The Osun Osogbo festival in Nigeria: an investigation of Nigerian migrants in South Africa as homebound tourists and festival participants.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
This study investigated how members of the diaspora negotiate their identity during and
through their return travel back to their home country. It explored the perceived significance
of the tangible site, the intangible beliefs and the values which members of the diaspora
attached to the Osun Osogbo sacred grove. The grove, which is the abode of Osun goddess, is
one of the major cultural heritage destinations in Nigeria. Using the Osun Osogbo festival in
Nigeria, the study focused on Nigerians, based in South Africa, who travel back to their birth
country as VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) and festival participants. The study
investigated the significance of migrants reconnecting with their cultural roots while exploring
their spirituality. In a broader sense, the research looked at how the process of migration
affected diasporic relationships to home, cultural roots, and spiritual beliefs, by probing the
diasporic visitors’ experiences of travelling home, their beliefs, behaviour, and activities they
engage in. This qualitative study draws from in-depth interviews, conducted with Nigerian
migrants based in Durban, South Africa. The conceptual framework for the study was drawn
from the concept of ‘the tourist gaze’; tourism as a sacred journey and identity theory. The
study significance is hinged on its contribution to literature on heritage management and
cultural tourism development from a Nigerian, and African context; as well as the cultural and
heritage awareness it creates for Africans in the diaspora. Findings from the data collected
showed that the search for a "familiar difference" was a major motivation for these return
journeys. Furthermore, participation at the festival, for some attendees, goes beyond
entertainment and merry making, but it is also necessitated by a host of other alternative
motives. The study revealed a blurring on the distinction between tourism, pilgrimage, culture,
and heritage tourism. Drawing from the findings, the study concludes that strengthening the
relationship with home and root reconnection was the greatest motivation for these homebound tourists and festival participants. Enhancing cultural tourism in Africa (and in Nigeria in
particular) will best be achieved if religion can be separated from culture.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.