Thoughts on harnessing the benefits of the annual December experience
I watched a video clip of a South African lady recounting her experience on a Lagos-bound flight from Johannesburg. Her flight couldn’t land because a lot of planes were landing with many others scheduled to land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The pilot had to circle the air a few times before ground control informed them that they would probably have to divert their flight to a neighbouring country (most likely Benin Republic) to land as there was no space for their aircraft. Thankfully, that didn’t happen as they successfully landed eventually.
She noted that the plane was filled with a lot of Nigerians who immediately entered prayer mode once the pilot hinted that the plane would probably be diverted to another airport. She found it quite hilarious how practically all the Nigerians on the flight, without any direction, burst into different forms of prayer. It also surprised her that there were so many Nigerians returning home for Christmas. According to her, she had now heard tales and she gushed about the best Christmas in the world being in Nigeria. That made me laugh and then reflect.
For the uninitiated, Detty December refers to that time of the year when Lagos (or maybe Victoria Island/ Ikoyi/ Lekki) becomes the enjoyment destination for anyone with the desire and means. Every day features events and activities ranging from concerts to parties, raves and beach parties, clubbing till dawn and after, house parties, theatre productions, restaurant hopping, basically a jam-packed social calendar. Many people hop from one event to the other with little rest as they party the time away.
I am not sure I heard anyone mention Detty December until probably 2018 or 2019 but I did find a claim from Mr Eazi about him creating the term. In 2016, he released a song titled “Detty Yasef” highlighting his move back to Nigeria from Ghana. In December of that year, he headlined a concert originally titled “The Happy Boy Concert” and then decided to promote it with the #DettyDecember hashtag. I guess people realised the term was appropriate enough to refer to the month-long series of events and activities which famously attract diasporan Nigerians.
Lagos has always had an intense social scene. In more recent years, many entertainment service providers have latched on to that to provide a variety of end-of-year events and activities that people can attend and have a great time. December in Lagos is an entertainment hotspot and many people are cashing out. From concert and party organisers to short lets and hotels, restaurants and food delivery businesses, a lot of service providers are making a killing. I laugh at myself as I remember wondering a few weeks ago if this December was going to be as lit as last year considering all the tales of woe and economic downturns we have been regaled with. I completely forgot one of the key ingredients: diaspora money. And it seems it has come in huge volumes this year considering the weakening of the Naira against the Dollar.
I was thinking about the video again and marvelled at how the woman said that even non-Nigerians like her were now attracted to the buzz of Detty December, eagerly coming to Lagos just to experience the thrill and fun. I was speaking to a friend recently who also confirmed that there seemed to be a lot more foreigners in town than usual, judging by the variety of accents that fill the air. Many of the people probably aren’t even Africans but they have heard about Detty December and have come to experience it for themselves in Lagos. It almost seems as though an announcement was made somewhere abroad and people just packed their bags and came to town.
Entertainment is one of the things that Lagos has got going. Considering that it is the economic capital of the country and it hosts most of the country’s biggest employers and businesses, entertainment hubs, and associated services, it sees a lot of money flowing in and out. I believe the time is overdue for the government to institutionalise Detty December so that it can tap into it as a source of tourism and ultimately, increase earnings.
Our cousins, the Ghanaians, came up with “The Year of Return” in 2019 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans in the State of Virginia in the United States. They designed a series of events and activities targeted at attracting African Americans to Ghana at the end of the year to reconnect with their roots. They have held similar events every year since then and this has helped them boost their tourism profile. Nigeria can borrow a leaf from this book.
The tourism potential of Lagos’ Detty December is just a pointer to what is possible on a national scale, definitely not on the immediate but with proper planning and execution. I think about the Calabar Carnival initiated by Governor Donald Duke in the early 2000s. The main aim was to drive tourism to the state so they could also earn some tourist income. It is for this reason that they went ahead to develop the Tinapa Resort and Obudu Cattle Ranch. Sadly, both of these plans were not successfully consummated as these facilities are not at an optimal state. This would have been a perfect example of what one state can do to improve its tourism potential.
There are so many tourist attractions around the country that can be developed to support our tourism profile using an annual return to Nigeria in December as a hook for not just diasporans but also non-Nigerians. We have so many untapped and underdeveloped tourism potentials, so many that even Nigerians resident in Nigeria are unaware of. Whilst we clamour for petrodollars, we should also see the potential for tourism dollars as well. Maybe we should start by encouraging resident Nigerians to see more of the country before targeting other people. More work needs to be done to connect the dots.
But to be honest, many residents won’t leave their base neither would tourists land in Lagos for example and plan trips to other parts of the country for many reasons, chief of which is the security situation. We still also have a lot of infrastructural issues (power and transportation most especially) and we would need to sort these issues out to a great degree for any pan-National tourism plan to work. There is also the need for central publicity that sells our tourism potential within and without the country.
I hope Lagos and indeed Nigeria can build on Detty December so we can constructively craft and harness the benefits for our local economy. The opportunity is there already, all that’s left is the required support to drive interest and also the enabling environment. We need the relevant agencies to start thinking about this even as we encourage citizen participation to make it happen. Detty December can be far bigger than it is now and we all need to get ahead of it to make it happen. This is the way I see things today.