Like New York City, Lagos Deserves a Homecoming Concert

Vanessa Obioha

Recently, the Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio pooled New Yorkers to Central Park for a homecoming concert for the city. The concert themed ‘We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert’ was to celebrate the re-emergence of the city after a tumultuous lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Like Lagos, New York was the epicentre of the Coronavirus in the United States. Restaurants, theatres and other businesses were affected during the lockdown and those who feared for their lives abandoned the city for safer destinations.

By June last year, the city began to reopen but not all rushed back as vaccinations were not available yet. The city today, according to New York Times COVID-19 latest map and case count, records an average of more than 2,000 cases a day. The city has had to put up measures to curb further spread with the new Delta variant upending plans to return to normal life.

Yet, more than a handful of vaccinated New Yorkers thronged the Great Lawn of Central Park on the evening of Saturday, August 21 to watch Andrea Bocelli, the New York Philharmonic, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, Wyclef Jean, LL Cool J, Earth, Wind and Fire among others perform. The organisers required everyone from 12 years and above to show proof that they had had at least one dose of a vaccine. Younger children who are still ineligible for the vaccines were required to wear masks.

However, lightning cut the concert short. Weather reports had earlier warned of Hurricane Henri making landfall in the city on Sunday. The weather abruptly halted the concert which still had Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and the Colombian music star Maluma, in its star-studded lineup.

From the moving images of the concert which CNN broadcast live, it was evident that New Yorkers are excited about the re-emergence of the city. ‘New York is back’ was one of the exclamations from the concertgoers, celebrating the resilience of the city battered by the capricious coronavirus.

The Lagos State Government should consider having a homecoming concert for Lagosians. It is a well-deserved one for the city known to be the commercial and entertainment hub of the country. The entertainment industry, which was adversely affected by the coronavirus, is yet to find its groove. In pre-pandemic times, Lagos was the place to be for live music, concerts, festivals and shows. Popular event venues like Eko Hotel Convention Centre, Freedom Park, Muson Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Hard Rock Cafe, Muri Okunola Park and the open grounds of Eko Atlantic City bubbled with Lagosians during the weekends and sometimes weekdays. Who could forget the Detty December period where almost every event venue has one concert or the other. Lagosians usually struggle to keep up with concerts, particularly those with international stars.

Movie festivals were not left out. Festivals like Chioma Ude’s Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and Ugoma Adegoke’s Lights Camera Africa Film Festival were often held between September and November while the iREP Documentary Film Festival is scheduled for March. The Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards is another prominent event in the city’s calendar. There is also the Lagos International Jazz Festival organised by Inspiro Productions.

The pandemic however shut out these festivities, although pockets of shows have been springing up recently.

Lagos deserves a concert that will bring all and sundry under one canopy, enjoy live music performances from the country’s best entertainers, if possible, have stage plays or film screenings in the mix. There should also be an art exhibition, a runway display as well as food sampling. It should be a potpourri of some sort, after all, there is nothing like a Lagos party. Access Bank’s Born in Africa Festival (BAFEST) is one event that brought all elements of art and culture under one roof. The Lagos State can partner with the bank or other innovative event organisers to plan a similar event that will depict Lagos resilience and vivacious spirit in the face of the pandemic; a place where dreams come true and ethnicity is not a barrier.