By Anthony Awunor
The Ubulu Uku carnival held on the 27th December, 2021 at Ubulu Uku, Aniocha South LGA of Delta State, was a huge success in all it’s ramifications.
It is the first ever carnival held in the ancient Kingdom since time immemorial.
Before now, what we knew, that are closest to a carnival were the Ine and Iwu Festivals. These festivities attract the largest gathering, as far as culture and traditions are concerned.
Although, the costumes for both festivals are somewhat carnival-like, the government in their own wisdom, few years ago, found the need for a broad- based carnival for communities in the state.
Such initiatives by the Delta State government are very commendable because the promotion and advancement of culture is very crucial for community development, any where across the globe.
Beyond that, carnival remains one of the most unifying cultural and creative extravaganza, whereby culture that encapsulates music, dance, costumes, pageantry and performance are showcased to the public.
Obviously, that is the purpose for which the recently held Ubulu-Uku carnival was initiated. But being the first carnival ever held in the ancient town, one would expect some loose ends, here and there, which is not out of place.
Apart from carnivals, we all know that the beginning of any venture comes with such teething challenges.
Once again, I must commend the Delta State Government for encouraging carnivals across several communities. I must also give kudos to the Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Delta State, Engr Lawrence Ejiofor who equally made things happen, both at Ubulu-Uku, his hometown and other communities around the State. He is indeed, a round peg in a round hole. Little wonder, the engineer cum politician won the “Tourism Personality of The Year 2021” at the recently held Ubulu Ezemu Awards. He deserves such commendation and I am sure he will get more accolades in the nearest future, if he continues the way he is going.
The carnival planning committee is not left out of the commendations too. No doubt, they did a decent job.
However, there were some lapses. First, is the fact that, the carnival failed to accommodate a large population of the youths. Youths were present but a larger number of young people stayed away, doing their things.
Such indifference in a show which is supposed to be theirs is worrisome. My thinking was that, the youths should have, at least form the fulcrum of the carnival.
Leaving the youths out of the rendezvous, makes it look, as if, it was a village meeting organised exclusively, for the elders. It also created the impression, that the carnival was, perhaps, designed for a certain set of people; whereas it was meant for all.
I was also thinking that, all the quarters would be fully represented one after the other; but that did not happen.
Also, there was this issue of costume management and display. Ubulu-Uku people tried in terms of costume and make-up formalities but much efforts needed to be put in place in the future, so as to display costumes that are capable of exposing and advertising our rich cultural heritage. Such dresses must be adorned to comply with convention, rules or custom.
To put some of these lapses in proper perspective, the youths need to be carried along fully, so that they can participate and bring out the youthful side of the carnival just like they do during the Ine and Iwu Festivals.
The carnival should be, an all inclusive exercise, whereby every quarter in Ubulu-Uku would be fully represented in a more competitive manner.
To improve the costume worn by participants, there should be massive awareness among the people on what is expected to be worn by those involved. These special costumes could be provided free of charge or with little charges placed on them, just to encourage a very colorful and uniform outing.
By so doing, it will add colour to the show and at the same time project our rich cultural heritage which is a critical aspect of the carnival.
However, much needs to be done to recognise carnival, not just as a social event but as an important economic activity which can create job opportunities, tourism and succour for a reasonable percentage of the Ubulu-Uku indigenes.
Be that as it may, the maiden carnival is a step forward. I am very sure, that next year carnival will be an improvement on last year’s maiden event.
Once again, I say kudos to the initiators and sponsors of the carnival.
… Awunor, a culture expert is the publisher of Ubulu Ezemu