An official of the Ogun State Durbar Contingent to the Abuja Carnival, 2011, Mr. Debo Shotuyo,? has said? durbar is not a northern show.
Shotuyo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Durbar event of
the 2011 Abuja Carnival.
He said Muslims in Ogun and the South West used Durbar to pay homage to their traditional rulers and said that although the State was featuring for the first time, the contingents from the north would appreciate them because of cultural similarities.
“To show to the world that Durbar is not a northern show alone, we have it in our State. In fact, in Ogun State, almost all the muslim communities do this as a kind of homage for their royal highnesses when they are coming back from the praying ground or also when they want to say thank you for what you have done for us for the last one year”.
“This is our first time of putting up this kind of show in carnival. There is always a first time, but we just want to create the impression that there is Durbar in South West and Ogun State is one of the States in South West”.
“When you look around you will see that the Northern people will want to appreciate our own effort-they do what we do”.
“That alone is a way of trying to look for similarities between our cultures, between our people.”
Meanwhile, an official of the Bauchi State Durbar contingent, Garuba Gwada told NAN that the purpose of the Durbar was to unite Nigerians traditionally.