by Enigbe Solabomi
The question that begs to be answered is why something which started out as a celebration of cultural diversity has been hijacked by proponents of lewdness and depravity?
On December 27th, I was scrolling through my blackberry contacts when the display picture of one of my contacts caught my eye. It was the picture of a scantily clad lady, nothing left to the imagination. I immediately contacted the owner of the blackberry profile. “What in the world are you trying to show?” Her reply, “I am at the Calabar Carnival.”
I can only recoil in increasing degrees of shock as she begins to stream pictures live from the event. Each one seemingly escalating in its degree of nakedness! After a while, I said to myself, enough!
I hail from and was born in Ikom LGA of Cross River State. At age 7, my family relocated to Calabar where I lived until my early adult life. Calabar is a serene, quiet and orderly town; its streets are kept clean with refuse bins strategically located, beautiful vegetation frames the major roads and its people are pleasant and hospitable.
A visit to Calabar leaves a memorable experience with a yearning to be back. And a lot of tourists have been back. Year after year, the periodical population explosion attests to the fact that it’s Carnival time.
In the early part of the first decade of this century, the then governor of the state, Mr. Donald Duke inaugurated a series of annual events which took place in the month of December. The first took place in 2004. It encompassed a musical fiesta, beauty pageant, comedy shows and an award ceremony for eligible indigenes of the state. The climax is the Carnival.
In those early days, it was a two-day event for adults and kids. Most major roads in the metropolis were closed to vehicular traffic for a greater part of the day. Those two days were magical. And the children who were on holidays were fully integrated in the Carnival. It was and is still the perfect celebratory end to the year. Men, women and children of the state’s origin who may have been away for economic or other reasons, left the “diaspora” and headed back home. It was a time like no other because it gave purchase to are connecting with loved ones, the nostalgia of days gone by and of course plenty of joyous chit-chat.
In those early days,the participants –each and everyone knowing his or her place (the traditional five bands), assembled at the U.J Esuene’s stadium from where the kaleidoscopic parade begins. The bands journeyed through designated streets led by a king and queen. A carefully decorated carnival truck held the musical troupe of each band which continuously reeled out harmonious tunes.
The governor, his officials alongside notable sons and daughters of the state lead various bands dressed in colorful and breathtaking costumes. Every band is keenly watched by its supporters and non-partisan enthusiasts.
As the years went by, this festival evolved; amongst participants in the various bands were Nigerian entertainers who were at the fore of the parade. The event also gained global recognition. With recognition gained outside the shores of Nigeria, accolades poured in. Tourists, too, poured in. The just ended episode was covered by DSTV with the world, seemingly, converging in Calabar for this grand event.
Even before the DSTV angle, the Calabar Carnival had become recognized with similar status as the popular Caribbean carnivals. December in Calabar became a favourite holiday destination; flight tickets were paid for well in advance and hotel reservations made months before the festival. Hospitality businesses flourish during this period. The carnival brought about an emergence of tremendous growth in number of hotels and restaurants.
What distinguished the Calabar Carnival on inception was its underlying emphasis on creativity in both costume design and expression of various themes. The participants were decently clad and conducted themselves in an appropriate way. It was a family oriented ceremony as it involved both adults and children.
With each passing year, the costumes got less appropriate; belly buttons and cleavages were on copious display, overtly fitted outfits were also on full display. Everyone seemed intent on outdoing the narcissism of the person that came before him or her. Reason fled and we are left to rue the past.
However and particularly galling, the climax of this permeating trend wasexhibited in the just concluded 2012 carnival, where scantily clad ladies paraded the streets leaving people astounded by the sheer lack of decorum! Some individuals were bold enough to come out almost stark naked except for head gear and shoes!
The question that begs to be answered is why something which started out as a celebration of cultural diversity has been hijacked by proponents of lewdness and depravity? What happened to the beautiful display of regal costumes both from our local culture and from as far afield as the Spartans, the Egyptians, the Greeks and other classical cultures of ages long past? What can be done to curb this nefarious and insidious development?
Strong measures should be put in place to protect this cherished event; even when there are participants from other nations, it is the place of the organizers to assert a code of conduct which must be strictly adhered to with zero tolerance for non-compliance.
The outcry is for stakeholders to ensure that this trend is no longer tolerated; rather the Calabar carnival should be one that positively promotes the rich heritage of Cross River State, the hospitality of her people and the nation. Long after the event, the experience should linger in the minds of people as a wholesome family oriented event even as they look forward to attending this years’ carnival.
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Enigbe Solabomi is an image, communication and etiquette consultant, and writes from Abuja.
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
Please lets keep it (Calabar Carnival) a family affair as it was meant to be. I believe if we aggree on this then it is obvious that it must then be user friendly to all societal disaggregations of persons.
Thank u Eni for ur concern. Reapondents to ds post show which side of the divide they belong. Morally debased or sound. It does not matter wether the naked girls are Nigerians or from elswhere, the point we must understand is that the land of Cross River State was defiled by that parade of nudity. I strongly believe the leadership of CAN & PFN should approach the Organizers of that carnival ie the Govnmt of Cross River State so as to lead them thru prayers of repentance & of the healing of the land. My faculty in Haggai institute, Maui, Hawaii, USA, defined CARNIVAL as " Carnal Festival. In summary that is what the Carnival in Calabar turned out to be in 2012. May we not see this kind again in Calabar or any other state in Nigeria for that matter in Jesus Name. Amen
Brilliant write-up! The writer has expressed concrete concerns about the carnival and its future.
@pam and anonymous… hmmmm we need not wonder what kind of people you are. Your comments displays your obvious lack of morals.
Some of the comments here clearly shows how bankrupt we have become as a society, even the have the sense to specify that a programme is suitable or not for a certain class of viewers. DSTV gives us information on the age limit for specific programme due to style of language, graphic contents, nudity, etc. But as far as I know, the carnival commission has no specific age limit for the calabar carnival so letting participants dress without regards to decency is a major let down, if the carnival is suppose to be a family affair then the carnival commission should me sensitive and responsible to the morality of the carnival. I don't think we would love our daughters emulating the dress code of 2012 carnival. Today we may say its just the brazilians but next year we will have our own daughters looking exactly like them. Pls we should know were to draw the line
Pls its high tym we stop bein pretentious and myopic,wat do u mean by dis rubbish writeupdat doesn't hold water,from wat I deduced,u were nt even there,so dis entire useless writeup is based on second base gist and nt facts.I was there and there was no nude person present.nigerians r always enemies of progress.now dat international bodies r recognisin d. Carnival and even visitin,u com up wit dis dumb writeup,don't u no wat carnival is all about?wats wrong wit their costumes?pls oga from abuja,find beta spot go park well joor.
To curtail this shameful act, warning in respect to code of dressing should be sent to participants before hand, and non-compliance should be sent away.
Listen all our discussion is bordered on one very cunning trend. Sexual gratification is worse than sex itself. You can be so lossed in being gratified by various sexual expression that you become numb to it.That is why the nudity from the last Calabar Carnival has just presented the divide of those who can still recant wrong from right or those that have lossed their inhibitions to massive sexual gratification via mainstream media.The question is where do you belong?
If u didn't like d costume,idid.its high tym we stopped livin a pretentious and unrealistic life,the costumes were ok,from wat u said,u didn't even com for d carnival so y r u vomittin rubbish based on pictures dat u saw,abeg park well joor.
sorry i meant out Out of 10,000 people that paraded on Carnival day 10 or 15 mins of 8 Brazilian women from Rio can cause this idiotic write up? The entire parade was televised. Did you see ONE scantily clad woman outside of the 8 in the Rio delegation what a lazy article… as for the idiots pulling and sharing pictures from notting hill and co… to add fuel to imaginary fire… spend your 2013 as sex obsessed morons
Out of 10,000 people parading 8 Brazilian women from Rio can cause this idiotic write up? 8 women who mostly SAT WITH THIER TROUPE IN A CAR THROUGH THE ROUTE except for ONE point to perform in front of the special guests… Abassadors etc… Another interesting thing is the Rio troupe perfomance was composed of fully clothed musical performance, a latin dance that looked like salsa…. 2 middle aged Brazillian singers… and approximately 10 percent of the ENTRIE Rio Vio Vio Samba School(current Rion Chamls) perfomance was where these 8 babes performed. No one has bothered to share the electrifying performance of the foreign T&T steel band taking time to learn and play current naija hits from psquare to inyanya… The writer of this piece is lazy and sex obessessed. 10 mins of 8 girls is now a yardstick for a 30 day festival? If I give you a ticket to Rio or Notting Hill Carnival youll stay home abi? LOL
Lets be sane and realistic;most of the statements here are in defense of our bias. What on earth would make obviously smart people defend the lewdness in a spirit of carnival( an imported extravaganza nonetheless) will be full proof if the thought of your mother, sister and wife dancing in a lewd fashion or have a picture of them in a bikini on a social media platform where lustful readers would write unpalatable comments and objectify their sexuality will not shake you to your core. We can play indifferent because its not personal; its just brazilians!! Soon it will be your love ones then you feel the pinch.
May i propose that an appreciable egree of objectivity is applied here. It may help us to be more constructive and less sentimental.
The idea of carnival in it's present form was imported from the carribean islands and a few south-american states. Being of Nigerian and Trinidadian parentage and having participated in carnivals at home and abroad, may i submit that the original intent tended more towards encouraging creativity; such that prizes were awarded for creativity in costume design and general presentation. Maybe we need to examine the pros and cons of continuing with the present flavour versus upholding the original ideals. My opinion? much to be gained from the latter. Great write-up!
My dear Gabbie am amazed at dis writter he didn't even attend d carnival and his judging hmmmmm he didn't come last year pls he should try not 2 come dis yrs cos we r bringing in more brazilians #Gbam#
Hmmmmm 1st of all pls its not complusory 2 watch d carnival then if u have kids and u want them 2 watch a carnival we have wat we call the childrens carnival on d 26th and 4 those looking 2 see a cultural carnival pls its always on the 26th too but it starts by 8am so u get 2 see all the culture and tradition u want to see as u can see the brazilians r d once naked on the street its their tradition and 4 crying out loud we had to invite them over cos they invite us for their carnivals too so it called curtsy guess some ppl where too busy looking at the brazilian bodies that they failed to notice the steel band from trinidad and tobago or some other nice and colourful costumes worn by Nigerians. Well am glad and proud that we could finally bring them to come have fun with us in calabar and we are lookin forward seeing more of brazilians dis year. So pls let's stop complaining(that 4 those that have a problem with it)or better still dnt bother coming 4 dis yrs own so we dnt spoil u. THANKS. PS.(4 those that said their kids couldn't watch it hello its called an ADULT carnival so pls PG is adviced).And I forgot to add plsssss 4 those who don't like it pls dnt watch or attend the opening and closing ceremoies of d World cup that will be held in brazil there will be lots of Nudity. #WINK#
what a cannival. In my last yr posting at facebook, after watching dis calabar cannival; i made mention of a reminder of "festac 77" which till date i say is demonic and now a new revelation of nude ladies parading themselves along d streets of calabar, isn't dat d manifestation of dat heathenic culture? Aside d amt of money sunk in it, Nigerians were made to believe dat there is no atom of Christianty in dis nation especially were we hv d all mighty Pastors of various kinds. God hv mercy on d governor of Akwa Ibom state and deliver d indegene from dis babaric, devilish, way of celebrating Christmas b/4 there souls are sold to d devil in JESUS Name. Amen. God save Nigerian. And God deliver Akwa Ibom state.
We love the momentum which our Calabar Carnival is gaining as the years come and go. we say more grace, more grace!
Oh please! Five scantily clad women that were part of the 'Brazilian entourage' equals to 'So many naked women at the Calabar carnival'? Come on! Did you not watch the Carnival on DSTV? Did you see the locals naked or half naked? If you did not attend the carnival why not ask questions from those that did. Some of the pictures going round on BBMs and Facebook were pictures from other carnivals around the world and not Calabar. It is really appalling that journalist and bloggers etc do not research anymore. If you had, you sure would have been clear on this. For the record, there was a traditional carnival that took place on the 26th of December (Same day there was the 'Children's carnival). The actual carnival was on the 27th of December (your date is wrong). Cultural troops representing 36 states of the country as well as all 18 LGAs in Cross River were present.
And let us not even talk about how traditionally our women are covered up bla bla bla because traditionally in Cross River (and some parts of Nigeria our native attires are usually bra tops and mini skirts. From the Calabar Ekombi attires, Moninkm(Ikom) attires, Aji attires etc……….
I can go on and on and on. This article is NOT a true reflection of the Carnival Calabar at all. I know you'll jump up and say you are entitled to your opinion and all but if you had watched the carnival or researched/asked questions from those who watched the Carnival or took part in it, you wont have had this opinion in the first place.
I honestly think the carnival would still be great without the show shameless naked ladies. That's not what I think the Carnival is about. It is so far one of the few things in the country that still reminds of us of our rich cultural heritage. Enigbe has given a good account of it, though it might not change anything but it is a good one. Kudos!
I wounder what this writer is forming, But in my third year at school I had to visit Cross river on one of the forestry courses, This gave an opportunity to see first hand life in the rural Cross river, Grown women bath naked in streams shared by every one including us. So if anyone is complaining of Nudity should it a calabar Man.
Without the carnival there are nudities here and the. On campuses, streets, brothels even in the char. If such has not been invogue in this country it wouldn't had been a welcoming development at the carnival. The people in government are sincere, at times you here them talking about law against indecent dressing but they are still the same people that they lodge such ladies for inside hotels etc. Well may God save us.
There leward or evil about this dressings remember its an international carnival with various mix of cultures. The problem with nigerians are hypocrisy we preach good at day but do "over" evil at night.To me d show was a success
Please wut all d fuss about d nudity, if yu no wan see, close yur eyes or delete yur frends contact frm yur BB. So much ado about nothin. It's beautiful and its there for us to see. If yu no fit control ur thoghts and yur d»¤k,
Well, dats up to yu
Wht s it dt u wnt to see Mr/Mrs no name? My dear Writer thnx for speaking on our behalf I jst hope dt d calabar carnival organizers wl do smth abt dis recent dirty developement.it s rlly an eyesaw.we shld be doing wht pleases God and nt man.we shld remember dt our body s d temple of d holyspirit…
Madam chioma, abeg dey yur side. I can be sure dat even if yu were in a bikini, I wudnt want to see.
I want to see beautiful temples of God.
Well said Enigbe, you're on point. But what really baffles me is that those who expound liberitatian views that always include the lewd – are usually intolerant of those who think otherwise.
As seen in some comments here, some people are annoyed because the writer has expressed a sane and very commonsensical intervention. And rather than give counter arguments, they go down low to brand Enigbe a hypocrite. Mind you hypocrisy is only possible because of the hinge on morality which it rotates upon. In order words, if there's no moral standard, who dares brands another a hypocrite?
I am firmly in support of this writer. Must we be eternal copy cats? And this is not about being prudish, Enigbe has a stake on how his home land is portrayed. If he calls for a return to the past, let those who have contrary views express theirs. But please spare us the pains of insulting another person because his views are divergent from yours.
This is a well written and articulated essay!
"The writer is very correct, and points out a very delicate issue which if we like can pretend it doesn't matter…I as a woman believe in dignity..unfortunately, moral decadence has eaten into the fabric of dis nation…..and no one seems bothered anymore…
@H.A Umana, my worry is if you are speaking from a personal perspective or from a national perspective..its penitent to note that immodesty in dressing has given rise to many immorally wrong behaviours and even actions, that has lead to the death of innocent youths…I even learnt of d increase in the use of condoms during d carnival.. Until we begin to live morally right and just, den we can't even see clearly to clean or wipe out bribery n corruption in d country. D bible says unless we remove d log in our eyes, how can we see clearly to remove d speck in another person's….So unless we see something wrong with the immodesty in dis carnival, whether Nigerian or westeren, how can we say we have seen something wrong with bribery and corruption? Pls let's tell ourselves d truth and stop pretending that everything is all right..Do we tink God has changed his moral standards whether black or white? No…Is he going to change dem because we His people hav changed our standards to preferring nudity? Not at all….Even Adam and Eve knew dey were naked…..God bless
For those of u surporting d near-nakedness of d ladies there, too bad. Even if dey're not Nigerians that doesn't mean they can expose their bodies on the streets-carnival or not. They're in nigeria 4 God's sake & its not in our culture 2 do so. They should respect that. D carnival would hv still been colorful without all d near-naked ladies. Kudos Mr. Writer
What cultures are we talking about here? Besides how many cultures are in calabar dat would have made the difference compared to the color that diverse cultures give it year in year out? Everyone is entitled to their opinions but the earlier we drop hypocricy the better.
I totally agree with you Samuel. What culture are we talking about here? Nigerians only talk about defending there culture when they don't like something, but when it suits them they totally forget about there culture. Besides we seem to forget that there is very little left of the original Nigerian/ African culture: from our names, clothes, languages to our educational system, EVERYTHING has taken on a form of Western culture or the other. So please lets stop hiding behind the excuse of "culture"
Jennifer you are very FAKE. Nigerian culture is a nude culture, As at 2003 that I did a forestry Course in Calabar there were still rural communities that women bath naked in streams. so please .
@pido: hurray 2d most original person dat was in Calabar as at 2003. Duh! Warreva
Well, everyone has his or her own opinions. Nigerians just love to act and talk like hypocrites. Go anywhere in the world and u will notice that carnival costumes are often skimpy. If we as nigerians want to emulate or copy thewestern world then why do it half way? Were you looking foward to seeing women wearing skirt and blouse? Get real Mr writter. Most of us criticising the mode of attires are da ones dat watch and yearn to be there the most. Nigeria my country, so full of hypocrites.
@Enigbe Solabomi, you were so quick to judge common. The pic you literally sited from are Brazzilians and NOT nigerians. they also participated in the calabar carnival.get ur facts right next time for record purpose. Thank u.
The carnival now caters for more interests and more cultures. There's a children's version too. You can attend the one that appeals to you and your family, or do something more worthwhile with your time;for instance humanitarian work and community service. Now shut up, thanks!
I totally agree with you,especially with the family angle. I want a carnival I can attend with my kids but unfortunately,my kids can't even look at the pictures let alone go watch the carnival live. If I want a bare it all carnival,I know where to go but like you rightly stated,the Calabar Carnival didn't start this way,hence the concerns.
Well done Enigbe.
End time have beging to show it's self oooo. Let just keep on praying and get ourself prepared because no one knowz when the master shall comez back.