The Lagos and the Federal Governments have concluded
trace their roots back home through the Badagry Diaspora
Festival scheduled to hold between August 23 and 25, 2017.
Speaking at a news conference jointly addressed at the Bagauda
Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on
Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora,
Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa and the Special Adviser to Lagos State
Governor on Oversees Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass,
both governments said the festival, which would be a replica of the
1977 Festival of Arts and Culture otherwise known as FESTAC 77, had
been designed to assist Africans in diaspora to reunite with their
ancestral roots.
Apart from putting issues of Africans in diaspora on the front burner,
the festival, according to Dabiri-Erewa, would also provide platform
to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Lagos State and Nigeria to
the world and also promote tourism potentials of the country.
The presidential aide, who commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for
throwing his weight behind the festival, said the event would host the largest
gathering of Africans in the world, and that it was a thing of joy that many
Africans in diaspora had already indicated interest in tracing their roots
back home.
“For the first time, we have been having in Badagry a festival that brings
people in the diaspora together but when we attended this festival few
years ago, we sat together and said this would be the biggest cultural
event to come out of Africa and so after years of planning, we have
been able to come out with this programme this year coming up on
August 23 to 25.
“United Nations already has declared ten years as decade for Africa,
and so within the said decade, Nigeria in particular, and Lagos will be
putting up one of the biggest gatherings of diaspora all over the world
that will gather in Badagry later this year.
“One of the unique events of the festival is the ‘Door of Return’.
A lot of people and things were taken out of Africa and Badagry
in particular, and so our people in diaspora would be coming back
through that door that we are calling the Door of Return, which is
the opposite of ‘Point of no Return. Beyond that, we will be
showcasing the beauty and culture of Lagos State in particular
and Nigeria in general through the festival,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
Responding to questions on the number of people in the diaspora
expected to grace the festival, Dabiri-Erewa said many Nigerians
in the diaspora have already indicated interest to be part of it,
adding: “We don’t have an accurate database but we are working
on 15 million Nigerians in the diaspora and a lot of them are
already coming.”
Also speaking, Professor Abass said the State Government was
delighted to partner with the Federal Government and other
promoters of the festival, as the event was in sync with the
cardinal objective of the present administration in the State to
use tourism, hospitality, entertainment and sport to
promote excellence.
He said apart from the fact that the festival was coming at a
time the State was celebrating the 50 years of its existence,
the festival would be utilized to showcase the giant strides
of Governor Ambode’s administration in transforming
Badagry to the next tourism hub in Africa.
“This festival is going to be utilized to promote the huge efforts
that the present administration in Lagos State has been putting
into turning Badagry around in terms of infrastructure, in
terms of tourism and so many other things and so this
forthcoming celebration falls squarely within our
government agenda to promote tourism and also to
promote investment.
“As you know, we are developing a Sea Port in Badagry
among so many other things and so the festival will be a
win-win for everybody especially for us in Lagos State,”
Abass said.
On his part, Mr Babatunde Mese-Waku, President of
African Renaissance Foundation, one of the promoters
of the festival, said a Brazilian, Baye De Santos,
whose root has been traced to Ketu in Benin Republic,
would be honoured at the festival for his contribution
towards promoting issues relating to Africans in diaspora.
Also, Mr Rufai Ladipo, Managing Director of Agile
Communications Ltd, the marketing firm for the festival,
said series of activities have been lined up for the festival
including carnival procession, boat regatta, fishing competition,
dark era procession, diaspora dinner, beauty pageant, cultural
displays, heritage site visits, heritage night, festival market,
international music concert and international symposium,
among others.
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