FUNKE OSAE-BROWN
Lagos State Government is set to hold the Lagos Street Carnival on December 3, 2017, Steve Ayorinde, the commissioner for Information and Strategy announced on Friday.
The carnival which will take place on Oba Akran road at Ikeja promises an exciting time for families as the Yuletide celebration approaches.
“The Lagos Street Party as we know it is being transformed into The Lagos Street Carnival,” explained Ayorinde at a media conference to announce the carnival. “We have always had series of activities towards the end of the year that will be driven by entertainment. Last year, we had a similar conference after AFRIMA.”
Ayorinde also announced a new award scheme named Temintiyin (meaning what is mine is yours) put in place to recognise outstanding kindness to Lagosians to one another. “The entire carnival and award scheme is organised by HEAT on behalf of the state government. Lagosians have shown one act of kindness or the other to one another and we want to celebrate this.”
Speaking further on the award, Seun Awojobi, a consultant to the Lagos State Government and a representative of the HEAT Company said: “It is a project designed to celebrate the random act of kindness of Lagosians from the five divisions of Lagos. We want to identify people who have impacted their community positively. The campaign will be available online and traditional media.”
Adebimpe Akinsola, acting commissioner for Tourism, Art and Culture, said the Lagos Street Party has been repackaged to serve a wider purpose. “There is an impressive line-up of engaging activities for the carnival. It will run for 12 hours commencing from 12pm to 12 midnight. The event will kick-start a series of activities which has been lined-up to celebrate Christmas and New Year. It will provide a platform for the residents to relax and enjoy themselves in a secured environment. Adequate security will be provided and LASTMA is fully ready to control traffic.”
According to her, the activities lined up for the carnival include: carnival procession, outdoor games, kiddies’ corner, music concert which will feature Olamide, Lil Kesh, Oritsefemi, Yemi Alade, Humble Smith among others.
Musician Olamide who was at the press briefing commended the efforts of the Lagos State Government to use entertainment to grow the state’s economy. “Countries like Brazil, UK attracts visitors to their countries through tourism especially carnivals like this. It is just the right time for Lagos to do the Street Carnival. With this initiative, Lagos might just be the number one city in the world for carnival.”
