sachaproject

Chriss Aghana Nwobu is a curator, fixer and photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria, running an agency called Ikollo Gallery. As part of a Nigerian team made of photographers from the West African state, he crossed a few west African borders to reach Bamako, Mali, for the biennale photography festival known as “Les rencontres africaines de la photographie de Bamako”, which took place in November/December 2009. The project was named Invisible Borders 2009.

This experience offers the opportunity to talk about the project, introduce Chriss Nwobu’s work and beyond to shed light on borders issue and assess this photography festival, highly reliant on Western funding, seen from a Nigerian perspective.

All photographs by Chriss A. Nwobu.

1) Hi Chriss, you crossed a few West-African countries to reach Bamako with some friends. Where did this project originated? and who were these people? Could you introduce them?

I have been nursing the thought of doing a road trip around Africa, to have a better grasp and an opportunity to document the way my brothers and sisters live in the different geographical boundaries called the African states, their beautiful cultures, colours, their pains, joys and above all the different peoples called Africans.

So, when fellow photographer Emeka Okereke whose works were nominated for the Bamako biennale suggested that we do a road trip from Lagos to Bamako while making photos as we travel, I saw it as an opportunity of test running for my next trip.

That was how the plans for the trip started, and when Emeka and another photographer Uche Okpa Iroha who eventually won the GRAND PRIZE at the biennale opted to donate the value of their flight tickets that will be paid by the organisers as part of the funds needed for the trip it became a great motivation for the rest of us that became a part of the trip and the project was tagged “INVISIBLE BORDERS 2009” LAGOS - BAMAKO ROAD TRIP and so emerged these beautiful and great team: Emeka Okereke, Uche Okpa Iroha, Ray Daniels, Amaize Ojiekere, Adenike Ojeikere, Charles Okereke, Lucy Azubuike, Unoma Giesse, Uche James Iroha and myself Chriss Aghana Nwobu. For the day to day account of the trip as captured by the writer amongst us Adenike Ojeikere and photos from every member of the team visit : www.lagos-bamako.blogspot.com

2) The Bamako photo festival theme this year was “Borders”, can you tell us a few stories about crossing borders in Ecowas zone being a Nigerian? And being something like 10 Nigerians?!

The issue of BORDERS within the ECOWAS states is something to worry about as an ECOWAS citizen and the project INVISIBLE BORDERS which ties with the theme of the Bamako photo festival 2009 allows us to explore the bottlenecks and other factors that negates FREE MOVEMENT of people and goods in a supposed FREE MOVEMENT ZONE amongst ECOWAS citizens.

From my personal point of view, I will attribute these factors to the colonial mentality that still hangs around most African states, language barriers, different political ideologies and orientations between the French and English colonial masters. I observed some thought of insecurity when a French speaking African meets another brother (an English speaking one), and “most especially if you are a Nigerian” ! The reason I am yet to find out.

This explains the level of extortion we experienced traveling through the different borders from Lagos - Benin Republic - Togo with all due respect to the Ghana authority and the people of Ghana, we felt at home once we were in the Ghanaian border side, the treatment gotten from the immigration and other authorities left us singing HONEST PRAISES of the Ghanaian as we told them they made us proud as Africans. It was only in Ghana that we did not see the usual police checks that is characteristic of West African roads, Nigeria inclusive, but this feeling was shot lived as we entered Bukina-Faso from the Northern border town of Ghana Hamile. The moment we found ourselves in the Bukina territory extortion started again. I was so irritated with the height of corruption that exists in our “FREE MOVEMENT ECOWAS” that I told my colleagues that we either fight this menace or we will be left with no KOBO by the time we get to Bamako, after all we are Nigerians -ECOWAS citizens- with our number (10) we could create trouble and let the world be the judge. That was how we escaped being milked dry by some unscrupulous, greedy and corrupt ECOWAS officials till our arrival in Bamako.

3) What can you say about the festival itself? Was it worth it? What about the public? I then came to Bamako, and found a general indifference of the average Malian concerning this festival, did you experience the same thing? How to improve such a festival?

Having arrived 3 days behind schedule as a result of our bus (vehicle) breakdown on the way, everyone was expectant of what will come of these ten Nigerians who came by road. The organisers of the festival had already set a day aside for us to show and discuss our experiences during the journey, so we had to work under pressure to edit and prepare our works for presentation and the presentation became a good opportunity to discuss our problems with our African brothers from other parts of Africa on the state of our ECOWAS and Africa but unfortunately great number of attendees for the presentation were Europeans in a photo festival held in Africa.

The truth is, many Malians living in Bamako and other parts of Mali do not know that a festival like this exists, even if they do, they do not want to concern themselves with it. It is one of the French (European) “TAKE MORE AND GIVE LITTLE” games that have RAPED Africa for a long time. This brings us back to BIG questions: what is the essence and use of ECOWAS if her citizens will be treated as aliens within her? Why the unified travel documents among the member states? Is it one of the many false tails of African senseless and visionless rulers answering to the needs of their western masters, trying to fit into another man‘s cloth? If there be need for a common state, why create the geographical and political borders in the first place? Will the proposed one state stop the divided and rule that pitched brother against brother in Africa? To whose benefit is this UNIFICATION, Africans or who? When will Africa begin to reconstruct and liberate her mind from external influences that are negative to her people? And so many other “Whys” the so called rulers need to give answers to if we must gain the respect that is due to every human in this globalised world.

Ok Chriss. Thanks.

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Tags: Africa, azubuike, bamako, chriss nwobu, ecowas borders, emeka okereke, Lagos, mali, nigeria, ojeikere, okereke, photographie, rencontres africaines de la photographie, roadtrip, uche james iroha, uche okpa iroha, West Africa