Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has confirmed the participation of 108 competitors in the painting competition that will take place at the 2010 Lagos State Black Heritage Festival.

The festival tagged, ‘Lagos-Badagry 2010,’ which is the third in the series, is expected to take place from April 3 to April 9, 2010 and its theme is ‘Memory and Performance in the Return to Source.’

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos on Saturday, which had in attendance the Coordinator of the festival, Dr. Wale Adeniran, a Director of the festival, Dr. Peter Badejo, and the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-governmental Relations, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, among others, Soyinka said that competitors would be taken round the city to absorb the impression of the city.

Explaining the broader concept of the festival, the playwright said that Lagos State was projecting its rich cultural heritage and that of the country to the rest of the world through the festival.

He said, “We can use a particular festival like the Calabar Carnival, for instance, to project our culture. The push has to start from somewhere and Lagos State is taking the initiative. This festival, however, is not for Lagos State alone and that is the reason we have commenced this blitz.”

Soyinka also disclosed that the festival would bring together notable personalities like Danny Glover, to educate people about what science was doing to assist those in the diaspora to retrace their genetic origin.

On the local scene, the Nobel Laureate said a Children’s Heritage Village was being created at the LTV 8, Ikeja, where the youths would be reintegrated into culture and heritage through regular interaction with elderly persons who were vast in the rich culture of the state.

He stated that the multidimensional festival which, would also feature a colloquium, arts and craft, music, theatre, dance, boat regatta and exhibition, would focus more on the history of the black continent.

On the level of preparedness for the festival, the state Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-governmental Relations said, “Apart from infrastructure development that is ongoing in Badagry, there is also the slave project, creation of film village which will not only provide film but also a centre for the projection of our rich culture.”

Afikuyomi said all the state traffic apparatus and security agencies had been detailed to take control of the traffic situation in the metropolis during the festival.

The festival is being sponsored by Stanbic IBTC, Air France, KLM, Coscharis, Southern Sun, Total Nigeria Plc, Glo and Nigeria Breweries Plc.

Other directors of the festival include Akin Adejuwon, Odia Ofiemum, Uko Atai, Tope Babayemi, Tunde Kelani, Jimi Solanke, Foluke Michaels, and Ayo Bankole.



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