Militant Masks: Youth, Performance and Insecurity in Nigeria

The group, Area United, brought together rival factions in the Main Town area of the city that had developed after ‘007’ split from ‘50/50’ in the 1970s. Area United performs on Independence Day, at Christmas, carnivals, and at burials (as here). It often performs to celebrate ‘big men’ in the city too, the group’s ‘grand patron’ is the former militant leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, Chief Ateke Tom. 

Ukanafun is a rural Local Government Area several hours’ drive from the oil city of Port Harcourt. Young men returned from the city to launch the masquerade in the late 1990s. Many left the city as urban cult groups were banned following the 2003 electoral violence. In 2005 attempts were made to ban agaba in these villages following an attack on the police station. Nevertheless, agaba continues to galvanise local youth.  

The music of the agaba masquerade is traditionally associated with the metal gong (ogele) but is drawn from a range of sources – palm-wine drinking, church hymns, the highlife of Rex Lawson, and prison work songs. Singing in pidgin English means the play has accommodated urban youth and has developed a commercial pop music genre known as gyration. In recent years Agaba can be found performing in the music videos of leading artists, the Royal Boyz, Flavor and Harrysong. 

After the Nigerian Civil War, the Agaba masquerade in Calabar was led by a group of boxers and weightlifters from the poorer neighbourhoods of the south of the city.  Youth unemployment in the city during the 1980s was known as the ‘Agaba syndrome’, and after clashes with the police there were attempts to ban the Agaba masquerade. In recent years the Agaba groups have been associated with drugs and political violence.

Masquerades represent local communities at New Year celebrations. As the traditional village masquerades have declined in the face of opposition from the churches, the ‘Base Boys’ have assumed a ‘traditional’ status. Here they perform as elders, dressed in wrappers, singlets and red, white and black bobble hats. The wooden flute (oja) provides agaba’s distinctive music.

What’s in a mask? Are masks people in disguise or spirits taking physical form? For young men living with everyday insecurity accessing hidden histories and sources of strength can be empowering and protective. Many rules exist to protect the mask’s identity – this photograph was taken with special permission after a day’s performance at a burial and shows the mask wearer in a state of exhaustion.