Sometimes there is a mystique about Lagos that is hard to see, for people who live in the city itself, for whom life is a daily grind through potholed streets manoeuvring between Marwa and Korogbe. There is a culture of celebration, and any excuse is enough reason to throw a party, irrespective of the hardship of daily life. There is an inherent musicality about the rowdiest marketplace. It is not unusual to see musicians setting up in the thick of the hurly-burly and traders and passersby breaking out in song and dance.
“Foreigners have joined the trend of heading ‘home’ to Nigeria for sun and fun in December, which is a cold winter in Europe and America.”
There has been much said in the media locally and internationally about ‘Detty December.’ It is a term that describes the concentration of social events—owambe parties, concerts by local and world-famous Afrobeats musicians, as well as the general frenzy of social activities that take off from about the middle of December and go on till the beginning of the new year. Diaspora Nigerians take this as a time of homecoming. Foreigners have joined the trend of heading ‘home’ to Nigeria for sun and fun in December, which is a cold winter in Europe and America.
There are major events in some other parts of the country that attract the attention of local and international tourists in the Christmas period, such as the Calabar Carnival. Lagos, however, is the epicentre of ‘Detty December’—a’ term that is alleged to have been trademarked by musician Mr Eazi. Money spent by Diaspora Nigerians in this period amounts to 4 percent of the country’s GDP, by one estimate. The trend is expected to expand massively over the next few years.
Carnivals, festivals, and street concerts—these are the spirit of Lagos. Long before Asake and David-O, and long before high-octane performances by Wizkid at Eko Convention Centre and teeny-bopper concerts at Muri Okunola Park, there was the story of Lekki Sunsplash.
The date was 1988. The story began with a youth corper named Dapo Adelegan. He was an English graduate from the University of Ilorin. In Uni, he had acquired something of a reputation as a party organiser. Some friends were looking for a suitable venue for a beach party. Dapo, doing a recce, stumbled upon Maiyegun Beach. For most people of the time, Maiyegun, where erstwhile Governor Lateef Jakande had constructed a cluster of low-cost houses, was the easternmost point of the city of Lagos. The developments in Chevron, VGC, Ajah, and all the areas beyond were still in the future.
Read also: Detty December showcases Lagos’ tourism potential
A gateman appeared and tried to shoo him off. It was a ‘private beach’ for ‘expatriates’ who worked for Julius Berger, he said.
The young man was chagrined. He began to protest.
Just then, an SUV drove up.
‘What’s going on here?’ asked a friendly German voice.
Dapo explained the situation.
The man smiled and flashed his complimentary card.
‘Take this’ he said. ‘Show it anytime you wish to enter the beach.’
For Dapo, Maiyegun beach was love at first sight.
A crazy thought came to him as he surveyed endless sand and ocean. Why not organise the mother of all parties here, at Christmas? Bring in The Mandators, Sonny Okosuns? Even Fela?
In his mind’s eye, he could picture thousands of Lagos youths, rocking at the beachfront.
He became obsessed with the vision.
Through friends, he got an introduction to the MD of Polygram Records, a popular label in Lagos.
‘I want to organise a concert in Lekki’, he said. The man looked at the slim youth before him uncertainty.
‘Have you organised any concert before?’
Dapo shook his head.
‘I’m going to call it Lekki Sunsplash’.
The Dutchman caught his passion. He called his team to listen.
In a few weeks Dapo, who had never travelled, was on his way to London with a Polygram crew to sign a contract at the company’s head office.
On the 26th of December 1988, the first Lekki Sunsplash concert took place on Maiyegun Beach.
It was a day the people of Lagos would long remember. Dapo and his Polygram enablers, including grandee Chris Ajilo who took care of production, had planned that the free concert would open by 9am, and close by 5pm. Ten thousand young people were expected.
In the event, more than one million Lagosians turned up at the Beach.
Virtually all the roads in Lagos were gridlocked throughout the ensuing night.
A few days later, Dapo got a summons from the Governor of Lagos State. With trepidation, he walked into the presence of Raji Rasaki in the ‘Round House’.
The Governor, after complaining that his own son came home very late the following morning, commended him for opening a new vista for Lagos. He promised to tar the access road to the beach before the next edition.
In December 1989, a rough diamond from Warri with an unpronounceable name who would later become the first Megastar of Comedy in Nigeria, with the stage name of Ali Baba, became an opening act to warm up the audience. And Fela Anikulapo Kuti became the closing act of the concert.
Lekki Sunsplash became entrenched as the crowd event of every Lagos December.
The impact on the economy of the Maiyegun community was transformational. Local people, who sold food and mementoes made enough income from Sunsplash days to last their families the entire year. Stars were born. Wasiu Ayinde, who would change his name to K1, received his first international concert exposure.
But times were changing. The Youth Corper of old was growing away from the street into the corporate world of bow ties and MBAs. Security challenges became onerous. Raji Rasaki left Round House.
After eight years, Lekki Sunsplash faded away.
There is talk from Dapo these days of a Forest Green concert to rival Coachella, a Sunsplash reincarnation that would give a massive injection into the veins of ‘Detty December’. December in Lagos could explode in a Festival of Music, Shows and Films, with premieres, including PELEWURA – the film.
The sheer thought is tantalising.
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