Background and History of Nigerian Celebrations

The History of Nigerian festival events were all derived from old tradition practices. These traditional practices came from celebrating being alive and surviving through each day. In these local festivals sacrifices were made, cultural dancing and singing activities, and enough food for everyone to feast. Sacrifices of animals such as goat and cows were made so the meat can be cooked and distributed to everyone. It is always important for everyone in the community or the environment to embrace difference and take everyone as one. Evidently, in the book, The History of Nigeria by Toyin Falola and Matthew Heaton, it states, “…to be Nigerian is to be inheritor of a complex, multi-stranded patrimony. To be Nigerian is to have overcome adversity, to interact with many cultures, and to prosper against all odds. To be Nigerian is to appreciate difference, and fearlessly to object to injustice.” In addition, sacrificing is an important part of celebration in Nigeria. The sacrificing of animals for food represents shedding blood to thank the Gods for allowing survival to still occur. It is a form of a gift from the human nature to the Gods for existence and the survival of the living.

Another important part of celebration in Nigeria is cultural dances. In the community portal of Nigeria website called, online Nigeria, it describes, “Nigeria has many local festivals that date back to the time before the arrival of the major religions, and which are still occasions for masquerade and dance.” Dancing is a part of relieving all the stress and bad parts that occurred in the past. To relieve it, traditional dances such as masquerading evolved around all of the different tribes in Africa. The dancers fully cover their body with heavy portions of clothing with nature grown grasses or woods.