Opening Remarks By The Honourable Commissioner For Information & Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde At The One Lagos Fiesta Press Conference Held On Thursday, 8th December, 2016.

I am delighted to welcome you dear colleagues and partners to this press briefing to announce this year’s edition of One Lagos Fiesta, our flagship Yuletide revue that entertains the whole state and ushers in the New Year on a glorious note.

In line with the vision of His Excellency, the art-loving governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, this year’s fiesta is coming as a bigger, bolder and better edition across the same five zones where it held last year – namely Ikeja(Agege), Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island (Victoria Island) and Epe.

Two things will stand this year’s edition out. One, it is undoubtedly bigger. Instead of the five days that it held last December, One Lagos Fiesta this year will run for eight good days across all the zones, commencing from Christmas Eve on December 24 till the wee hours of the New Year.

The reason for this expanded fiesta is to keep Lagosians, especially our teeming youths, happy and creatively busy. You will recall that we have just had a successful maiden edition of The Lagos Street Party last weekend, in which the popular Ahmadu Bello way in Victoria Island was turned into a carnival and concert ground.

While TLSP delivered on its mandate to formally usher in the Yuletide season in Lagos and create an additional platform for creative enterprise to flourish, OLF will fulfil its traditional obligation of ending the year on an entertaining note and usher in the new year with fun and fanfare, while carrying along every part of the state in line with the governor’s electoral promise that no part of Lagos will be left behind.

There is yet another reason why OLF has grown in leaps and bounds this year. A major component of this year’s fiesta is the introduction of a talent hunt exercise tagged ‘Lagos’ Got Talent’, which seeks to discover, celebrate and reward exceptional talents among the youth or the young at heart in the areas of music, dance, comedy and other creative stunts. If you are talented in any of these areas and you are looking for a platform to showcase your skills and begin a rewarding journey to stardom, then this year’s OLF is the platform you need.

This is how ‘Lagos’ Got Talent will work’:

The website for OLF – onelagosfiesta.ng is live as we speak. And that means that registration for participation in the talent hunt show has also started online on the Lagos’ Got Talent page of the website. Registration will run till next week Wednesday December 14th online and on site at the following zonal offices:
1. Ikeja – Multipurpose hall of Eko FM, Agidingbi Ikeja.

2. Badagry – Divisional Information Office, Lugard’s House along the Badagry Marina.

3. Ikorodu – Divisional Information Office, Ikorodu, 1, Oriwu Street, Ita Elewa.

4. Lagos Island – City Hall, Lagos Island.

5. Epe – Divisional Information Office, Epe, Chartlet Road, beside Lagos High Court, Oke-Oyinbo, Epe.

Auditions will hold simultaneously at all the five locations for those who have either applied online or on site. It is expected that between fifty and a hundred enterprising youths will emerge from this exercise from each of the zones. They will all have an opportunity to perform at the OLF stage in each location between the 24th and 30th of December. Only two finalists will emerge from each zone for the final showdown in Victoria Island on the 31st of December.

As the birth place of Nollywood, and home to Africa’s largest music and stand- up comedy business, it is our belief in Lagos State that entertainment and creative arts generally are a veritable tool to get the youths engaged and rewarded. There are still countless super stars waiting to be discovered. OLF’s Lagos Got Talent might just be the rare opportunity that is needed for the best ten young men and ladies whose talents will take them to what promises to be one of the top ten platforms where the crossover night will be celebrated across the world this year.

In order to make this year’s event memorable, the governor has put together a rich inter ministerial committee with two co-chairmen to interface with our partners and sponsors and of course to wow and dazzle the state once again. They are all here today and will be available for your questions and clarifications in due course.
Thank you for listening.

Itesiwaju Ipinle Eko lo je wa l’ogun.

Steve Ayorinde
Hon. Commissioner for Information and Strategy