Warri carnival slated for September

Organisers of the Warri Carnival in Delta State have announced that the maiden edition of the event will be held on September 28 to  October 1, this year,  as arrangements towards the successful hosting of the five-day event have reached an advanced stage.

Announcing this during a media parley in Lagos, the chief promoter and initiator of the carnival, Sunny Nikoro, stated that the carnival was targeted at entrenching Warri as a gateway to the Niger Delta region, and listing it as a tourist destination in Nigeria.

“The annual Warri Carnival also aims at unifying the diverse ethnic nationalities that existed to make Warri the cosmopolitan society of old, and foster peace, unity, love and cordial co-existence between the ethnic groups that Warri was identified with in the past,” Nikoro stated.

Noting that the Warri Carnival is being organised to also coincide with the nation’s 56th Independence Day Anniversary celebration on October 1, Nikoro assured that the event which is already attracting tourists’ inquiries from African countries and across the world, will be nurtured to become Africa’s biggest street carnival.

“Apart from entertaining the anticipated millions of spectators coming from within and outside the state, the Warri Carnival will bring out the joy and bliss associated with the season, while also promoting commerce, laughter and love among the indigenes of Warri,” he went further to say.

Warri city is one of the major hubs of petroleum activities and businesses in southern Nigeria. It is the commercial capital city of Delta State, with an estimated population of 2,000,000 people.

Activities lined up for the five-day event include unveiling of symbol of unity, top artists performance and comedy fair, carnival float/street parade, land boat regatta, Miss Warri beauty pageant, cultural dance and performance, including Carnival Cup 2016 – a novelty football match.

The match will feature ex-Nigerian footballers like  Segun Odegbami, Frank Obire, and Henry Nwosu among others who will be playing alongside the Warri Wolves, a Nigeria  Premier League side.