from time to time by the<br>minister;<br>e. to coordinate inter-state cultural exchange activities;<br>f. to render assistance to the states in the field of arts and culture;<br>and<br>g. to promote the development of music, traditional dance, drama,<br>opera, cinema, films, photography, folklore, oral traditional<br>literature, poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, town planning<br>and general arts, wood work, embroidery, weaving and similar<br>crafts. NCAC (Decree No 5).<br>The Decree No. 5 amends the National Council for Arts and Culture<br>Acts of 1975. Among other things, it was expected to reconstitute the<br>council and provide for the appointment of the Director and Secretary to<br>the council. The council also inherited the assets, and liabilities of the<br>defunct Nigerian Arts Council (section 14) of NCAC decree No3 of 1975)<br>which include programmes like the National festival of Arts and Culture<br>(NAFEST), National Art Collections, Crafts Shop and Art gallery.<br>Cultural Policy for Nigeria was launched by the then Military<br>Government in 1988 due to the increasing awareness and realization of<br>23<br>the role of culture in National Development. Cultural Policy covers all<br>spectrum of Nigeria’s cultural life including education, mass media,<br>architecture, industrialization, technology among others. The main<br>objectives of this policy are as follows:<br>i. to mobilize and motivate the people by disseminating and<br>propagating ideas which promote national pride, solidarity and<br>consciousness;<br>ii. to evolve from our plurality, a national culture, the stamp of which<br>will be reflected in African and World Affairs;<br>iii. to promote an educational system that motivates and stimulates<br>creativity and draws largely on our traditional values, namely;<br>respect for humanity and human dignity, respect for legitimate<br>authority and the dignity of labour and respect for positive<br>Nigerian moral and religious values;<br>iv. to promote creativity in the fields of arts, science and technology,<br>ensure the continuity of traditional skills and sports and their<br>progressive updating to serve modern development needs as our<br>contribution to world growth of culture and ideas;<br>v. to establish a code of behaviour compatible with our tradition of<br>humanism and a disciplined moral society.<br>24<br>vi. to sustain environmental and social conditions which enhance the<br>quality of life, produce responsible citizenship and ordered<br>society;<br>vii. to enhance the management of national resources through the<br>transformation of the indigenous technology, design – resources<br>and skills and;<br>viii. to enhance national self-reliance and self – sufficiency, and<br>reflect our cultural heritage and national aspiration in the process<br>of industrialization (FGN, 1988).<br>The objectives of the National Cultural Policy are founded on the<br>existence of basic qualities in our cultural heritage which, if properly<br>harnessed, are bound to promote nationhood and their impact on world<br>civilization. Since the launching of this Policy in 1988, several workshops<br>were held by NCAC for the purpose of working out comprehensive<br>strategies for the implementation of this policy. The NCAC has been<br>placing great emphasis on the Annual Festival of Arts and Culture<br>(NAFEST) as a platform for promoting inter-state cultural exchange and<br>fostering national unity.<br>National development depends on the understanding of the culture,<br>the adaptation of its elements for its political, educational and economic<br>development and its strengths for social integration and development.<br>National development results from a combination of the political, economic<br>25<br>and social objectives of a nation whose motivation derives from culture.<br>National development is concerned with:<br>i. a political system that ensures even development, creates national<br>consciousness and pride, and promotes national discipline and<br>accountability.<br>ii. an economic policy that promotes gainful employment for all and free<br>access to the economic well-being of the nation and establishes<br>measures to regulate the economy and promote the image of the<br>nation.<br>iii. social systems that improve the quality of life, establish firmly the<br>principles of human right, justice, security, law, and order and equal<br>opportunity for all; and<br>iv. an educational system that promotes our traditional value systems and<br>is designed to enhance national capabilities in self-reliance and selfsufficiency<br>(CPN, 1988).<br>1.2 Purpose of the Study<br>The purpose of the study is to evaluate the contributions of National<br>Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) to National Development. This has<br>become necessary because since its inception in 1975, the extent to which<br>the council has achieved its stated objectives has not been determined.<br>The decree establishing the NCAC has vested it with the function of<br>assisting the Federal Government in the planning, among other things,<br>26<br>coordinating and encouragement of arts and cultural activities in the<br>country. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the contribution of<br>NCAC to national development.<br>1.3 Statement of the Problem<br>Studies in the arts in Nigeria have shown that both have contributed<br>immensely to the socio-political, economic, religious, and educational<br>advancement to our communities and the nation at large. According to<br>Arinze (2001), arts and culture are rooted in our history, integrated into our<br>living patterns and inseparable from our spiritual philosophies. He<br>stressed that in recognition of their economic and cultural roles in National<br>development, the United Nations Education, Social and Cultural<br>Organization (UNESCO) in 1982 passed a resolution urging membernations<br>to allocate adequate resources within their cultural programme and<br>National Development plans.<br>Babalola (1983) further emphasize the role art can play and its<br>contributions to the development of a nation like Nigeria. He believes in<br>the contribution of art in the education of children in the home, community,<br>commerce, industry and the vitality art can bring to different areas of<br>National Development.<br>In-spite of these contributions and roles of art and culture to the<br>individual and the nation at large, its role and contributions has not been<br>adequately understood or appreciated. Udoh (2003) notes that the<br>27<br>concept of art and culture has not been fully grasped by the Nigerian<br>populace. He noted that art and culture are often regarded as inferior and<br>do not deserve much attention. Also, Osofisan (1992) notes that cultural<br>matters are still considered by government as mere entertainment.<br>Based on the preceding discussion, it is evident that within the<br>limited researches on art and culture and the NCAC in particular, there are<br>various views on the problems of the cultural sector in the country. The<br>study therefore evaluated the NCAC’s contribution as a coordinating body<br>for cultural development in Nigeria.<br>1.4 Research Questions<br>The following research questions were raised:<br>1. Are the set objectives of the NCAC adequate and relevant<br>to National Development?<br>2. Does the NCAC contribute to the development of the unity<br>of the country and prepare the nation for self-reliance and<br>self-sufficiency?<br>3. Does the NCAC activity promote the activities of cultural<br>research centers, craft centers, and the inventories of<br>technology, cultural directories, festivals, traditional sports<br>and literature?<br>28<br>4. Does NCAC encourage viable industries such as food,<br>fashion, traditional medicine, traditional architecture and<br>entertainment industries?<br>1.5 Justification of the Study<br>A comparison of reports made by Olaosebikan (1982), in the arts<br>and cultural sector, reveals an increasing need for information by way of<br>statistics, inventories, evaluation, among others in order to assess and<br>monitor the achievements of the planned objectives of the sector.<br>According to Udoh (2003), there is currently virtually, no information by<br>way of comprehensive inventories of existing cultural assets in the country.<br>Similarly, Ajadi (2003) notes that no comprehensive national bibliography<br>of source materials and literary art works or statistical computation of the<br>nations annual turn-over of relevant sub-sectors at the three levels of<br>government (Federal State and Local government).From the preceding<br>discussion there is the need for a research documentation of the activities<br>of NCAC in the national development of the country<br>Since the inception of the National Council for Arts and Culture in<br>1975, various activities and programmes were executed by the council.<br>The researcher is not aware of research activities which focus on how the<br>arts contribute to our national development, be it in social cultural,<br>industrial, religious, political or educational sphere. Therefore, there is the<br>29<br>need to study the relevance of the stated objectives of the council and the<br>role of the arts in national development.<br>From the foregoing, it is the view of the researcher that there is the<br>need to investigate and document the contribution of the arts to National<br>Development using National Council for Arts and Culture as a case study.<br>1.6 Basic Assumptions<br>The study was based on the following assumptions:<br>1. The negative attitude of the individual and society as well as the<br>government has an adverse effect on the outcome of the<br>contribution of arts to national development.<br>2. The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) has a role in<br>promoting arts contribution in national development<br>3. There is an absence of an in-depth documentation of arts<br>contribution in national development.<br>1.7 Scope and Delimitation<br>The purpose of this study was to assess and document the<br>contribution of the arts in national development a case study of National<br>Council for Arts and Culture. Therefore the study is limited to the Federal<br>National Council for Arts and Culture with Headquarters at Abuja and the<br>ten (10) Zonal Offices in the country. It will use only the relevant<br>departments.<br>30<br>The study was based on the available official information, files,<br>documents and data that the researcher will lay her hand on. It will also<br>be limited to the method used and this includes the use of questionnaire<br>and interviews guides in the collection of data. <br></p>