Abuja’s fake carnival

Military parades are used to commemorate victories and remind citizens of the preparedness of the military to defend the nation. Carnivals on the other hand are quite a different matter altogether. They are public celebrations which include both parades and public street parties. An essential element of carnivals is “overturning the drudgery of daily life”. […]

Military parades are used to commemorate victories and remind citizens of the preparedness of the military to defend the nation. Carnivals on the other hand are quite a different matter altogether. They are public celebrations which include both parades and public street parties. An essential element of carnivals is “overturning the drudgery of daily life”.
The difference between parades and carnivals is that parades are watched while Carnivals are participated in. Carnival periods are supposed to be a time when the general public comes out onto the streets to enjoy themselves. Charades are defined as pretences or faked acts done just for show. They are empty or deceptive actions done in order to pretend something is true when it isn’t really so. Many observers of the recently concluded 2013 Abuja Carnival assert that this annual parade in Abuja which is mistakenly called a Carnival is actually in truth nothing but a charade. Despite all the fanfare, money and efforts of government there was predictably a low turnout of participants. Reports that only 17 of the 36 States of the Federation and 5 of the 15 countries that indicated interest were present at the opening ceremony came as no surprise. Since it was established in 2005 the only achievement to date of the so called “carnival” is to inconvenience Abuja workers and waste resources.
The Minister for Tourism said the aim is to build partnerships with countries where carnivals have become big enterprise. He spoke of how carnivals can be economically beneficial by creating temporary employment, how they can aid social integration, and how they have the potential to boost tourism and put Nigeria on the world map as a preferred destination.
Unfortunately the one thing he never mentioned was enjoyment. He never once referred to the fact that carnivals are meant to be popular expressions of happiness. He and his officials don’t seem to grasp that carnivals are about people being happy. The reason tourists flock to the most renowned Carnivals in the world such as Notting Hill in London and Mardi Gras Carnival in Rio is to participate in a happy atmosphere of millions of people enjoying themselves on the streets and freeing themselves from the drudgery of daily life not just to watch parades. What took place in Abuja where there was no provision for public participation was definitely not a Carnival.
The whole idea of trying to organize public enjoyment on a working day when schools are in session is absurd to say the least.  All efforts were directed towards organizing a march past with absolutely no attempt to create a carnival atmosphere. Less than 2% of Abuja residents live within in the city centre and with the ban on street hawking, okada riders, kiosk trading, and mini-busses less than 15% of the population now enters the city centre on a daily basis. Despite this there were no planned activities outside the central area of the city and no provision for anyone living in the suburbs to participate in any manner. The least one would have expected is a street party in each Ward, a parade in each local government, and a grand parade in the city centre to round it off. In truth even if public participation had been arranged enjoyment would still have been difficult. Abuja is a civil service city and as at the time of the “carnival” government workers had not been paid. Civil servants struggling to get home in the traffic snarl up occasioned by the parade were heard openly abusing the government and demanding that they should be paid their salaries instead of using parades to “chop money again”! TV viewers were beamed pictures of the total absence of merriment and unsmiling faces of participants. Everyone agrees that smiling is a personal characteristic and not necessarily an indication of good feelings but it is an accepted measure of happiness.
 In 2011 a global survey named Nigerians the happiest people on earth. Social scientists tell us that to understand why a people beset by poverty, corruption and violence are always smiling we should not equate prosperity with happiness. According to them happiness is a function of various non material factors especially the quality of relationship with family and friends which is why with all their prosperity western nations suffer from high levels of suicide and chronic depression. Nigerian happiness is an optimism and hope born out surviving one disastrous government after another. We are happy because we “thank God for life” that. We lavishly celebrate weddings, baby dedications, burials, birthdays, graduation and promotions with much gusto and merry making. Regrettably while celebrating personal milestones we have come to terms with low national standards.
We are at peace with corruption and fraud in government, we accept the import of low quality goods and services, and we have become used to things such as constant power outages and no water supply which would make people in other countries unhappy. Nigerian officials focus on personal enrichment not the business of trying to make citizens happy so doubtless people made millions from the fake “carnival”. Ministry of Tourism officials must appreciate that there are no residents in central Abuja who will create a Carnival atmosphere. The only way to turn the event into a successful tourist attraction of international repute is to convert it into a national cultural parade of all our ethnic nationalities. The Abuja charade which was supposed to project Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage featured school children in leggings and t-shirts dancing to the crude waist winding non-Nigerian Makossa music! Remarkably Federal government is so poor in service delivery they can’t even organize enjoyment!
They managed to wipe the smiles off our faces! Fake foreign style carnivals are not the solution to our tourism problems in Nigeria.