‘Lagos@50: Celebrations will be all embracing’   

Rasheed Gbadamosi, co-chairman of the Lagos@50 Committee, says the celebration will be all embracing and will start with an expo for children. Lagos was created on May 27, 1967 and would be 50 years by May 27, 2017.

“Lagos State, in its 50 years of existence, has tried to be at the forefront of several events and there are several activities lined up to have great artistic events. There is hardly anybody whether in the arts or music and so on would have taken off without passing through the waters of Lagos.

“So playing host, irrespective of whether you originated from Lagos capital entertainment city or not, or you lived all your life or not in Lagos, we have this hope the exposure you have enjoined by making sure that Lagos particularly has been a jumping up board for those who have excelled not only in our country,” Gbadamosi said on Tuesday at the first meeting of the committee.

According to Gbadamosi, the celebrations would kick-start on May 27 with a series of activities starting with children, especially as the day falls on Children’s Day.

“The programme has been put together in earnest. I may just leak that on May 27 in a matter of days, a particular programme that has to do with children will hit the headline. This is all about how do you recognise 50 years of existence. Basically it is being kicked off on May 27 and it will last for a year,” Gbadamosi said.

Gbadamosi assured that the committee was working hard to come out with a world-class celebration that would be to the pride of not just Lagosians and Nigerians, but to the people of the African continent in general.

He dismissed the agitations in some quarters against the appointment of Wole Soyinka, a professor of literature from Ogun State, as co-chair of the Lagos@50 Committee, saying Soyinka truly deserves to co-chair the committee given his in-depth knowledge and wealth of experience.

“It does not matter what state in Nigeria that you would attach him (Soyinka) to. In terms of performance and excellence, the fact that the governor of Lagos State felt he merited being made the chairman of Lagos@50 Committee is a testimony to the great and the good of the Nigerian society,” he said.