– For the first time in the history of Nigeria, many of those considered lost in foreign countries would be able to trace their roots
– Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a senior aide to President Buhari, and Professor Ademola Abass revealed that the plans have been sealed
The federal government and Lagos state have concluded arrangement to help over 15 million Nigerians in diaspora trace their roots back home through the Badagry Diaspora Festival to hold in August this year.
The senior special assistant to the President Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and the special adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Oversees Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass, both revealed this on Tuesday, June 13.
According to them, the festival, which would be a replica of the 1977 Festival of Arts and Culture otherwise known as FESTAC 77, has been designed to assist Africans in diaspora to reunite with their ancestral roots.
It is believed that an estimated 15 Nigerians abroad would be able to trace their roots
ZENITHBLOG.com quotes them as saying apart from putting issues of Africans in diaspora on the front burner, the festival, would also provide platform to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Lagos State and Nigeria to the world and also promote tourism potentials of the country.
Mrs Dabiri-Erewa, who commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for supporting the festival, added that the event would host the largest gathering of Africans in the world.
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“For the first time, we have been having in Badagry a festival that brings people in the diaspora together but when we attended this festival few years ago, we sat together and said this would be the biggest cultural event to come out of Africa and so after years of planning, we have been able to come out with this programme this year coming up on August 23 to 25.
“United Nations already has declared ten years as decade for Africa, and so within the said decade, Nigeria in particular, and Lagos will be putting up one of the biggest gatherings of diaspora all over the world that will gather in Badagry later this year.
“One of the unique events of the festival is the ‘Door of Return’.
“A lot of people and things were taken out of Africa and Badagry in particular, and so our people in diaspora would be coming back through that door that we are calling the Door of Return, which is the opposite of ‘Point of no Return.
“Beyond that, we will be showcasing the beauty and culture of Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general through the festival,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
She revealed that many Nigerians in the diaspora have already indicated interest to be part of the event.
“We don’t have an accurate database but we are working on 15 million Nigerians in the diaspora and a lot of them are already coming,” she said.
Professor Abass said the event was part of the determination of Governor Ambode to use tourism, hospitality, entertainment and sport to promote excellence.
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“This festival is going to be utilized to promote the huge efforts that the present administration in Lagos state has been putting into turning Badagry around in terms of infrastructure, in terms of tourism and so many other things and so this forthcoming celebration falls squarely within our government agenda to promote tourism and also to promote
“As you know, we are developing a Sea Port in Badagry among so many other things and so the festival will be a win-win for everybody especially for us in Lagos State,” Abass said.
On his part, Mr Babatunde Mese-Waku, President of African Renaissance Foundation, one of the promoters of the festival, said a Brazilian, Baye De Santos, whose root has been traced to Ketu in Benin Republic, would be honoured at the festival for his contribution towards promoting issues relating to Africans in diaspora.
In a related development, Governor Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday, June 13 presented cheques totaling N924.7 million to 1, 438 beneficiaries of the Employment Trust Fund (ETF) scheme initiated by his administration.
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The scheme was initiated to provide entrepreneurs, artisans, traders and others with capital to boost their businesses thereby reducing unemployment and increasing wealth among the people.
Currently, 4, 000 businesses have benefited a total of N3.5 billion from the scheme, while the government says it targets about 100,000 micro, small and medium enterprises to create up to 300, 000 direct and 600, 000 indirect jobs by 2019.
Governor Ambode, who had, in January presented cheques totaling about N1 billion to 705 beneficiaries, expressed delight that the government was on course to meet the objectives of the initiative.
Officials with one of the beneficiaries
He said it was also encouraging that the previous beneficiaries have started repaying their loans, thereby expanding their businesses and creating jobs.
Represented by the commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Dr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, the governor said he was happy that the beneficiaries have started contributing to the growth of the Lagos economy.
“One of the success stories of this programme which I am very proud of is the achievement of one of the first set of beneficiaries, a company called Jand2Gidi, run by two young women.
“Today, they have invested their loan in buying motorcycles for their delivery men, and hired people to operate those motorcycles.
“Not only are they repaying their loan, they have also created at least 10 direct jobs for Lagos residents, thereby increasing the economic activity across the state.
“We eagerly expect to celebrate many more success stories like this,” Ambode said.
Meanwhile, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state has warned that Nigeria’s democracy must not be injured or endangered in any form.
Ambode said this on Monday, June 12 when he paid glowing tributes to the late winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, and other martyrs of democracy who laid down their lives in the struggle to entrench good governance in the country.
Watch this video of former President Olusegun Obasanjo speaking passionately about Nigeria:
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