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Badagry festival: Foundation tasks federal government, Lagos on cultural tourism

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Africa Renaissance Foundation (AREFO), a non-governmental organisation, has urged the Lagos State and federal government to tap into the Badagry Diaspora Festival (BDF) to boost cultural tourism in the state.

Babatunde Mesewaku, the President of AREFO and organiser of the festival, made the appeal on Sunday at the 2021 edition of the Badagry Diaspora Festival in Badagry.

Newsmen report that the festival was held at the Palace of Akran of Badagry, Aholu Menu Toyi 1.

Mr Mesewaku said the festival was organised to show the world that Badagry was blessed with a different culture, heritage, and history.

“Culture and festival are products of tourism, if one wants to develop tourism especially in Lagos State, cultural tourism is the key and this is what we are doing in Badagry.

“We are doing this at the local level in order for the federal and Lagos State governments to see the potential and tap into it.

“Badagry people contribute money for the celebration of the festival yearly because of the importance they attach to the preservation of cultural heritage compare to other places,” he said.

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Mr Mesewaku, the former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said the festival started as a community programme named Ogu Festival and changed to Badagry cultural festival.

“The festival came into existence as the awareness of our cultural and historical significance to the global world. We realised that in the past during the slave trade, various global communities like Dutch, English, Brazilian, French, and Portuguese were all in Badagry involved in the slave trade business.

“They were in close commercial collaboration with Badagry people especially the quarters in the town. So, we realised that it is important for us to explore the historical significance of this to Badagry and the world.

“Badagry, being an ancient port, a market for sales and transportation of slave, we decided to explore the importance of this legacy and make good out of it,” he said.

He said that the festival is an avenue for Africans in the Diaspora to come and experience their culture, tradition and then reconstruct their history and identity.

According to him, the festival has shown that Badagry is a port of culture significant for Nigeria and for the Diaspora too.

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“We have over eight quarters here in Badagry with different cultural outfits, so if the Diaspora people come to us they will see varieties of the cultural heritage of Badagry,” he said

In his remarks, the Akran of Badagry, Aholu Menu Toyi 1, urged the people to ensure the festival becomes a global festival.

He urged residents to support the organisers of the festival in order to keep the 20-year-old festival alive.

The Akran commended the Arewas, Ndigbo, and other tribes who came to celebrate the festival with them.

The festival began its humble beginnings in 1999, as a remembrance of the slave trade era and the significance of the town in the era. In 1999, AREFO organized the first Badagry Festival. Throughout the years, AREFO has spent hundreds of hours organizing the festival and has been instrumental in evolving it into the festival that we know today.

NAN reports that the festival featured Badagry royal carnival, Zangbeto carnival, Ogun Badagry dance, and Obatala and Aje festival.

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Osun monarchs will support Adeleke for second term — Oluwo

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Osun monarchs will support Adeleke for second term — Oluwo

Osun monarchs will support Adeleke for second term — Oluwo

Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, on Tuesday, said royal fathers in the state were in support of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, for a second term in office.

This was as the governor declared that his administration had recorded success in the areas where opposition party members did not give him a chance to succeed.

Oluwo and Adeleke spoke in Osogbo at an Inter-religious service held at the state secretariat, Abere, to usher in the government and the state into the new year.

Oba Akanbi, who lauded the governor’s efforts to improve infrastructural amenities in the state, further said “Governor Adeleke is the driver of the Osun government, and by this, it is imperative for everyone regardless of political divides in the state to continue to support the administration to succeed.

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“Governor Ademola Adeleke, I’m declaring on behalf of other traditional rulers in the state that we’re fully in support of your government and its continuation for a second term in office.”

Adeleke, in a statement by the spokesperson to the governor, Olawale Rasheed, said his administration had broken the jinx in critical areas and proved that people could experience good governance despite all odds.

The statement quoting Adeleke further read in parts, “My predecessor deliberately added petrol to the fire by laying several bobby traps before he left office. Nobody expects solutions from us. The thoughts of detractors were the expectation of failure.

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“But because we have a God who does not fail his beloved ones, doors open where none exist. The governance space witnessed policy innovations and implementation which provide answers to knotty state policy questions.”

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No argument over ownership of Benin artefacts – Oba of Benin

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The Oba of Benin Kingdom, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, has declared that there is no dispute over the ownership of numerous Benin artefacts taken from the palace of the royal family in 1897 during the British invasion of the kingdom, which are now scattered across Europe, the United States and other parts of the world.

The monarch stated this when he received in his palace, the Chairman of DAAR Communications, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, who paid a courtesy visit on him on his birthday and the fifth coronation anniversary, where he commended the efforts of the Oba in bringing back the artworks.

Oba Ewuare II said: “The fortunes are behind you in all your efforts to ensure that all the artefacts that were taken away from here are brought back and restored.”

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The Oba also dispelled speculations that some of the works were not taken from the palace but elsewhere, just as he commended the federal government and the Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) for their support to get the artefacts back.

While commending Dokpesi for taking the lead in private broadcasting in Nigeria despite the unfriendly environment, the Oba revealed that Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, which his father, Oba Erediauwa, attended, would soon return some artefacts in its custody to Benin.

According to him, “We hear that some researchers in Germany have stated that some of them were produced here; some were produced there, and so on and so forth, but where are these here and there? Were they outside the Benin Empire? Where they outside the Benin Kingdom? Were any of the artefacts produced outside the Benin Kingdom? If they were all produced in the Benin kingdom, why would any researcher try to say some were taken out of Benin Palace and some were taken from elsewhere? All elsewhere or wherever they are talking about, are they not all under the authority of the Oba of Benin? Are they not all under the Benin Empire?”

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He said the planned museum to house the artefacts would be domiciled in a building opposite the palace.

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How the 36 Nigerian states got their names

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There’s rich history behind every state and its name. Check out all the states and how they were named.

Abia is an acronym from the four main groups of people in the state as at the time it was formed in 1991: Aba Bende Isuikwuato Afikpo.

Adamawa was named after a warrior, Modibbo Adama Bin Ardo Hassan, that conquered the region in the beginning of the 19th century.

Akwa Ibom is named after the Qua Iboe (or Kwa Iboe) River.

The state got its name from the corrupted version of Oma Mbala (Ànyịm Ọma Mbala), a popular river in the area.

There are three versions of how Bauchi got its name are:

‘Bauchi’ is Hausa word meaning the southern flanks of Hausaland. Tribes living in the southern parts of the Hausaland were referred to as “kasashen bauchi” and the area they lived in later came to be known simply as Bauchi. The second version the state was named for Baushe, a famous hunter who settled there before the 19th century. The third states that ‘bauchi’ is Hausa word for slavery since it was a center for slave raiders.

Bayelsa is a combination of the acronyms of three local government areas which were pulled out of old Rivers state — Brass LGA known as BALGA, Yenegoa LGA known as YELGA and Sagbama LGA known as SALGA. The mathematics involved in the formation of their names is BA + YEL + SA = BAYELSA

The state was named after the “europeanised” corruption of ‘Binuwe’, the Batta word for ‘Mother of Waters’.

The alternative name of the Kanuris, the predominant ethnic group in the state, is ‘Borno’ which gave inspiration for the naming of the state.

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The state took its name from a River called Oyono or Cross River.

The state is where the River Niger forms a delta as it enters the Atlantic Ocean.

Ebonyi is the anglicised version of ‘Aboine’, a river that cuts through Abakaliki, the state capital.

The Bini people who dwell in the area had always referred to themselves as Edo or Iduu. This inspired the name of the state.

‘Okiti’ is a term that is said to denote a settlement of many hills. It later became ‘Ekiti’.

Due to the many hills and rocky terrain in the area, the people named it in igbo, “Enu Ugwu” meaning “top of the hill”. The state is named after the anglicised version, Enugu.

Gombe is the dialect of Fulani language (Fulfulde) spoken in the area.

Just like many of the Nigerian states, Imo took its name from the popular river, Imo Mmiri.

Jigawa takes inspiration from its distinctively golden-coloured soil.

‘Kadunas’ is the plural form of crocodile in Hausa. The state therefore got its name from the many crocodiles in Kaduna River.

Kano was the name of a blacksmith from the Gaya tribe who settled in the area while sourcing for ironstone. The state was named after him.

The state was named after the wife of a popular local ruler known as Janzama. Her name was Katsina.

It is said that Kebbi was named after the Ka’abba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Since the popular confluence in Nigeria is located in the state, Kogi is said to have been derived from ‘kogin’, the hausa word for river.

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River Niger used to be called River Kwara by the Nupes at the Northern border of the state. The state was named after this.

In 1472, the first set of Europeans to set foot in Lagos were the Portuguese. Due to the many lagoons and rivers in the town, they named it Lagos, which is the Portuguese word for ‘lakes’.

Nasarawa is a native word for ‘victorious’. The state was named by the founder of Nasarawa kingdom, Makama Dogo.

This was named after the River Niger.

This state was also named after a river — Ogun River.

Ondo is a word used for settlers. The state was named after the settlers of the old Ondo Kingdom.

This state was also named after a river — the River Osun.

The state was named after the Old Oyo empire.

The state was named after the picturesque Jos plateau. Jos got its name from the mispronunciation of the town ‘Gwosh’.

Rivers State was named after the many water bodies present in the area.

Sokoto is the anglicized version of the Arabic word ‘suk’ meaning ‘market’ or ‘place of commerce’. The state itself was named after the defunct Sokoto Caliphate.

Taraba state got its name from the Taraba River.

Komadugu Yobe (Waube or Ouobe) or River Yobe (or River of Yo) inspired the name of the state.

This state was named after Zamfarawa, one of the subdialects of the Eastern Hausa group.

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