Lagos — At the attainment of independence in 1960, Nigeria's founding fathers had a vision of a great country that would take a leading position in the comity of nations as is reflected in the National Anthem. As the country clocks 50, private, government and non-governmental organisations alike are gearing to celebrate the nation's independence in a manner like it has never been done before. Adding its strength to the celebrations is the baby company of TY Group, Guepard Productions Limited.

In a press conference to announce its intentions to hold what it termed the mother of all carnivals, CEO of the organisation, Caroline Danjuma said that as part of Guepard's contributions to the social atmosphere in Nigeria, it has come up with a carnival. "The carnival will be one of the biggest things to ever come out of Nigeria.

This is not the regular heritage carnival we know about. This is an independence carnival, a Nigerian carnival. It is meant to celebrate every single person in Nigeria, dead or alive. It is a carnival that intends to draw Nigerians in the Diaspora back home. It is intended to give hope to the heroes that have been forgotten and to the present heroes so that they can strive to achieve greater heights. It is not just a carnival where people come to wear costumes and dance. Go to carnivals in places like Brazil and London and see the way people turnout for their carnivals."

According to Danjuma, the carnival, the first of its kind, will take place for five days running from September 28 to October 2. "It is not all about the carnival. It is all about effecting change, discussing and appreciating our heroes; it is about changing the face of Nigeria. We can always have a carnival and everybody will come, dance and the next day they forget about it and it ends there. We want a carnival that even when people sleep, they will still think about it. We are talking about the rebirth of Nigeria. We will be doing humanitarian acts, visiting the less privileged. Then we are going to have a seminar. The seminar is not a one-time thing. It is something that we will continue on a regular basis. We need to change the face of Nigeria and we hope that this carnival will be bigger than anything ever held in Nigeria."

Activities slated for the celebrations include, cultural day celebrations where Nigerian attires, dishes and cultures will be celebrated, lectures, seminars, humanitarian visit to the less privileged, award ceremonies, music shows and the carnival proper.

Giving a breakdown of the activities, she said that the humanitarian carnival is for the less privileged while the seminar will be for workers in government parastatals. The mass media too will be celebrated in the all encompassing event. "This is an important event the like of which has never been heard before. We are all workers, but the truth is that we need to take time out to address the issues confronting this nation." Also to be celebrated during the carnival are those who have achieved one feat or the other in the 50 years of this nation's existence. "There will be a ceremony where awards will be bestowed on well deserving individuals who have contributed their quotas to our development as a nation. We don't have to wait for them to pass on before we celebrate them. We should start celebrating our heroes when they are alive so that they too can in turn mentor our youths."

Danjuma said that to ensure success of the carnival, Guepard is still in the process of soliciting the support of government and multinational companies. "The government has to be involved, multinationals, banking and other big corporations and everybody that has a Nigerian blood flowing in his veins has to be involved because this country must grow. We must reclaim our glory of being the giant of Africa."

Guepard Productions, in the words of Danjuma, is also in the business of producing movies, music, radio and television jingles. "The music industry is not actually different from the movie industry. They are actually the same. We have one artist right now and we are presently working towards the release of his album. In Guepard records, we don't go for just any artist. Apart from all that, we do radio jingles, voiceovers."

Married to the chairman of the T Y Group, Musa Danjuma, Caroline who used to be an actress explains the reason she set up the production company. "In my days as an actress, I realised that there were a lot of flaws in the industry, so when I stopped acting, I thought it would be very unfair to my industry for me to just fold my hands and watch it crumble. Since I have the opportunity and the strength and I know what the industry needs, my husband and I decided to open up this company."

The carnival, she says, is expected to attract the attention of Nigerians in the Diaspora as well as participants from all over the world, adding, "we hope to make it an annual event that Nigerians and indeed the world will look up to".