IGALA CARNIVAL

KOGI’S BIGGEST TOURISM PITCH YET

By Eneojo Herbert Idakwo

Igala carnival 2021 will be the most successful cultural and tourism show to date,
taking place at the Kogi state university stadium Complex Anyigba on the 21 st of
July 2021.

The Carnival shall showcase exhibitions that include the widest variety and depth
of Igala cultural products and indices ready to pitch to a record number of
external and local attendees, tourists and buyers.

By the middle of May, most of the arrangements for the great event have been
concluded with both private and public sector participants, partners and
sponsors. Indications to attend by both individuals and groups have far doubled
what it was in the last 3 events and it shall yet showcase the “who is who” in Igala
land and beyond. It is indeed the quality of the attendees that distinguish the
Igala carnival from any other cultural events so far. The event has become Igala’s
premier flagship cultural and tourism event and platform unrivalled as a business
proposition for the local and global culture tourism buyer community. This is the
biggest assemblage of Igala people young and old who come to Anyigba each year
to do culture and tourism business.

Suffice to say, Igala Carnival has secured its position as Igala’s biggest and most
important cultural tourism event largely due to its conscious and pro-active
partnership with the cream of cultural products, cuisine, songs and dances in
Igalaland and nationwide, making it the only distinct Igala culture and tourism
global platform. “The Igala carnival is a showcase for the Igala Cultural tourism
sector designed and engineered for the Igala national and global industry to
extract the maximum value from our cultural heritage for global appeal. It
uniquely offers tourists the best of our cultural indices; all under one platform, so
it’s an unmissable opportunity for the global tourism buyer says CEO Hillary
Amodu.
Every conceivable tourism and tourism related sector is represented.
Accommodation, tour operators, transport, travel, media, traditional dance,
music, drama, local dishes and delicacies, Cultural troupes e.t.c from big to small
so tourists can have a free range of choices.

A significant value add for the event is the showcasing of variety of local dishes,
delicacies, souvenirs and various art products including books and magazines

emphasizing the lgala culture value on sale.

The pay offs of this remarkable trade arising from the event is the creation of
jobs.

The big picture of this all important event is that via thousands of tourism
businesses, millions of jobs are created, and foreign direct spending is continually
attracted to Igala land.
“the positive impact of tourism in Igala land will be widely felt. It spurs economic
growth, job creation, and an even stronger middle class, more exposure for Igala
land to grow, pan-lgala optimism and wider investment in many sectors including
infrastructure, skills development and construction. It will also build a positive
global image for lgala land, dispelling misconceived perceptions and promoting
lgala land as what it is, warm welcoming, friendly, beautiful and infinitely varied
scenery. This is the great value that tourism business and Igala carnival brings to
the lgala nation and economy.

Igala land is the nineth largest ethnic configuration in Nigeria but yet our growth
trajectory does not depict this rank as development has been slow and far
between.

Culture and tourism are key economic growth drivers for this much needed
development. Anyigba which has become the Center and most popular
destination for new hotel investment in Igala land because of its central location,
shall play host to this event and hotel owners shall by this event smile to their
banks.
Igala land remains an unrivalled tourism destination due to the platform of
cultural indices arising from our very rich culture.

It therefore becomes very imperative that every pan Igala revivalist both at home
and in diaspora to not only support the event, but attend and invite non Igalas to
also attend in order to showcase our rich culture heritage to the world.