Akwa Ibom State has held a year-end festivity of 36 hours non-stop music, food and lights tagged ‘Akwa Ndia- Great Merriment’ headlined by Nigerian International Hip Hop artiste, Innocent Idibia aka TuFace, DJ Neptune, Dj Sose, DJ Peejay and other local acts.
The year-end concert was conceived to positively suck the youths away from restlessness and social disturbance in promoting the government’s resolution of peace and security in the state commenced 6p.m., December 30th and lasted till 6a.m. of January 1st, 2020. The event which also featured performances by DJs Neptune and Sose also had Comedians and a special appearance by the legendary Mr Xto and Udo Miriam also included a spectacular 30mins display of fireworks, lasers and sky lanterns release to herald the New Year and decade.
Canvassing for continued unity to the over 15,000 attendees, Tuface “2Baba” as he is fondly called advised Akwa Ibomites to remain united in love so as to consolidate the developmental strides of the state. The former Plantashun Boys maestro who mounted the stage at exactly 3a.m. on New Year Day with one of his songs, ‘One Love’ brought the audience to an ecstatic mood. The show which herald the New Year was kick started by an Akwa Ibom based gospel artiste, GodFada who held the audience spell bound with scintillating gospel renditions in several languages.
Akwa Ndia sponsored by Coca-Cola, according to the organisers was an entirely private sector event and is the brain child of ‘The Xperience Council’, a collaborative project between media buying Agency, ‘Maximedia Global Ltd’ and Soulcomms’ Limited a leading Strategic Communications and Engagement Company.
Speaking on the initiative, Mojisola Saka, the Chief Operating Officer of Soulcomms Ltd, said Akwa Ndia was a platform to promote the rich culture and unbeatable warm hospitality of Akwa Ibom, adding that it was a showcase of Akwa Ibom as Nigeria’s next big destination. It is about the fun, merriment, excitement and the boisterous life and “jollification” of Ibomites.
“Akwa Ndia is about life, fun, merriment, excitement and the boisterous “Jollification” of Akwa Ibomites. “Ndia” means merriment, which is apt considering the time of the year we are hosting this event. Thus, the value in our strategic idea “Akwa Ndia” is intended to leverage our reputation, expertise and the famed hospitality of Akwa Ibom.” She added
For Femi Adefowokan, Managing Director of Maximedia Global Ltd, the choice of a local theme was to create a sense of pride and ownership by the indigenes, same as Dakkada, adding, “We have strongly leveraged our reputation, expertise and goodwill in funding and promoting this great platform of audience engagement with the support of our corporate partners.
“Akwa Ndia is modeled after similar fireworks showcases that herald the New Year across the world and we have a five-year commitment to hosting this annual event in the State.
“It is also one of several initiatives designed by The Xperience Council to stimulate the local economy and investments through uniquely designed consumer experiences for the next five years.”
