NIGERIA: Africa's most populous country promotes ethnic harmony and showcases its rich cultural diversity at the annual Abuja carnival

Nigerians are getting a chance to show off their ethnic diversity and get back to their roots at a cultural festival in the nation's capital, Abuja. Authorities also hope to use the festival to attract a flood of international cultural tourists by showcasing the country's diverse and extremely colourful traditions. The second edition of the Abuja Carnival kicked off with a procession featuring many of Nigeria's 350 ethnic communities, wearing colourful traditional regalia. President Olusegun Obasanjo - who plans to step down before landmark elections next year - was on hand to start things off. "It is with great pleasure and joy and satisfaction that I formally open this year's Abuja carnival event to the glory of God," Obasanjo said to domestic and foreign tourists who gathered to watch him cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. The Carnival lasts three days and most of Nigeria's 36 states sent 'cultural ambassadors' to the carnival. These included masquerades, dancers, and musicians from the east and west, traditional horsemen from the Muslim north, and boat regattas put on by those from riverine communities in the southern Delta region. The cultural festival is promoted by Obasanjo's administration as an attempt to promote harmony in the country which has been wracked by political, religious, and ethnic strife since he came to power in 1999. Cultural tourism is also one of a number of efforts to wean Nigeria's economy off its dependence on oil. With such a high profile for the festival, the government ensured that large numbers of police, traffic control, medical and fire-fighting personnel were on hand to assist with the event. Obasanjo has expressed hopes that the carnival will be taken over by the private sector in order to ensure it survives as an annual event. Critics complain that the government should instead be focusing resources on the various infrastructural and security problems that plague the country and scare of visitors in the first place. Some Christian and Muslim leaders condemned last year's carnival as a catalyst for immorality and idolatry. The government also organises an annual 'Black Heritage Festival' where Africans in the Diaspora are invited to trace the routes used by slaves as they departed from Africa.

ITN Source | November 25, 2006

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