Nigeria @66: PUNCH celebrates independence, harps on unity

Nigeria’s most widely read newspaper, PUNCH, on Wednesday celebrated Nigeria’s independence with its annual “Rep Your Tribe” cultural event, bringing together staff members from different ethnic groups to showcase their traditions and culture.

This is just as the Newspaper of the Year also called for unity among the various ethnic groups in the country.

The event, held at the training hall of PUNCH headquarters on the Magboro, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, featured representations from various tribes in Nigeria, including the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Igede, as well as tribes from the South-South.

The ceremony opened with an Igbo cultural display, as a masquerade was ushered in with traditional chants and drums. The masquerade moved around the venue, dancing and offering greetings to welcome participants to the celebration.

The Igbo group showcased its customs through the breaking of kola nuts, sharing of garden eggs and palm wine, as well as traditional Igbo greetings.

The Yoruba presentation featured traditional songs, drumming and dancing, followed by the recitation of Yoruba panegyrics, highlighting the richness of the culture and its oral traditions.

The Hausa presentation featured a Hausa analogy, while the Igede group highlighted some of the distinctive practices associated with wedding ceremonies in the culture.

The presentation included a demonstration of the tradition of firing three gunshots following a marriage ceremony, accompanied by traditional dancing.

Beyond the cultural presentations, staff members also turned out in colourful traditional outfits representing their respective ethnic backgrounds, adding to the festive atmosphere of the celebration.

As part of the event, prizes were awarded for the best-dressed participants, with Pelumi Okeowo emerging as the Best-Dressed in the male category, while Christabel Ndoeche emerged as the winner in the female category.

Also, the event featured recognition for distinguished employees whose work stood out among their peers.

Among the outstanding employees of the quarter were Ismaeel Uthman of the Weekend Titles, Saheed Oyelakin of PUNCH Digital, Michael Omadime of the Facilities Maintenance Department and Deborah Tolu-Kolawole of The Punch, Abuja.

Speaking at the event, PUNCH Chairman, Angela Emuwa, described the Rep Your Tribe event as an avenue to promote unity among Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds.

She added that the annual event was important in bringing staff together to celebrate Nigeria’s cultural diversity.

“Rep Your Tribe is really good because, as one Nigerian, you don’t see the tribes. You see an Igala man or woman, a Yoruba person, and others coming together. It is good that we do this activity every year,” she said.

The chairman urged the staff to be innovative while assuring them that the board and management would continue to create a conducive environment for them to achieve their goals.

Speaking on the need for national unity, the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Dr Adeyeye Joseph, said social media had contributed to the amplification of ethnic differences among Nigerians.

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According to him, despite the divisions often displayed publicly, Nigerians continued to form relationships and intermarry across ethnic lines.

He said, “When you check social media, whether Facebook, X, Instagram, blogs, you would see immediately that our differences are often magnified and amplified. I’m talking about our differences as Nigerians.

“The only comforting thing is that when you think about it very well, and you look around you, especially on weekends, you find out that Emeka is getting married to Adetutu, or Tosin is getting married to Chidimma, or Aminu.”

He noted that such relationships gave hope that Nigerians could overcome their differences, saying, “Even though Nigerians like to fight in the open, at night and behind closed doors, they know how to make up.”

He said gatherings such as the event provided an opportunity for Nigerians to focus on issues that united them rather than those that divided them.

“The second reason, which is the most important one, is that occasions like this provide opportunities for us to come together and focus on the things that bind us together,” he said.

He urged the attendees to carry the spirit of unity demonstrated at the event into their various workplaces.

“My hope and my appeal to you as my colleagues as we leave this place is that the unity that has been on display since we got here in the morning, that you will take it back to your respective offices, the newsroom, accounts, and so on,” he said.

He further urged them to use the period before the next gathering to build better relationships with one another.

“Without a healthy Nigeria, we cannot have a healthy and prosperous PUNCH. In the next 365 days before we come here to get together and have fun again, we’ll spend our time getting to understand ourselves better, because without a healthy Nigeria, we cannot have a healthy and prosperous country,” he said.

Joseph also commended the Innovative Team, a group of managers who developed the “Rep Your Tribe” (web) application, describing their work as a potential enterprise solution that would be used beyond the event.

The Rep Your Tribe application is the event software application developed specifically for the event.

He explained that the team was formed following a recent PUNCH creative AI summit where the company’s top managers were divided into three groups to develop practical AI-driven web applications for the organisation.

The MD/Editor-in-Chief also appreciated the Head of Human Capital and Corporate Services, Temitope Olusesan-Biala, and her team for organising the event.

The celebration provided an opportunity for members of staff to showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity and reaffirm the spirit of unity in diversity as the country commemorates its Independence.

The cultural celebration ended with a final performance by the masquerade, bringing the event to a colourful close.