Culture galore at Jos carnival

It was cultural glitz and glamour at the Jos Carnival 2019 The Jos Carnival 2019 has come and gone but the culture galore displayed during the fiesta is still the talk of the town. The 1, 300 dances and 30 cultural troupes from different parts of the country participated during the street parade, dressed in […]

It was cultural glitz and glamour at the Jos Carnival 2019

The Jos Carnival 2019 has come and gone but the culture galore displayed during the fiesta is still the talk of the town.

The 1, 300 dances and 30 cultural troupes from different parts of the country participated during the street parade, dressed in colourful traditional attires.

Even the State Governor, Simon Lalong, his wife Regina and Commissioner for Tourism, Culture and Hospitality, Mrs. Tamwakat Weli and other government officials were dressed in glowing attires.

The carnival started on Saturday 20th April with the beauty pageant with a king and queen contest which brought about a new king and queen for the carnival.

The ‘royals,’ with their maids on the carnival train, led thousands of people who participated in the carnival.

After the beauty pageant, a street parade, tagged, ‘Biggest Street Pageant in Northern Nigeria’ took place from the Old Airport Junction to Polo Field.

It was during the street parade on Monday that Governor Lalong officially declared the event open.

During the parade there was a stop at a bridge located at Secretariat Round-About, where the governor launched a beautification project. The bridge at the round-about was painted and made a tourist centre or destination. The bridge has now been made a maker of photography.

The second stop was at the Hill Station Round-About where he held a symbolic tree planting event in line with this year’s theme of the event, ‘Jos Go Green.’

The carnival according to the governor was aimed at making the people of the state to understand the cause and effect of global warming.

After the street parade the cultural troupes entertained the crowd at Polo Field.

The troupes were from Jukun, Adamawa, Edo, Cross Rivers and Nassarawa Eggon.

Others included Jarawa, Anaguta, Afizere, Igbo and Yoruba among others.

About 100 bikers thrilled the crowd before musicians like Ice Prince, Classiq and Plateau State-based musicians took the centre stage to add glamour, glitz and ginger to the fête.

A popular Nollywood actress, Patience Ozokwor and ex-Nigeria international footballer, Samson Siasia attended the carnival.

The carnival ended yesterday, with a mini polo tournament graced by eminent traditional rulers.

The polo competition organized by the Plateau State Government was in conjunction with Rotary International, was a campaign to kick polio out of Nigeria.

This year, unlike previous editions was void of the zonal carnivals like the Wase Rock climbing carnival.

Lalong said the Carnival would serve as breeding ground and avenue for youths of the state to harness their talents in music.

He said, “I would provide massive infrastructure for the youths of the state to harness their talents in music and football. So, I urge the youths to use the carnival to harness their talents in music.”

In her remarks, Weli said, “The carnival also serves as venue for funfair and a one-stop shop for our visitors to get a glimpse of the culture, people and tourist sites we have. This gesture would also develop the entrepreneurial skills of youths and discourage their vulnerability from being engaged in nefarious activities.”

Also speaking at the event, Chairman, Local Organising Committee, (LOC), of the carnival, Ejila Solomon, said this year’s carnival was an improved and higher version when compared to the previous editions in 2017 and 2018.

He said, “Last year we had about 1500 dancers and few of cultural dancers, but this year we had only 1300 contemporary dancers. There was more improvement in the participation of cultural dancers this year, because we see the carnival with our own eyes as marriage between culture and contemporary dancers.”

During this year’s edition the numbers of musicians from other states were reduced, “from the beginning it was two A-list artistes and the second edition has only one A list artiste. One may ask why, but it is deliberate. We are trying to narrow down our guests to home-based musicians.

“We want to expose them to the world. Initially, we needed A list artistes to promote the carnival, now the carnival has started gaining traction and we are using the carnival to promote our home-based artistes,” he said.

On the issue of publicity, he said that the massive crowd which graced the occasion has shown that the insinuation that the carnival didn’t get publicity, wasn’t true.

Solomon added that they had challenge with funding, but solicited for more money to be channeled for the betterment of the carnival.

He said, “We need more money because the carnival gulps a lot of money and many people don’t know that. It gulps a lot of money to engage people with talents.”

Hassan Usman, a bicycle rider from Bauchi said that the experience of the carnival would linger for the rest of his life because it was a memorable one.

“The atmosphere was electric and the crowd played their parts in making it a success. I am proud to attend this carnival, I came from Bauchi State and we don’t have such events in Bauchi,” Usman said.

Ngovou Samuel, 20, from Riyom local government area of the state, told Daily Trust that the carnival has helped her to discover her hidden talents in dancing and drumming.

Talatu Moses, a 20-year-old girl who was part of the street dancers, said that the carnival has made her realize the importance of team work and unity.

“The carnival was awesome,” she said, “From the carnival I now realize the importance of team work and the strength in unity.”