What is Ebira Carnival All About?
“Ebira Carnival is an event celebrated out of pleasure (i.e. when the pressing needs of the society have been settled). It typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties, and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of drinks, meat, and other foods.
“Other common features of Ebira Carnival include mock battles such as food fights; expressions of social satire; mockery of authorities; costumes of the grotesque body that display exaggerated features such as large noses, bellies, mouths, phalli, or elements of animal bodies; abusive language and degrading acts; depictions of disease and gleeful death; and a general reversal of everyday rules and norms.”
The nature of Carnival we celebrate today in Ebira land was first celebrated in Rome after they succeeded in their major wars; after they succeeded in satisfying their primary needs.
The idea of the celebration was first brought forward by Augustus, saying, “let’s have a day for celebration since we have won the war” (translated from Latin). Lord Felix said, “there is no celebration yet. Even though we have won the war, our people are hungry; we need to rebuild our lost homes before any form of celebration” (translated from Latin).
This is simply to imply that ‘Carnival’ should be done in a society after she has settled her primary problems.
Did you know that:
- our people are hungry?
- our people still complain of “non-payment of salaries”?
- Assassination of icons still happens in Ebiraland?
- The rate of petty theft in the land has increased?
- Our youth (who have the plan to go to school) have no money to settle their fees?
- We don’t have a VALID orphanage home?
- Our old mothers and old fathers still gather in the Bricklaying Garage every day to do some labor works?
- Our children now fail their SSCE and UTME because there are no free tutorials for them anymore?
- some young girls are pushed into early marriage immediately they finish their secondary education, because their parents can’t afford their education funds?
Come to think of it, what if the Ebira youth decide to not take part in the Carnival activities and insist that the Sponsors of this programme should use the millions spent on the programme every year to satisfy some of those primary needs first?
I know that all the needs of a society cannot be satisfied, but the main ones should be satisfied first, instead of squandering money on secondary activities every year.
What if our youth that spend 3k or more to buy customized T-shirts for this carnivals EVERY YEAR decide to open a general account for the Orphans and the IDPs in the land and donate these 3k’s yearly to the account? What if they use these yearly 3k’s to organize a tutorial for themselves and others (even if our leaders don’t want to assist us academically)?
It’s obvious that our youth only care about secondary needs, even if they trek to the programme; even if they borrow money for transport! Can’t we all join hands together for the betterment of Ebiraland?
Are we sick or what? What exactly is wrong with us?
The Ebira carnival of 2011 is totally different from the Ebira Carnival that happens today in Ebiraland. Today in Ebira land, our youth don’t even bother to attend the part of it that is fully cultured where we have the king and some other dignitaries in attendance. The part of Ebira Carnival our youth now attend is the lewd and immoral aspect of the carnival.
Carnival should be an out-of-pleasure programme, not an out-of-sorrow programme.
We can decide to have a carnival after those main needs have been satisfied.
My words are for those with brains.
This article was first written in 2019 by Comr Tijani Hadi Onimisi and I posted it on my blog, now I am bringing it to the notice of all Ebira Youths Again… is the Ebira Carnival of today worth it?
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