The festival is designed to rekindle cultural pride through subtle campaigns, engaging activities, and rewarding competitions tailored to appeal to families and young people.
— Okaforocha
By Cyril Mbah, Abuja
In a bold move to combat the looming threat of cultural extinction, a group of southeastern Nigerians residing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are set to launch the maiden edition of the Igbo Gadigide Annual Cultural Festival on April 26 in Abuja.
The event aims to revive and promote the Igbo language and cultural identity, especially among younger generations.
Speaking in Gwagwalada during an exclusive interview, the Coordinator of the initiative, Evangelist Princess Tobechukwu Okaforocha, expressed deep concern over the waning use of the Igbo language among urban youth.
She highlighted that the festival is designed to rekindle cultural pride through subtle campaigns, engaging activities, and rewarding competitions tailored to appeal to families and young people.
According to her, participants will be encouraged to speak Igbo and wear traditional attire, with attractive prizes to be won in various contests. Events lined up for the one-day festival include traditional cooking competitions, dance contests, an Igbo fashion parade, Ogene music performances, Iwa-oji (the symbolic breaking of kolanuts), and Igbo language quizzes.
Princess Okaforocha noted that the initiative has received significant backing from Igbo business leaders and diaspora supporters who have pledged both financial and moral support to ensure its success.
The event is expected to host over 1,000 participants from the six area councils of Abuja and neighboring states in northern Nigeria.
She lamented the increasing number of Igbo youths who, despite being of southeastern descent, prefer to communicate solely in English and shy away from their native language. “It’s disheartening,” she said, “especially when other ethnic communities like the Hausa and Yoruba proudly uphold their languages and traditions.”
Princess urged Igbo families to take cues from other tribes by using their language more frequently, especially in community meetings and social gatherings, to strengthen cultural transmission.
The Igbo Gadigide festival is not just a celebration—it is a cultural awakening, one that seeks to reconnect a people with their roots and secure the future of their heritage.