Sunday 18092016

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016 PAGE 35
Lagos Series (2)
Continued from page 34
The Epe touch
That a complete rural or a semiurban
environment could be
transformed into a 21st century
urban status in the face of enormous
economic and security challenges
Nigeria is currently facing may
appears a mirage. But the reality on
ground is that an unprecedented
transformation is ongoing in Epe.
To those familiar with Epe, the
township is one of the oldest six
divisions that comprised of Lagos
State. Others are Ikorodu, Badagry,
Lagos Island, the Mainland and
Ikeja. But Epe has been less fortunate
to witness any form of modern touch.
By stroke of luck or the divine
intervention, a new dawn has berthed
in Epe, courtesy of Ambode, who is
turning the once agrarian/fishing
community into a huge construction
site.
Ambode, thirsty for urban renewal
scheme vision of the entire state,
launched two projects aimed at Epe
transformation: infrastructure
provision and tourism development.
During the flagged off ceremony
of what officials described as “the
world-class Epe-Marina Lagoon
reclamation project”, the latter was
aimed at giving a quantum leap to
the tourism potentials of Lagos
State. But to make tourism
development meaningful, it was
considered that road construction
became imperative.
The governor stated that the
lagoon reclamation projects in Epe
and Badagry, upon completion,
would look like that of Dubai in
United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Epe-Marina Lagoon
reclamation project is a complete
redevelopment of project site to
facilitate development and promote
tourism and it comes with sand filling
to the lagoon up to about 200 meters
and dualization of the network of
N500 billion Fourth Mainland Bridge set to keep
state in productive motion
The governor’s clear
declaration to the men
of the underworld that
Lagos would be too hot
for them sent the right
signals to the
appropriate quarters
roads in the axis with functional
walkways.
Speaking on why the Epe-Marina
and Badagry-Marina projects were
embarked upon simultaneously by the
state government, he said: “We want
to actually duplicate what you see in
Dubai-Marina. This is a whole
stretch of two kilometers of real
estate and new tourist centres that
we are putting in Epe and Badagry
at the same time.
“We believe strongly that coming
out from our retreat that we said
we are going to grow the IGR of
Lagos State by 2017 to N30billion
and 2018 to N50billion, we believe
that some of these projects that we
are commencing now are just
inlets to our dream of growing the
IGR.
“We know that by the time we
are expanding tourism potentials
of Badagry and Epe at the same
time, we will be able to get new
investors that will be able to come
to our new locations to do other
things beyond what you see about
recreation, tourism or
entertainment and then get a whole
lot of investments into Lagos State.
This is part of our dreams and dreams
do come true.
We are looking at the future of
tourism from both axis. You cannot
put tourism in those places without
doing the infrastructure that is
required to allow people to come in
and that is why we are also doing the
road network,” the Governor said.
Governor Ambode, who equally
inspected the on-going dualization
of about 25 network of roads in Epe,
said the massive investment of
government in the area was part of
the grand plan to transform the axis
and same was in line with the Lekki
Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) project.
He expressed satisfaction with the
level and pace of work done so far,
saying that the quality was of
international standard.
However, observers, especially,
real estate practitioners, expressed
optimism that the projects, upon
completion, would decongest the
heartland of Lagos as people would
be encouraged to move to Epe and
Ibeju-Lekki axis.
“And by implication, land will
continue to appreciate as the axis is
one of the best terrain for real estate
development in Lagos State”, said
Mr. Dipo Adesegun, a developer,
based in Lekki Phase 2.
Ambode was also of the same
optimism by saying that with the
expansion, the whole lot of Epe and
Ibeju-Lekki axis will be developed.
“We are inspired to see how we can
look at the phase two of this project
as quickly as possible. This road
dualization is expected to be
completed in 16 months but because
we are ahead of schedule, we are
looking at the first quarter of next
FG should project Nigerian culture through our music — Nwokedi
year.
“With this, we have just injected 30
kilometers of standard roads into
Epe and the meaning of that is of
course changing the economy of Epe
Township, real estate will be boomed
and we are encouraging commerce
and industrialization.
“This project is the backbone of the
Lekki Free Trade Zone, Deep Seaport
and the proposed Airport. All the
State Government is doing is
stimulating the economy and that is
what is happening here,” he said.
However, the road network project
stands out as one ambitious vision
that has come to place Epe on the
map of the fastest growing
community in Lagos with the
possibility of attracting migration
from the metropolis.
The project, handled by Messrs
Granebury Construction, is to be
executed in three phases, involves
rehabilitation of Strategic/Arterial/
Inner Roads.
The Commissioner for Works and
Infrastructure, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson,
an engineer, listed the roads to
include Lagos Road, Oke Osho/T
Junction, Aiyetoro/ Roundabout;
Central Mosque Junction/Orita
Marun Stream, all categorised as
‘Grade A’. Others are Oloja Estate;
Bature/ Otunba Adeniyi/Omotayo/
Uthman Mustapha and Raman/
Ishawu Owolabi, which are in
category ‘B’.
According to Johnson, the meeting
became imperative because some
properties that fell on the Right of
Ways (ROAs) would need to go, “but
that as a responsible government, we
want to carry you along in the
execution of this noble project.”
By Tony Nwankwo
Sir Emeka Nwokedi is Music
Director, Muson Centre,
Onikan, Lagos. He is also
Music Director, Lagos City
Chorale; Music Director, Anglican
Diocese of Lagos Mainland
and Organist and Director
of Music, All Saints Church,
Surulere. In 2013, he was appointed,
Member, World Choir
Council representing Nigeria.
He is the Official Representative
of Interkultur (Organizers
of World Choir Olympics) in
Nigeria; ,a Member, International
Society for Music Education
(ISME) and Trustee of
Nigerian Guild of Organists.
In this interview, he says government
and the Nigerian society
may not have been well
informed of the relevance and
positive effects of arts and music
in the lives of people and in
the development of a balanced
society. Excerpts:
You just returned from
Sochi, Russia, after
another trip to Marktoberdorf,
Germany with
your Lagos City Chorale. You
are always on the move.
What are the trips about?
My movement is a performance
tour of various countries
of the world to perform
with Chorale music. The Chorale
music we perform is also
an embodiment of Nigeria’s
indigenous chorale music. We
started 2010, in Beijing, China,
at the invitation of the International
Society for Music
Education. There, the reception
was good. I discovered
there that people really liked
our kind of music, because at
the China Convention Centre,
we had many admirers, so
much that in the Convention
Centre, there are many halls,
but after our first performance,
you discovered that
any time the Nigerians will
perform, people will leave
other halls to come. From
China, we went to Cincinnati,
Ohio, in the United States. The
Cincinnati show was for a
competition, called the World
Choir Olympics or World
Choir Games. I went with my
choir, the Lagos City Chorale
(LCC) for the competition.
Another was in Ohio, also in
the U.S. Everywhere we go, we
win laurels. As we perform, it
becomes clear that this is one
area we can sell our country
Nigeria. I see the enthusiasm
of our audience and you can
see the impact it is having on
Nigeria as a nation. Each time
we performed, people will
come out en-mass to hail our
performance. In 2013, we
were in Austria to contest in
the European Choir Olympics.
Its either we are going
for European Choir Olympics
or International Choir Olympics.
In Graz, Austria, too, we
excelled, because we won the
highest number of medals in
the contest. We had two gold
medals and two silver medals.
We have also been to
Dubai, for an international
performance and we have
been to Riga, Latvia, for another
World Choir event. That
was in 2014. In 2015, we were
in Magdeburg, Germany. In
these competitions, it is either
World Choir Games or European
Choir Games. In 2015,
we went for European Choir
Games in Magdeburg. There,
again, we contested and won
three gold medals. This year,
we have gone out twice. First
to Germany at the invitation
of the Confederation of German
Chorale Association.
They specially invited us to
perform at the International
Festival of Sacred Choral
Music. There we were requested,
specially, to present the
Nigerian Sacred Choir Music.
So, our going out is definitely
to sell the image of this
country overseas, light this
country up, because sometimes,
the impression people
have about Nigeria is always
negative. But what we try to
tell the people of the world is
that Nigeria is not as bad as
the negative impression that
is being created. And that this
country has positive things to
offer to the world.
I have watched your group
perform. One could say its
elitist. Would you agree?
It depends on what you call
elitist. The word here is ambiguous.
Ours is a classic
music. Our music is not for
any particular class. Classical
music is music that is organised,
formalised, you put academic
face in a sense, but you
have to arrange it in a particular
form. You have the form,
you have the melody and you
have the harmony. So, classical
music is not really elitist
per se. When we go out to these
countries, we are not performing
European classical music,
rather we do Nigerian
music. If you listen to my
events, you find out its a lot of
•Sir Emeka Nwokedi
folk music from Nigeria. You
hear songs like Ise Oluwa, koni
baje o!. Ise Oluwa koni baje o!.
‘Welu obi dimkpa, kpaga
liba!’, Welu obi dimkpa kpaga
liba!’. We accompany those
songs with traditional musical
instruments. So, our music
is purely classical music
and our classical music is not
really the western classical
music. We do that for our own
purpose when we leave these
shores. We are not going there
to do Beethoven, or Bach or
Mendelssohn, because they
have it in quantum. So, what
we export is Nigeria’s indigenous
chorale music.
How do you get sponsored.
Does the government ensure
you are at your optimum in
your participation in these
high profile music events
abroad?
That is the sore point, because
I discovered that one of
our ways to lift this country is
through our music. Through
our music we can make impact
in the world, but the government
is not buying into it.
And so little or no sponsorship
I think the government
should key into it and discover
that it is not a waste.
I came back from Russia
recently, the World Choir
Games in Russia was fully
supported. I discovered
they give as much support
to music, to Chorale music
comes to us. They would rather
sponsor football at the
Olympics, etc. but we have
been winning golds. I watched
the Rio Olympics, we won no
medals at all, except the Football
Bronze. But when I go out
with my group, I come back
with golds, silvers, etc. and
these are international events
where people from all over the
world come for these Choir
Olympics. Countries of the
world converge and everyone
is showcasing its own culture
in music, in costumes, in choreography.
But, unfortunately,
our government has not
keyed into it. So, we have little
or no sponsorship whatsoever.
We struggle to do it on
our own. And it is difficult.
This is a very sore point, because
you find other countries
coming with their state executives.
For instance, South
Africa, while I try to go with
very few people, South Africa
will come with five to six
bands, each of them numbering
about a hundred plus, and
fully sponsored. Sometimes
you find their Minister of Culture
coming. The mayor of the
city coming, their ambassadors
in the countries coming
to support them. So, we really
don’t have such support and I
think it is high time government
realised that we can do
with that support. There are
many ways that a country can
be polished and lifted up and
culture is one of them. Culture
is one way because culture
is our own. Even the sports
we do, some of them are alien
to us. I watched the Olympics,
some of them we cannot win,
because they are alien to us,
and people who have them are
winning golds. But the music
is our own, the culture is our
own, so we can project it and
be known throughout the
world with our music. So, I
think the government should
key into it and discover that it
is not a waste. I came back
from Russia recently, the World
Choir Games in Russia was
fully supported. I discovered
they give as much support to
music, to Chorale music, as
they give to Sports because the
President of the Russian Federation,
Mr. Vladimir Putin
sent his felicitations severally.
The Vice President of Russia
was the co-chairman of
the organising committee of
the Chorale group. The Minister
of Culture was the cochairman,
and the regional
governor was involved, plus
the mayor of Sochi who was
there live, all the time. So, you
see the support coming. They
give support to music and arts
as they give to other events.