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The feast, which is branded Eko o ni baje Festival - apparently in solidarity with the Lagos State Government’s efforts to save the state from its lost glory – has been fixed for September 19-21. The first day of the festival, which will be a cultural night, takes place at Eko o ni baje Kingdom, Eleko Junction.
This will be followed by yam cutting, traditional dance and wrestling as well as the royal question-and-answer at the Oni Ibeju Palace, Ibeju Agbe. The event will be wrapped up with beach walk out and feel-free beach football at the Eleko Beach.
At a media and stakeholders conference held recently in conjunction with Centre for the Defense of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CDHRDA) at the Oba’s palace to intimate the Onibeju of Ibejuland, Oba Olusegun Salami, of the festival and solicit his support and guidance for a hitch-free fiesta, the coordinator of the programme, Ozo Chinedu Idezuna, said it was a misnomer to always remember the Oba in times of conflict but when it was time for merriment like the New Yam Festival, Igbo would travel to their villages to partake in the celebration.
Since culture is dynamic, he said: “We have decided to bring to the people of Ibeju Lekki community, the Igbo culture of eating new yam. This should not be restricted to Ibeju Lekki community alone, anywhere Igbo find themselves; culture should go along with them.”
Idezuna, who is also known as Chief Ezemmuo, disclosed that “the conference was to remind ourselves that an English man left his country for Africa, got married to African woman and gave birth and nothing went wrong, likewise an Igbo man, who bought land and built a house and Lagos never swallowed him even though the environment is aquatic.
He said the festival was being celebrated in the same way it was done in Igbo land by, first, visiting the marketplace or the palace of the Kabiyesi to announce the festival through a drumbeat, otherwise known as Ekpe in Igbo language.
He revealed that, apart from Olokun festival, the festival was another event that has received the backing of Lagos Zone of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), adding, “It offers an opportunity of attracting tourists to Ibeju Lekki area of the state.
In response, Oba Salami described yam as important and symbolic, noting that New Yam Festival was synonymous with the Igbo in the Eastern part of the country. “It is not just a culture but a huge one,” he said.
In the area of tourism, he ranked Lagos State as the number one, because “the state has many things goings on in the tourism sector, while the West Coast is filled with tourists’ attractions.”
While endorsing the festival, the monarch said: “I’ll rally all the chiefs and kings in my domain to support the festival. It should also be accepted in other parts of the country, because it is an opportunity for us to know one another and bridge the gap among tribes, religion and brotherhood. Nigerians are united in terms of food, clothing and family values.”
He noted that tourism has the capacity of uniting the country in many ways, adding that it has done so in many countries, such as Dubai, England and Chicago in United States of America. “Tourism has been the major means of livelihood of these countries, and since it has helped their growth, there is no gainsaying it would equally help Nigeria’s growth and development. The tourism of the North, South, East and West, if properly harnessed, will provide unity and neighborliness,” he said.
Emphasizing on exporting our culture to the western world, he frowned at the idea of some obas, who travel abroad in English wear, noting that it negates African culture and tradition.
Ibeju Lekki, which is also known as Ibeju Agbe he disclosed, is a place blessed with tourism potentials embedded in its three important trees known as “Igimeta”. He explained: “The first tree breeds money, followed by another one that breeds beads and the third one which breeds babariga (big cloth) –and the trees have been around for 700 years.”
The NTDC Zonal Coordinator, South West Zone, Mrs. Chioma Ibe, while commending the initiative, said it would resuscitate cultural heritage of the Igbo and ensure it doesn’t die, noting that the cultural heritage of the country is integrity, which should be inculcated on our youths.
Speaking on the mission of NTDC, she explained that the corporation’s mission was to market domestic tourism, and “If we must attract tourists, we need to know our people before allowing others from outside.” She added that tourism is a sector that can generate labour, launder the image of the country, for instance, sport tourism.
Contributing, Architect Jonathan Asinobi explained that the essence of the festival is to taste yam extracted from Yoruba soil, adding that every Igbo growing up, working, married, owned property and their children educated in the state certainly can claim Lagos is his or her home. Asinobi, who performed the pre-festival ceremony of eating new yam in Igbo land, expressed happiness and prayed that God should, through it, give the Igbo common sense of unity to provide service, friendship and brotherhood to any human being particularly Nigerians anywhere they may find themselves, no matter their tribe or tongue.
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