by Wisdom Offor
Cultu
re as the way of life is beautiful as it was magnificently portrayed and celebrated on the 23rd of November by Crowns Gate Nursery and Primary School Somolu Lagos at the 5th Edition of its Cultural Day Ceremony. Giving an eye witness account, I can authoritatively inform that, it was a colourful and memorable day for the pupils of Crowns Gate Nursery and Primary School as they proudly flaunt different beautiful traditional attires. It was more or less a global fashion parade scenario. Some were seen dressed in Igbo, Fulani, Efik, Benue and Benin etc. The children were as well accompanied by their parents, friends and family who also seized the opportunity to showcase and do justice in their look. The cultural day featured lots of presentation from the pupils. Music filled the air as guests, family, friends and parents continuously trooped into the school premises to celebrate the Cultural Day. The programmed kicked off with the school hymns followed by the opening prayer before the National Anthem; then other subsequent presentations.
A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without a roots. The saying is however pointing towards the elders’ responsibility of cultural orientation to the young ones It is said that a nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people, therefore, culture makes people understand each other better when conversing and if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. But first they have to understand that their neighbors is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems and the same questions.
In her welcome address/speech, the Head of School, Ms Oludara Leigh thanked the parents, staff and children for their magnanimous support and preparations towards making the Cultural Day a reality and she encouraged the children to see the cultural day as a day to unite with one another regardless of their tribal differences. In a chat with National Impact Magazine the Head Of School, Ms Oludara Leigh, she said “the cultural day paves a way for unity amongst the children because we mix up the children in different groups, if a child is Yoruba it doesn’t mean such a child will be performing with the Yoruba group, so we try to reshuffle it so they can learn about the different cultures and different ethnic groups in Nigeria”. “The cultural day teaches the children about the diversity in our country Nigeria, and it is a learning opportunity for the children to do a lot of research and learn about different languages, food, clothing and they get to try different foods and attire they have never tasted before. I have noticed that some of the children don’t know how to speak their native languages, it encourages both the teachers and parents to speak their native languages to the children” she concluded.
The moment everyone has been waiting for finally came as the different cultural groups started trooping in energetically with their well-articulated traditional entrances to perform their cultural dance. Starting with the Yoruba Cultural Dancers, as expected they looked so elegant in their cultural attires. The Yoruba Cultural Dance presentation was immediately followed by the Fulani Cultural Dancers, the Fulani Dancers although were small in number but did justice to their performance in making the necessary Fulani moves. Few seconds later, Igbo Cultural Dancers stepped in with an energetic move led by their leader. Another performance that thrilled the crowd was that of the Efik Cultural Group, as they came in their full regalia and stole the attention of the crowd. Next was the performance of the Benue Cultural Dancers who were dressed in the attire they are best known for. The last but definitely not the least performance came from the Benin Cultural Dancers who are seen in their Benin attire, the boys came in on white wrapper, a singlet and their beads while the girls are seen in their full body wrapper, beads and white handkerchiefs. During the course of their performance, they were being cheered by their friends, parents and teachers.
In an interview with one of the teachers, Mrs Amaka Obisanya, she expressed her joy saying “it has been an exciting programme, it is always done this way, this is a time for inter cultural fertilization. She equally applauded the energetic performances from the children.
A parent also expresses her excitement during the event, she said “I feel happy seeing my children celebrating the cultural day, although last year was a bit full of fun than this year, but all the same we thank God for the actualization of the programme”
As the programme came to a close, parents and guest were treated with different dishes from different ethnic groups as the orchestra came in to lighten the atmosphere with an amazing performance.
