Former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has afire the blaze of cultural awakening in his built-in Igbere association in the state.
In an attack to added affiliate his people, Kalu, through the Orji Uzor Kalu Foundation, organised the beginning Igbere Cultural Carnival on January 6. With the affair “Celebrating Our Heritage,” it was absolutely a accurate carnival of the people’s heritage.
Speaking at his Camp Neya Carnival Village, breadth of the event, Kalu recalled how he had been cerebration of animating his people’s cultural ancestry until backward endure year, if a accumulation of humans from his community, led by the president-general of Igbere Welfare Union (IWU), Elder Uwakwe Okoronkwo, Chief Jones Udeogu and Rev. Jemima Kalu, came to see him on the matter. A date was best for the beginning edition, which was planned to be low key. He said he was afraid at how things angry out.
“Now, attending at what is happening; it is a big carnival featuring added than 50,000 people. There has been annihilation like this in the accomplished of the South East.
“We are aggravating to do absolutely what humans see in Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil and some added countries. This is the beginning edition, addition one will be advancing up in January 2019. If God gives us activity and acceptable health, Nigerians will see what we will do actuality then.
“We spent a lot of money to organise this event; we achievement it will be an anniversary accident in band with President Muhammadu Buhari’s ambition that we acquisition a way of bringing foreigners into our country. I’m abiding that, next year, anybody will see humans from altered locations of the apple advancing to this event.
“We started something like this in Aba with the Enyimba FC. During their aboriginal match, the army was bare but it grew bigger during the next match. By next year, we achievement that our account for this accident will be accustomed by the National Assembly and Mr. President. Then, this anniversary will attestant greater fun, with the association authoritative money from tourists,” he said.
Kalu declared that the carnival would aswell serve as a ambulatory point for unity: “Before this carnival, abounding Igbere indigenes usually travelled aback to their corresponding stations afore January 2 afterwards adulatory Christmas. But today is January 6, yet humans are still everywhere in the association because of this carnival. Therefore, we will sustain this carnival and accomplish it accompany money to Igbere, Bende and Abia humans in general.”
Kalu thanked the abbot of ability and tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for sending a adumbrative to attestant the event. He aswell thanked the commander, 14 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Ohafia, Brigadier-General Abubakar Ibrahim, and added guests for getting allotment of the day.
The actual accomplished abbot of labour and productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, maintained that the Igbere Cultural Carnival had tourism abeyant that could be angry into a acquirement earner for the country. He recalled that countries like South Africa and Brazil were acceptable at such carnivals, as Kalu beforehand acicular out.
He said: “I am not afraid that Kalu is allotment the Igbere Cultural Carnival. You apperceive I served beneath him if he was governor of Abia State. He will abide to abide my bang-up and my leader. I apperceive what he can do and I will ambition him to abide to accept those qualities that admired him to the people. There is around no arresting getting in Abia Accompaniment at the moment that did not canyon through his tutelage.
“Someone agnate to him is Senator Bola Tinubu, ancient governor of Lagos State. Even the actual accomplished governor of the accompaniment anesthetized through Kalu, and the accepted governor of the accompaniment anesthetized through him. So, I appetite humans to recognise the political accuracy of this abundant Abia son.”
Wogu bidding joy that the carnival was ancient to run aural its own model, acquainted that it was absolutely altered from others, including the Calabar carnival: “This carnival is altered to the Igbere heritage; so, I don’t anticipate that it is actuality to attempt with any added carnival because it is artlessly predicated on Igbere heritage, which is altered from every added one.”
He apprenticed the Federal Government to abutment the Igbere carnival by giving the humans requisite institutional abutment and, to abutment added cultural activities that would addition tourism in the country.
On his part, Brigadier-General Ibrahim said: “Igbere is one of the communities abutting to my headquarters; we don’t accept any botheration with them. So, if they arrive me to this cultural carnival, I acquainted blessed and absitively to appear actuality to bless with the humans and get to apperceive added about the altered ability of the Igbo. I’m actual afflicted with what I accept apparent here. I ambition we could accept added of this as it will advance unity, compassionate and actualize an atmosphere for bread-and-butter development.”
He declared that the army army in Ohafia was planning to accept its own cultural anniversary actual soon, and humans from neighbouring communities would be arrive to be allotment of the event.
Mr. Princewill Ike Ukaegbu, president-general, Ibeku Egwu Asaa Development Association, Umuahia, declared the accident as an absorbing and candied gathering, breadth the humans showcased altered aspects of culture. He added that it was a acquisition that had brought the humans of the breadth together. He congratulated Dr. Kalu, who is the chairman, OUK Foundation, and the Igbere humans for staging the event.
“This carnival is a assurance that Igbere is one; it is a assurance of unity, which is defective in abounding communities today. Afore now, we accept been adulatory our ability in Umuahia, but afterwards some time some akin of alienation and acerbity fabricated it absolutely difficult for us to appear calm to authority it. But actual soon, we will be re-inventing our ability and bringing Ibeku aback on track.
“What I’m demography home today from this accident is a faculty of accordance and the alertness of somebody to absorb his assets for the acceptable of his humans because it is not simple to organise an accident like this. Attending at the apparel here; you will see that acceptable money has been spent to organise this carnival; so, I acknowledge Kalu and added Igbere indigenes for authoritative this happen,” he said.
Chief Solo Akuma, SAN, an indigene of Igbere, bidding contentment at the event: “I feel awful animated that this is accident today in our clan. I accept to acclaim Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu for the efforts he has fabricated to animate our culture. It is a affair everybody should challenge and accordance him all-important acknowledgment and respect.
“This carnival has opened the eyes of investors. It will animate those who ambition to advance in the accommodation industry. There are a lot of options accessible to investors who ambition to yield advantage of this huge opportunity.”
A administrator of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Sam Nkire, commended the cultural enterprise, which he said was never apparent afore throughout the South East. He asserted that Igbere association would go places in agreement of culture.
“Because the carnival is getting powered by the Orji Uzor Kalu Foundation, it is not traveling to be ephemeral. It is traveling to endure; it is traveling to improve.
“I see the agent in Kalu in this accident because I apperceive if humans appear for this blazon of carnival, they are apprenticed to absorb money and advice the abridgement of Igbere people. So, it’s a admirable innovation, I adore it and I will ambition to yield it home to my people,” Nkire said.
Kalu’s mother, Elder (Mrs.) Eunice Uzor Kalu, and adolescent brother, Mascot, said that the carnival was a belvedere for the advance and anniversary of the ability of the humans with the aim of acceptable their tourism potential.
Mrs. Kalu congratulated her son for allotment the carnival and the organisers for putting up an accident that would abide a advertence point in the account of Igboland.
Mascot Uzor Kalu said that the accident was a way of teaching the adolescent ones things they didn’t apperceive and reminding the earlier ones of things they ability accept forgotten.
Earlier, administrator of Igbere Cultural Carnival, Chief Jones Udeogu, said the anniversary was predicated on the objectives of the Orji Uzor Kalu Foundation, which provided accessible women and youths with abilities and opportunities to advance their alimentation and abate amusing ills and adolescence ailment by agreeable the unemployed a part of them in agriculture and added ventures.
Over 20 ball troupes featured at the event. There was one from Nkpa, which the humans of the association said was featured in acknowledgment of what Kalu did for them by reconstructing their alley that had been blocked over the years. There were aswell prizes and awards handed out to outstanding performers.