Lagos State has a long history of holding Carnivals, particularly on Lagos Island as a result of historical links with the returnees and their descendants from Brazil, West Indies and Sierra Leone in the late 19th century.
Traditionally, in the past years, these have been in the form of street parades within various locale but, since 2011 thereabout, parades have been restricted to just within Tafawa Balewa Square, where different groups with unique costumes would gather in bits, dancing and showing skills, all to the delight of Lagosians.
In particular, past years carnivals didn't hold without enough enlightenment, advertisement and awareness, so much so that every Lagosian would excitedly look forward to the day, some, would even leave their houses just to have a feel of the carnival. That's on the aside. Aside locales who troop into the area, even from outside Lagos to witness the event, foreign tourists also come in their numbers, just to see what Lagos has for them yearly.
But alas, 2014, was more like an exception. Not only wasn't there much awareness and advertisement towards the carnival, most people complained of not knowing the carnival would hold. And as when it eventually held, most Lagosians were opportune to know about it through photos posted on social media. So what went wrong? Has the Lagos State government lost sight of what the carnival is truly about- or are they no longer interested in carrying the people of Lagos State along?
Not only were most people left out in the fun, even the media which would have helped spread the word were almost left behind. No wonder the event was reported by just a handful of media outfits in Lagos. Kindly go online and you would confirm that just about two to three medium reported the approach of the carnival.Even at that, a friend who happened to be around Tafawa Balewa on April 21st, Easter Monday narrated her experience. Titled ‘‘LASGIDI’’, parades held from Awolowo road via Campos Square to Tafawa Balewa Square.
According to what she saw, yes, there were colourful costumes as usual, attended by mainly students and social miscreants who made life terrible for the unsuspecting onlookers whose valuables got stolen. Drunken area boys here and there were also present to harass girls, some who got the beating of their lives after getting caught by security officers in charge of the carnivals- some also got arrested by police officers- we know the carnival couldn't go without its fun, likewise hiccups.
There were those with the red costume, orange, blue, red and black, pink, red and white, purple and other exciting colours.
For those who happened to have heard about it and were there, they narrated it was colourful and fun seeing the groups in their costumes, dancing to the beats-that's just about it. No other side attractions.However, that of Sunday which was held at Boat Regatta, Lagos.
As reported by Vanguard, there were government functionaries, tourists, investors and fun seekers from Brazil, United States of America, Mexico, England, South- Africa, Zimbabwe and Ghana among others on ground.
Cultural troupes from the various coastal communities of the state were on hand to showcase their cultural heritage. Large fishing boats, ferries, water lightening, barges and other marine vessels were said to be on display depicting their social, cultural and traditional folklore. Swimmers of the Lagos Water Regatta were also not left out as they displayed their swimming skills, to the admiration of the crowd.
Not withstanding the much fun reported to have gone down during this year's parade, what's the carnival all about without enough people present to witness it.The Lagos State government should have in mind that there's another big carnival, which is the Calabar Carnival usually held in December and has become the talk of town as the best carnival so far in the country. Now, that's the kind of competition we are talking about.
Can the Lagos Carnival ever beat the Calabar Carnival in terms of publicity, side attractions, media coverage, tourists and the large number of celebrities who troop there in their hundreds to witness and take part in it?Aside other dancers who are usually on ground, the Calabar carnival parades Nigerian celebrities and dignitaries all dressed in costumes and we see them taking active parts among the dancers and paraders.
So why can't Lagos State up their ante, especially with most entertainment and society celebrities residing in Lagos. It's time to wake up Lagos because there's more we can offer and much at our disposal to make the carnival the very best in the entire country.
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