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Anaañ Festival of Art and Culture (AFAC)

In the past two years, lovers of art and culture had trooped into the  Anaañ nation to participate in the celebration of our rich culture heritage at Ikot Ekpene, the Raffia City. This great epoch came into manifestation with the birth of the Annang Festival of Art and Culture (AFAC). Annang Festival of Art and Culture is one of the projects of Nto Anaañ  Foundation. The festival started in 2016, under the able leadership of  Abom Ephraim Okon,  the second National President of  Nto Anaañ Foundation, Nigeria. The birth of AFAC was a manifestation of one of the missions and visions of Nto  Anaañ Foundation, and, of course, the brain child of the second national president, Abom Ephriam Okon, whose focus was to make Anaañ Nation a hub for Tourism. Therefore, the introduction of AFAC was a fulfilment of Gods plans for our nation, Anaañ, to be a centre for cultural, art, craft and other tourist attraction activities, which came to manifestation in 2016.

Culturally,  Anaañ Nation is one of the centres of art, culture and tourism in Nigeria. Most of the cultural artefacts are domiciled in the city of  Ikot Ekpene Local  Government Area. History had it that Ikot Ekpene  was one of the ancient cities in West Africa since  1930s. It was one of the colonial cities penetrated by the colonialists in the 1930s. This ancient city was the first experimental local government in West Africa far back to 1956. This development triggered the savouring of the existing rich craft, art and culture in Anaañ Nation. To this end, Nto Anaañ Foundation deemed it necessary to host the Annang Festival of art and culture in Ikot Ekpene, the ancient city of West Africa.

The festival is used as a platform to show-case the rich cultural heritage of the Anaañ Nation at the local, regional, national and international platforms. AFAC provides a linkage across cultures, tribes and regions. Participants at the AFAC 2016/2017 were drawn from  Akwa Ibom, Cross River, other parts of the country and the international world. Students, academia, traditionalists, politicians, tourists, farmers, craftsmen, artisans, artistes, poets, aesthetics, special talented groups including bikers all displayed their  talents at the great festival. Nto Anaañ Foundation have played host to two series of AFAC i.e. in 2016 and  2017 respectively.

The expected outcome of AFAC was to provide an avenue for tourism and investment in our nation Anaañ in order to establish a cross-socio-cultural linkage between Anaañ and the outside world, which shall, in turn, facilitate  various forms of activities across borders.

AFAC  2016

The 2016 marked a watershed on the renewal of the  Anaañ heritage by the Nto Anaañ Foundation, who hosted the world at Ikot Ekpene on  the great events of the Anaañ Festival of Arts and Culture (AFAC), which lasted seven days, with an average participation of 30,000 persons a day. The festival centred on the unification of the Anaañ citizens worldwide. The theme of the festival was ‟The Imperatives of Community, Culture, Arts and Crafts as a Panacea for Poverty Eradication, Co-existence and Sustainability Development.

The maiden edition of the festival started with a Carnival float around Raffia City of  Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area. The participants at the carnival were drawn from the eight Local government Areas of our great Anaañ  nation, to reflect unification of our people at the grass root level. Various other troupes participated and made the carnival highly colourful.

ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE OUTLINED ON SUMMARISED HERE

Papers were presented at the colloquium session by eminent Anaañ scholars.

The outcome of AFAC 2016 fostered the reviving of the rich cultural heritage of the Anaañ Nation. The positive effects of AFAC 2016 outcome encouraged the  Nto Anaañ Foundation to make the festival an annual event, in order to continue in reviving and  preserving   our rich culture.

AFAC 2017

On 14th-17th December, Ikot Ekpene was ceased by tourists, journalists and all lovers of Anaañ, who trooped into the modern city of West Africa to attend the 2017 Annang Festival of Art and culture. About fourteen troupes anchored the carnival. The carnival was participated by the  eight Local government areas in the  Anaañ  nation. Each  Local Government Area was represented with a Cultural Band, making it a total of eight cultural Bands. Other troupes were;  eighteen Nto Anaañ Foundation troupes in the country, troupes from socio-cultural organizations, representatives of student troupes from three campuses in the state, bikers troupes,  tradesmen/women and  the youths among others.

At about 7.30 am, the 400 metre ‘Iso Ekpo Ñkụk-ubia’ (a profane but feared and dreaded mask in Anaañ), was unveiled, to kick-start AFAC 2017 followed by a street carnival. The trend had colourful cultural displays by mboppo (ñkụụghọ), abia-akpọ, ikon, ekọọñ, and other cultural troupes, including  various troupes of  ekpo, to mention but a few.

At the end of the carnival, everyone assembled at the Ikot Ekpene Stadium for a welcome remark by the president, Abom Ephraim Okon, who declared the festival officially opened. In his remarks, he ensured all participants to expect a colourful and entertaining festival. This was followed by the Governors address. The Peak of the days festival was entertainment from various cultural groups. Dr Uko Akpan, a man of philosophical cultural songs, rendered a beautiful tune on the history of Akwa Ibom State. There were the choral groups from the Anaañ students, Afagha Nsit Chapter. Mboppo, ubom isọñ, ability in disability, ikon, women groups, colourful ekpo groups, traditional ekpo groups, utuuekpe, etc. Which, all added colours to the event.

A session of colloquium was designed for the evolution of the Anaañ culture on the second day. Scholars presented papers on different areas, focusing on  ‟Our Culture, Our Pride”, which was the  theme of AFAC 2017.The special guest, the Ecuador Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Leopoldo Rovayo Verdesolo with his dear wife was welcomed by troupes of cultural dances  on their arrival at the  Ibom international airport. The ambassador was also one of the guest speakers at the colloquium session.

There was a visit to the popular ‘raffia market’, where the rich cultural artefact of the Anaañ nation is produced and marketed. The Ecuador Ambassador also paid a visit to the Palace of Chief Okon Udo Ukud, where he was conferred with a traditional title of Ufan Anaañ. The apex of the event was the unveiling of the ANAANG HALL OF FAME by the Ambassador. The  ‘HALL OF FAME was erected with an inscription in honour of prominent Anaañ heroes, who contributed immensely to the development of our nation. Personalities who had made outstanding impacts towards the development of Anaañ Nation and the world at large were also honoured.

The place of women in Anaañ nation was not ignored. This was displayed in the Uyai-Anaañ’ contest. The 2017 winner was HRM Paulina Febian Akapinyang who was given a cash prize of  N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira). The children were not left out in the festival as they entertained the crowd with ‘sounding ikon instrumental music. The children were also involved in writing Competition. The aim of the competition was to revitalise Anaañ language in the age of globalization for the purpose of teaching and learning the language in schools. The participating schools were rewarded with cash prizes and customized exercise books.

AFAC 2017 also featured the ‟HERO’s NITE”. It was a platform where the Local artistes entertained the audience with colourful steps, songs and music. There was a display of musical talent performance from groups and individuals. At the end of this performance, prizes were given to outstanding stars.

At the end of the celebration, the president, Abom Ephraim Okon made a closing remark and intimated the participants to expect a more colourful and entertaining session of Anaañ Festival of Art and Culture come 2018. He thanked all participants and the hosts and bid everyone farewell with the adage ajo akuukum ikwuereke, to show that the festival was a continuous process.

Every good beginning must end well. AFAC 2017 rounded up with a thanksgiving service. The activities of AFAC 2016/2017 are documented in electronic material and stored on  PROVIDE THE WEB PAGE for consultations and research. You will appreciate the audio-visual material and encourage others too. AFAC 2016/2017 is a major breakthrough in the history of Anaañ. Nto Anaañ Foundation are highly appreciated for leaving on record, a documentation of this project for the posterity of Anaañ. We say a big thank you to the president Abom Ephraim Okon for his initiative. We also appreciate all participants who contributed to the success of this great festival.