Articles > Abuja Carnival

The first Abuja Carnival’s opening ceremony had just ended and I was reliving the dazzling displays in my mind in the upscale Wuse 2 area when, on halting at a pay phone centre, I heard a group of young residents discussing the same event rather passionately. “My brother was so impressed by the images that he couldn’t continue to watch on the television anymore. He just took a bike to the Eagle Square,” said one before I moved on.

That was one testimony of one event that had almost everybody debating for and against it. Have this at the back of your mind: it is nearly impossible to find Nigerians appreciating any bit of their cultural heritage the way these youths did. Custom has always competed with religion in the people’s minds. The current of this particular carnival must have run quite deep, because it got most Nigerians talking; and the international visitors couldn’t believe that there could be that much spectacle in a country perpetually painted so black abroad. Simply put: the thrill factor was all there. “Well done Nigeria,” tourist Tamir screamed, overwhelmed by the gathering of masquerades.

It couldn’t have been otherwise. When contingents from 30 of Nigeria’s 36 states converged on a location to make separate statements in tradition and lifestyle, the least one would get is a snapshot of a country that has shied from asserting her native endowments on the world’s consciousness for too long. With the carnival’s successful outing last November—which included stunning durbar and boat regatta processions—it seemed that the hurdle had finally been crossed.

“We now realize that the best we can offer the world is cultural tourism,” said Minister of Tourism and Culture, Franklin Ogbuewu, hours before the carnival wound up. “The carnival will be held every November as part of our Harmattan holiday season (October-January).”

In addition, the organizers planned that the carnival (and host city) would, with every subsequent edition, be a sort of ‘window’ for all the states to show everything touristy they’ve got. And that was the case at the 60-hut Arts and Crafts village, where participating states exhibited stuff unique to their own corner of the country—raffia, brass, Adire, leatherworks, woodcarvings and beads amongst other handicrafts.

On a higher level, Hausa states (in the north) like Bauchi, Yobe and Bornu proved their longstanding skills at horsemanship. With 800 horses and four times that number in boys and men (either standing on or walking close to the grandly-robed stallions), every one of us watching literally had our hairs raised by a combination of amazing stunts (horseback riding), gleaming adornment and vibrant costuming. “They are not costumes you can easily pick up in the market and wear,” one local said. “They belong to royalty.”

Ordinarily, the Durbar itself is royalty. Minus the swords and spears that the men spin in their hands every now and then, knowledgeable locals said the jewellery (pure silver) draped on each horse came close to $7500. “In the traditional context, your riches are not counted in money but in jewellery,” one commentator said, as the Emir of Machina emirate (Yobe), protected by a maroon umbrella, rode past trailed by a colourful party and 260 horses. “And to present a Hausa man a horse is a mistake, because he has more than enough.”

Benue State paraded its exceptional Kwag-hir puppetry, Niger State, its brassworks and Nassarawa it’s Farin Ruwa falls, soon to become a major tourist draw (the three states are in all the north central region. Kebbi (northwest) and Bayelsa (south-south) States flaunted their aquatic prowess, while Kaduna and Adamawa States showed that they both harbour some of Nigeria’s most notable historical discoveries—the NOK sculpture and the Sukur World heritage Site, among others. From Edo State (southwest) comes the unmistakable vision of royalty, a train is bedecked in the most brilliant of beads.

Abuja, the federal capital, is the city all other Nigerian cities aspire to be like. It’s got good transport links and cutting-edge architecture. Created in 1976, Abuja (7, 770 sq. km.), the pre-event publicity booklet read, “is the focal point of diplomatic activity in the country and a convenient start-off point for visits to all other parts of Nigeria.”

Constructions are still ongoing to make it Nigeria’s most modernized destination. In the last few years the government in Nigeria has deliberately positioned Abuja as an international conference venue, bidding for—and winning—major continental and global meetings—most notably the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2003—with attendances at each event notching several thousands. As a consequence, hotels of all classification have sprung up to meet the accommodation needs of visitors.

Most people would like to see the carnival become an annual event not so the clergy. About a fortnight before the opening ceremony, Christian and Islamic leaders condemned the idea of a carnival and asked organizers to discontinue all preparations, believing that it would be a showcase of the immoral and also no different from the 1977 Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC), which many have said is largely responsible for Nigeria’s economic problems.

But a confident Franklin Ogbuewu promptly defended his project. The carnival, he assured, would be purely a tradition-driven project, would involve no idolatry and wouldn’t be another version of the famed Brazilian carnival—or any others known across the world for that matter. “Carnivals are not synonymous with nudity,” he added.

Officials said executing the carnival project cost roughly $4 million. Unconfirmed reports say it actually used twice that amount, which most commentators thought to be a waste of resources. International tourists at the event, meanwhile, saw only the brighter side. “This is a splendid show,” Yair Frommer from Israel said. “I believe that this sort of event should go on and expand to attract tourists, to attract people from other countries to learn more about Nigerian culture.”

For November 2006, there’s that hope that the carnival will come with a lot more sponsorship—and a lot more visitors.

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