Poor turnout mars 2014 Abuja carnival
...as FG urges joint participation in cultural development
Jimoh babatunde & CALEB AYANSINA
ABUJA - When President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration in 204 conceived the ideal of having a carnival in Abuja yearly, it was meant to promote domestic tourism and attract foreign tourists alike to the nation's capital city.
The opening ceremony slated for 10am on Tuesday could not start, as it was outlined in the programme of the event, until 5pm in the evening as many participants, who could not wait for the kick-off left in annoyance.
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, who was visibly disturbed by the situation of things, came around 11;30am and immediately left the Eagle Square, the venue of the carnival, this signaled the departure of some Director Generals of agencies under the ministry, who had been loitering around.
In his return to the venue around 3pm, Duke was sighted by the members of the press, who were dominantly visible at the carnival, seated angrily by the pavement and he was interviewed.
He described the 2014 Carnival as imitation, a photo copy of real carnival that was inaugurated by the Obasanjo administration.
Duke noted that Nigeria was not really expecting any international participation due the mood of the nation, thereby the ministry decided to celebrate it in low-key.
He said: “This is low key celebration, this year, we have representation from six geo-political zones and for us this particular carnival is not celebratory carnival, but it is been done because it’s in our calendar of our activities. We are conscious of what is going on around us in the country, we ourselves decided to moderate this particular carnival.
“We have twelve state register to participate and not all twelve states may necessarily be in parade because the carnival has different segments of participation.”
Talking about delay of the opening ceremony, the Minister explained, “We want to air this programme lives that is the reason why we have a slight delay, we want NTA live broadcast that is going Birin-in Kebbi, kebbi state to finish so, as to join Vice president here in Abuja that is why we have little delay.”
Declaring the event open, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan praised the Creative and Tourism sectors for contributing immensely to the country's rebased Gross Domestic Product.
Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, the President said that mainstreaming the sector into the economic was not a mistake to transformation agenda of the government.
“My joy is heightened to realise that in spite of our national challenges, the legacies of Abuja carnival continue to linger for showcasing our unity in diversity. It has indeed made invaluable contribution to national cohesion; inter cultural understanding and display of our creative potential as a people.
“The creative impetus has placed the nation as the leading economy in Africa in the recent rebased world economic report of Nigeria. Our music industry, Nollywood and fashion has broken all boundaries and are today to toast and bride of entertainment and creative industry”, the President added.
He said that the desire of government was to make the carnival a private sector drive venture, while government role would be directed at provision of favourable investment climate and incentive, to attract both local and international investors.
Jonathan called on the private sector to contribute it quota in the realization of this project.
Also speaking, the FCT Minister of State, Mrs Olajumoke Akinjide promised participant at the carnival safety throughout their stay in Abuja.
She pledged the administration continuous support to better the carnival which was a major boost to the hospitality industry.
NAN report that the carnival, which has the theme ``Building an
Enduring Creative Nation’’ was almost cancelled some weeks ago
due to the concerns of insecurity.
Some of the participants at the opening, who asked for anonymity while speaking with NAN, attributed the poor turnout to the security challenges facing the country.
Other patrons of the event said inadequate publicity was robbing the event of the glamour and expected gains.
Mr Bala Shuaib, an Abuja resident, said the carnival should be generating a lot of money if handled properly.
``Since the inception of the carnival, we usually just wake up to see the street blocked without prior information. This has always been the problem. It is time things are done properly.’’
Mr Olu-Martin Abe, another resident, said the carnival would have grown by now to a level where corporate bodies would be struggling to sponsor it if handled properly.
Malam Hasssan Mohammed, a civil servant, said the carnival could provide Nigerians the opportunity to show that the country was not all about Boko Haram, bombings, kidnappings and other social vices.
Mohammed said it was an opportunity for the country to erase the wrong impression the activities of the Boko Haram sect had created about Nigeria in the international community.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Investment, Commerce and
Cooperative in Niger, Mr Kabir Dan’ababe, has urged the Federal
Government to provide intervention fund for the promotion of the
country’s culture.
Dan’ababe made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the ongoing 2014 Abuja carnival.
He said that the low turnout of participants at the carnival was as a result of lack of funding by the Federal Government.
`` The participation at this year’s carnival is not encouraging at all. Any state you see at this year’s carnival is sponsored by the state government.
``The states represented here is a reflection of passion of some state governor's for culture. But for this show of love of culture, many states would not have participated in the 2014 carnival.
``The Federal Government should think of what to do to motivate the state governments to ensure that they sustain their participation at the festival in the drive to showcase their various cultures at the next Abuja carnival.
``If the Federal Government can provide two million naira to each state, it will go a long way in supporting the carnival and also the nation,’’ he said.
Dan’ababe also said that the 2014 carnival was low keyed, attributing this to the activities of insurgents in the north eastern part of the country.
He noted that the low participation had been a major challenge to stakeholders in the industry, and urged the organisers to keep the carnival running and thriving.
He commended Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger for his continuous support in promoting the culture of the people through the involvement of the state in the carnival since 2007.
He, however, enjoined the Federal Government, non-governmental organisations and other relevant stakeholders not to relent in their support for the culture and tourism sector.
`` The cultural sector should be developed to make it one of the best sectors in the effort to make Nigeria one of the biggest economy in the world by 2020.
``This vision will only be actualised with the support from all tier of the government with Federal Government in the driver’s seat,’’ he said.
He further encouraged Nigerians to believe in and be proud of their culture, tradition and heritage, and strive to showcase these to the outside world.
Mr Emmanuel Ameh, a civil servant, said that the carnival should provide an opportunity for the country to erase the wrong impression created by the security challenge in the country as a result of Boko Haram insurgency.
Ameh said that Nigeria culture and tourism sector had the potential of attracting foreign tourists if given the necessary focus and priority.
Also, Miss Foluke Aransiola, said inadequate publicity about the event would rob potential tourists and residents of the opportunity of fun and fanfare at the carnival.
...as FG urges joint participation in cultural development
Jimoh babatunde & CALEB AYANSINA
ABUJA - When President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration in 204 conceived the ideal of having a carnival in Abuja yearly, it was meant to promote domestic tourism and attract foreign tourists alike to the nation's capital city.
It
was envisage that the carnival which later became known as Abuja
carnival was to become self sustaining after five years, but ten
years later the carnival has not met the aspiration for which it was
set up.
In
the last five years, the carnival has continued to witnessed
dwindling interests from the states that take part in the events and
this inveriably has led to the low turn out of Abuja residents not
to talk of domestic and foreign tourists.
This
year's edition with the theme 'Building An Enduring Creative Nation'
was marred with poor participation of state contingents, as about 30
States out of the 36 States of the Federation shunned the event.
The
state contingents which took part in the opening of the carnival are
those from Kogi, Zamfara, Ebonyi, Niger, Akwa Ibom, Kano State
and the FCT. There was also in attendance the Ijaw Cultural Troupe.
The
absence of many participating states affected t he glamour
associated with the street procession of the opening and closing
ceremonies of the event.
As a major departure from previous events, carnival floats at the event were mounted on rick-shaws, popularly known as “Keke NAPEP’’.
As a major departure from previous events, carnival floats at the event were mounted on rick-shaws, popularly known as “Keke NAPEP’’.
Participants
from past edition of Abuja carnival
The opening ceremony slated for 10am on Tuesday could not start, as it was outlined in the programme of the event, until 5pm in the evening as many participants, who could not wait for the kick-off left in annoyance.
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, who was visibly disturbed by the situation of things, came around 11;30am and immediately left the Eagle Square, the venue of the carnival, this signaled the departure of some Director Generals of agencies under the ministry, who had been loitering around.
In his return to the venue around 3pm, Duke was sighted by the members of the press, who were dominantly visible at the carnival, seated angrily by the pavement and he was interviewed.
He described the 2014 Carnival as imitation, a photo copy of real carnival that was inaugurated by the Obasanjo administration.
Duke noted that Nigeria was not really expecting any international participation due the mood of the nation, thereby the ministry decided to celebrate it in low-key.
He said: “This is low key celebration, this year, we have representation from six geo-political zones and for us this particular carnival is not celebratory carnival, but it is been done because it’s in our calendar of our activities. We are conscious of what is going on around us in the country, we ourselves decided to moderate this particular carnival.
“We have twelve state register to participate and not all twelve states may necessarily be in parade because the carnival has different segments of participation.”
Talking about delay of the opening ceremony, the Minister explained, “We want to air this programme lives that is the reason why we have a slight delay, we want NTA live broadcast that is going Birin-in Kebbi, kebbi state to finish so, as to join Vice president here in Abuja that is why we have little delay.”
Declaring the event open, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan praised the Creative and Tourism sectors for contributing immensely to the country's rebased Gross Domestic Product.
Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, the President said that mainstreaming the sector into the economic was not a mistake to transformation agenda of the government.
“My joy is heightened to realise that in spite of our national challenges, the legacies of Abuja carnival continue to linger for showcasing our unity in diversity. It has indeed made invaluable contribution to national cohesion; inter cultural understanding and display of our creative potential as a people.
“The creative impetus has placed the nation as the leading economy in Africa in the recent rebased world economic report of Nigeria. Our music industry, Nollywood and fashion has broken all boundaries and are today to toast and bride of entertainment and creative industry”, the President added.
He said that the desire of government was to make the carnival a private sector drive venture, while government role would be directed at provision of favourable investment climate and incentive, to attract both local and international investors.
Jonathan called on the private sector to contribute it quota in the realization of this project.
Also speaking, the FCT Minister of State, Mrs Olajumoke Akinjide promised participant at the carnival safety throughout their stay in Abuja.
She pledged the administration continuous support to better the carnival which was a major boost to the hospitality industry.
Some of the participants at the opening, who asked for anonymity while speaking with NAN, attributed the poor turnout to the security challenges facing the country.
Other patrons of the event said inadequate publicity was robbing the event of the glamour and expected gains.
Mr Bala Shuaib, an Abuja resident, said the carnival should be generating a lot of money if handled properly.
``Since the inception of the carnival, we usually just wake up to see the street blocked without prior information. This has always been the problem. It is time things are done properly.’’
Mr Olu-Martin Abe, another resident, said the carnival would have grown by now to a level where corporate bodies would be struggling to sponsor it if handled properly.
Malam Hasssan Mohammed, a civil servant, said the carnival could provide Nigerians the opportunity to show that the country was not all about Boko Haram, bombings, kidnappings and other social vices.
Mohammed said it was an opportunity for the country to erase the wrong impression the activities of the Boko Haram sect had created about Nigeria in the international community.
He,
however, expressed dissatisfaction with the low turnout of
participating states at the carnival.
Another
resident noted that the ministry apparatus sees the annual carnival
as a cash cow, wondering why they can not cancel the event to save
the nation of the embarrassment the carnival has become.
“Every
year they complain of paucity of funds, but they still continue to
host the carnival when they know that many states and corporate
bodies are not willing to identify with the carnival again. The
Minister of Tourism holds the nation explanation.” the visibly
disturbed man said .
Visibly
disturbed Tourism minister, Edem Duke , with his aides tuesday in
Abuja as Abuja residents failed to turn out en-mass for the opening
ceremony of the Abuja carnival.
… participant
wants FG's intervention fund
Dan’ababe made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the ongoing 2014 Abuja carnival.
He said that the low turnout of participants at the carnival was as a result of lack of funding by the Federal Government.
`` The participation at this year’s carnival is not encouraging at all. Any state you see at this year’s carnival is sponsored by the state government.
``The states represented here is a reflection of passion of some state governor's for culture. But for this show of love of culture, many states would not have participated in the 2014 carnival.
``The Federal Government should think of what to do to motivate the state governments to ensure that they sustain their participation at the festival in the drive to showcase their various cultures at the next Abuja carnival.
``If the Federal Government can provide two million naira to each state, it will go a long way in supporting the carnival and also the nation,’’ he said.
Dan’ababe also said that the 2014 carnival was low keyed, attributing this to the activities of insurgents in the north eastern part of the country.
He noted that the low participation had been a major challenge to stakeholders in the industry, and urged the organisers to keep the carnival running and thriving.
He commended Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger for his continuous support in promoting the culture of the people through the involvement of the state in the carnival since 2007.
He, however, enjoined the Federal Government, non-governmental organisations and other relevant stakeholders not to relent in their support for the culture and tourism sector.
`` The cultural sector should be developed to make it one of the best sectors in the effort to make Nigeria one of the biggest economy in the world by 2020.
``This vision will only be actualised with the support from all tier of the government with Federal Government in the driver’s seat,’’ he said.
He further encouraged Nigerians to believe in and be proud of their culture, tradition and heritage, and strive to showcase these to the outside world.
Mr Emmanuel Ameh, a civil servant, said that the carnival should provide an opportunity for the country to erase the wrong impression created by the security challenge in the country as a result of Boko Haram insurgency.
Ameh said that Nigeria culture and tourism sector had the potential of attracting foreign tourists if given the necessary focus and priority.
Also, Miss Foluke Aransiola, said inadequate publicity about the event would rob potential tourists and residents of the opportunity of fun and fanfare at the carnival.
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