Those who are not very familiar with the geography of Africa may find it an odd name: Rivers State. However, Noble Nemieboka hopes more people will soon be enlightened about where and what Rivers State is.
"That is the name of our state in Nigeria," says Nemieboka. "The Rivers State Forum adopted that name."
Nemieboka is a Randallstown resident who was born in Nigeria. He works as an environmental chemist for a company in Columbia and is president of the Rivers State Forum. It is a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Baltimore. Members also live in Maryland and Virginia.
"Our membership is in excess of 200 people," says Nemieboka. Some of those members will get a chance to perform this weekend at the Smithsonian's free 31st annual Festival of American Folklife.
The festival will be held outdoors on the Mall (between Ninth and 14th streets near the Smithsonian museums) in Washington through Sunday and July 2-6 from 11 a.m. to 5: 30 p.m.
The three themes of the festival will be "The Mississippi Delta," "African Immigrant Folklife: Building and Bridging Communities in Metropolitan Washington" and "Sacred Sounds."
Organizers say the purpose of the Festival of American Folklife is to present folk cultural material and to showcase how these traditions have "flourished, existed or simply survived."
Nemieboka explains that the performance by the Rivers State Forum fits in with the purpose of the festival. "Our objectives pTC range from encouraging unity amongst ourselves here to supporting, promoting and protecting the political, social, economic, educational and cultural interest of our people," he says.
Rivers State Forum is more than an organization focused on entertainment. However, for those at the festival, entertainment and education will be on the agenda. "We are going to feature live drums and dancing from men and women," he says.
Since -- as the name would apply -- fishing is a big industry in that area of Nigeria, it will also figure in the performance.
"Our occupations are fishing, farming, hunting and trading, although we are the richest state in the country because of oil production. We produce about 60 percent of Nigeria's crude oil," Nemieboka says.
But back to the fishing.
"We see how fish behave in water and we adapt it to land," Nemieboka says, describing the dance that will be done at the festival.
