By Yunus S Saliu
The Friends of The Gambia International in collaboration with the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard) and Ministry of Tourism and Culture Friday celebrated Durba Colony Heritage doubly as Mini-Banjul Colony Heritage Festival in The Gambia.
The festival organised by Friends of The Gambia International under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Nasir Ja’afar Dauda was held in Senegambia strip in tourism development area (TDA).
Durba Colony Heritage festival as well known across west African countries but new in the Gambia among other things creates different opportunities to the host country such as attracting more tourists, Nigerians and other Africans in Diaspora to the destination, creates more businesses opportunities, avails not only Africans but other tourists to know about existing African cultures, authorities, good governance, way of living before the colonization.
This unique and new festival adds to the Gambia Tourism Board existing tourism products is a cultural heritage of Northern Nigeria used originally as a festival to mark the end of the two Muslim feasts called Eid Kabir and Eid Fitri locally known across Senegambia as ‘Koriteh’ and ‘Tobaski’ respectively. Now, the festival has surpassed the two functions although not negated, to jamboree for tourist attraction and conservation of tradition and culture.
Ida Jeng Njie, Director of Marketing International – GTBoard on behalf of the Managing Director of Gambia Tourism Board welcomed the organizer of the festival and his team to destination Gambia.
She affirmed that the festival adds to what GTBoard is doing as it is inline their marketing strategy to increase the country’s tourism product and “it is key that we exchange cultures and showcase each other cultures especially from the sub region and Nigeria in particular.”
She expressed GTBoard’s concerned about the Nigerian market as they want to penetrate it further and “this is one of the products that we will be using to penetrate the market because it is a very important market to The Gambia.”
As the maiden edition of the Banjul Durba Colony Heritage Festival celebrated, she said it has come to be part of the existing product that will bring number of tourists that are expected from Nigerian market and the Nigerians in Diaspora.
Representing the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Oremi Joiner, chairman NCAC board of directors informed organizer – Friends of The Gambia International the importance Ministry of Tourism and Culture attaches to festivals in The Gambia. He reminded the gathering of the longstanding history between Nigeria and Gambia in term of culture, which include but not limited to religion, education, trade.
Chairman Joiner told them to feel at home as the country has Gambians of Nigerians extractions both in the south and from the northern part of Nigeria “and The Gambia is not a strange place to Nigerians so feel at home.”
About the cooperation between the two countries, especially between the frameworks of cultural exchange he said “we want to seriously earnest that cooperation so that we will learn from your ways of doing things to enable us inculcates it in our festivals.”
Alhaji Nasir Ja’afar Dauda, CEO Friends of The Gambia International and Banjul Durba Colony Cultural Heritage Initiative thanked the host country. He confirmed that The Gambia has the potential of tourism products which among is the heritage “that we can add value to while any other issue can come after, hence culture is everybody’s business.”
Beyond festival, he said, Friends of The Gambia International wants to have it as a colony where it is going to enhance the country’s tourism and culture and creates more business opportunities that everyone can enjoy.
Alhaji Abdul Kareem Sulayman Chairman of Banjul Durba Colony Heritage Initiative shared similar sentiment and as well dilated on the importance of the festival and their intention of making it international brand of the tourism product.
