- Festival may be put on hold in face of rise in COVID-19 cases
By Oluwaseyi Fadoro
Lagos State Government has said that it has restricted participants to the Greater Lagos Regatta scheduled to hold during Easter to local tourists and fun lovers only.
The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharmacist (Mrs.) Uzamat AkinbiIe-Yusuf who disclosed this yesterday said the measure is part of ways to prevent the spread of the global pandemic Coronavirus among tourists and entertainers who would willing to participate in the event.
The Commissioner, who addressed a Press Conference at Alausa Ikeja, disclosed that the three days event, Greater Lagos Regatta and Festival has been put on hold pending when the issue of Coronavirus ravaging the world generally subsides.
She said that the State government is not cancelling the event but would disallow participation from foreign countries in view of the dimension which the Covid-19 is gaining globally at the moment.
The Greater Lagos Regatta and Festival which is an initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture is organised in collaboration with a consulting firm, Gradient Hill Company Limited and has been designed to espouse the tourism potentials of Lagos State, celebrate the aquatic splendor of the state and market the Lagos brand to investors across the world.
AkinbiIe-Yusuf stated that arrangements had already been concluded to give a wider coverage to the event through various media platforms including online streaming in order to give the event a wider reach and global participation.
“Our intention is to market Lagos tourism to investors beyond the shores of this country, we want them to see and appreciate the rich cultural heritage and aquatic endowment of the State.
“While we are being restricted to limit participants for this event to tourists and fun lovers within Nigeria, because we do not want to expose Nigerians to the raging Coronavirus across the world, we believe that a good media coverage could still help market the tourism potentials of Lagos State to the international audience,” she said
Akinbile-Yusuf said that the State government prioritises the well-being of its citizens and would not compromise the lives of any resident of the State or organise an event without due consideration of the health implication of such event on the entire populace.
Speaking on the preparedness of the State Government for the event, the Commissioner stated that adequate measure is being put in place to guarantee the safety of participants at the event.
In her words; “We have concluded plans to provide a section where people can wash their hands, in addition to this, we are equally going to have enough provisions for sanitizers to complement other precautionary measures that would still be put in place through our working relationship with the Ministry of Health.”
Speaking on the new innovations added to celebration, the Commissioner explained that the idea of extending the celebration to three days as against a single day is to allow Lagosians have maximum period for fun, enjoyment and entertainment from the Festival Village to the Children’s corner through Concerts and Talent Hunt among other activities and side attractions for the event..
“It is our hope that the project will showcase the physical and natural attributes of Lagos, the endearing and welcoming spirit of the people, the already established reputation of Lagos as the primary entertainment destination in Nigeria and to ensure not only the success of the programme but to keep the event going well into the future,” the Commissioner maintained.
Highlighting major activities for the Festival, Akinbile-Yussuf stated that there will be Conference on Tourism and Business Opportunity on Lagos Waterways at Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, cultural display from all the representatives from all the divisions of the State and the general public, Boat Regatta display, parade and racing and concert that will feature grade A Artists.