One Big Stage, Two Plays In 10 Nights
There is the palpable feeling of expectation and excitement ahead of this year’s IPADA Initiative Celebration 2025, as preparations gather speed for the yearly gathering that is scheduled to hold between November 28 and December 7, 2025 at the La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Ikegun Village, Ibeju – Lekki, Lagos.
With a number of activities lined up for the 10 days gathering that would welcome travellers from across Nigeria, Africa and the world, to the commercial heartbeat of Nigeria, Lagos, one of the event this year that would attract huge following and take centre stage, is theatre.
This time, it is Africa theatrical heritage in its purest, authentic and undiluted form, with all the elements of drama, music, dance, costumes, and lightening among others employed to create magic through telling the original stories of Africa.
It will be 10 days and night of pure entertainment and performances of elevated Black theatrics for the benefit of mixed audience. On stage will be two plays by Cash Onadele Aiye-Ko-Ooto to be performed by an ensemble of professional Nigerian artistes, with rich pedigree in performance and live theatre.
Speaking on these 10 magic days and nights of Africa Rising, the organisers noted,‘‘this is not just a carnival, it is a cultural awakening. This is the renaissance of an art form, a celebration of history, heritage and cultural identity reborn for the world to see.
This re-enactment of Black theatrics of all time, the organisers said, holds a lot of promises, saying; ‘‘lovers of theatre, tourists, natives, investors, Diaspora returnees and dreamers are welcomed. You are drawn to the renaissance that blends tradition with spectacles and arts with power and voice with imagination.”
Speaking further, ‘‘Aiye-Ko-Otoo’s stories elevate theatre, it is Africa story, it is mine story and it is your story. Tell the whole world, Aiye-Ko-Otoo is at IPADA Initiative 2025. You not only come to watch, but to become part of history and part of destiny.
“In this Africa’s rising, the spellbound stories are fury, fiery and fiercest. If you listen, you will hear drums, feet dance, and voices heard, you will experience the magic of theatre.
“Yes, it is a cultural revolution, a renaissance of an art form, a retell of history, rebirth of our heritage, and reclaim of Africa’s pride. In these masterpieces, power unfolds on stage unlike anything that the world had seen. Every story, every drum beats, every flame of performance, speaks one truth, Africa is the shell to the soul of man.
IPADA Initiative Celebrations, which made a grand entry last year into the cultural tourism calendar of Nigeria and Africa, was created Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, who is the Founder and President of La Campagne and Motherland Beckons.
IPADA Initiative Celebrations (Mass exodus of people) of people from across the world, ranging from the Diaspora Black and lovers of Africa, is geared at reimagining Africa through the support of its people all over the world, It is designed to develop and promote tourism and economic development of not just Nigeria but Africa, as the mega project is Afrocentric in nature, with focus on attracting Africans in the Diaspora and lovers of Africa and the continent, to visit Africa (motherland) and their ancestral home, not only to reconnect with their roo.
Lagos and Abuja are designated as the gateways to Nigeria and the continent, with different programmes planned all-year round and to climax in November and December, with the grand celebration at La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort.
It enjoys the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, state governors, corporate bodies, culture and tourism organisations and the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the Global Ambassador, Chief Host and Grand Patron of the yearly celebration.
Akinboboye noted, ‘‘the concept is all about bringing people of African descent back to their roots. We have 32 million Diasporas in the Caribbean, 66 million in the United States of America, 120 million in Brazil, about 9.6 million in Europe. We need to entice them back to add value to the entire continent of Africa.
“You know no country can develop without the Diasporas. So, IPADA is basically presenting the entire continent of Africa in a basket. We are creating an African shopping mall. The idea is to enable the Diasporas to visit all the countries on the continent.
“There are 54 African countries. So, we’re not only selling Nigeria, we’re just saying that the Diasporas can come into the continent of Africa through Lagos, through Abuja.’’
