- Sanwo-Olu to receive Dr. Julius Marcus-Garvey, other returnees
By Seyi Babalola
Badagry, an ancient city in Lagos State will host a historical, spiritual and economic event tagged ‘Fourth Door of Return’, where hundreds of diaspora Africans are expected to return to their motherland, next week Saturday.
The major highlight of the event will see the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu walk through the door of return to welcome the Returnees, who would be led by Dr. Julius Marcus-Garvey.
The Fourth Door of Return programmes would be held from October 19 to 21 at Badagry in Lagos West Senatorial District of Lagos State.
Speaking during a press conference at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, on Monday, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the Fourth Door of Return will not only be of economic, physical and spiritual benefits to Lagos residents but to people living in the diaspora.
She said various activities had been lined up and dignitaries invited to the event would positively project Lagos tourist attraction and culture to the World.
Dabiri-Erewa who commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his administration’s tremendous support for the Door of Return event, said the unique and significant event would bring economic, physical and spiritual benefits to signify a return to the door of joy, peace, prosperity and progress.
She said: “I want to commend Governor Sanwo-Olu for the tremendous support for the Fourth Door of Return ceremony.
“What Bagadry has, no place in the world has it. Door of Return is going to be the biggest tourism event from Badagry, Lagos and Nigeria.
“The Door of Return includes receiving our brothers and sisters who were taken away as slaves over 400 years ago and it would be a historical, spiritual, emotional and physical experience for the pilgrims. It is a connection to what we call the Joy of Return.
“They are going to take a long walk through that path to the Point of No Return. They now come back where we receive them as kings and queens from the place where their ancestors were taken away many years ago as slaves. It is an event that everybody needs to participate in.
“When you come to witness the Door of Return ceremony in Lagos on October 21, you are going to see what Badagry has. What Lagos has for tourism, no country in the world has what Badagry has.
Also speaking, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, said the State Government is committed to unveiling the hidden treasures of Badagry and Lagos State to the world through the Fourth Door of Return programme.
Benson-Awoyinka, who decried the inhumane treatment meted out to the ancestors taken out of the continent over 400 years ago, said the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is committed to restoring the joy of every black man while narrating her experience at the door. The Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Tourism and Culture, Hon. Solomon Bonu, promised that the lawmakers would do everything within the confines of the law to support the event.
