The Ekpe/Mgbe society is the most renowned cultural institution of the Cross River
region (southeastern Nigeria and west Cameroon). The society was the governing body for many
communities of the region, even into the colonial era. In Calabar, it was not only a regulating
society, but was also modified in order to manage the transatlantic slave and oil trades during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Despite Ekpe/Mgbe’s well-documented history, recent
scholars disregard its place in contemporary Calabar as merely recreational. This dissertation
argues otherwise by exploring how, why, and for what purposes Ekpe/Mgbe art and performance
were appropriated during Calabar’s recent period of urbanization and continues to be into the
present.
The story of the recent permutations of the art of the Ekpe/Mgbe society in the city of
Calabar, capital of Cross River State, Nigeria, demonstrates how so-called “traditional” culture
or more correctly, long-standing modes of cultural expression, are not only thriving in urban
environments today, but are also still relevant for members who use the society to negotiate the
contemporary lifestyle in which they live. In this dissertation, I argue that the Ekpe/Mgbe society
in Calabar is a socio-political, financial, and cultural infrastructure for its members. I contend
that in framing Ekpe/Mgbe as infrastructure, the ability of the society to become more public
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through the claiming of space during performance is absolutely critical for its contemporary
relevance in Calabar.
In order to grapple with why the Ekpe/Mgbe society is still relevant beyond the level of
heritage and how it thrives in the urban experience of Calabar, I examine its ritual, masquerade
performance, and knowledge system. Ekpe/Mgbe ritual and masquerade performances are
important evidence for this study since they have morphed into cosmopolitan spectacles packed
with layers of meaning about contemporary life. The society’s esoteric language nsibidi, an
imaged and performed knowledge system, has also become more urban in the way it is learned
and transmitted in private and in public. I, therefore, demonstrate that Ekpe/Mgbe ritual,
masquerade performance, and nsibidi are being taken to the streets in new and innovative ways.