ABUJA – Most relaxation spots in Abuja on Wednesday experienced low turnout as Nigeria mark its 54th Independence anniversary.
A businessman, Mr George Harry, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Monolisa Amusement Park in Area 11, Abuja, blamed the low turnout on the economic situation in the country.
George also attributed the poor turnout to the primary and secondary schools which just resumed the security challenge and the Ebola scare.
He said that with the resumption of schools, most people would prefer to spend money in catering for their families rather than come to seek for fun.
“People are not here, the place is virtually empty. I think one of the reasons is that this is coming at a time parents have spent a lot of money on school fees, transport and books for the children.
“Money is never enough, instead of coming here, most people will prefer to buy a bag of rice to eat at home,” he said.
George said that people were afraid of coming out to seek for fun during the Independence Day celebration because of the activities of insurgents.
A resident, Mrs Brenda Kor, a chess player at the park, told NAN that she was disappointed to see the place virtually empty.
Kor blamed the situation on lack of proper organisation by the management of the park.
“I am a bit disappointment because by this time, I expect the place to be crowded with fun seekers, but as you can see the place is empty when compared to my experience in the past.
“The management of this place is not organised as you can see. They are just making arrangements to receive people.
“They are just fixing canopies and arranging chairs and tables. I can see welders trying to make sure that the facilities are ready.
“Moreso, the place is not popular like Wonder Land. It needs serious publicity so that people from far and wide can come here to have fun,” Kor said.
A staff of the park who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity said that, the management was not really prepared to fix the place for the Independence Day celebration. This is happening in the middle of the week.
“The owners are really not ready for today’s activities.
“They were planning to fix it before the forthcoming Eid-el-Fitri celebration.
“As you can see, welders are just fixing the rail for the train and other things. However, we are expecting people to come as we have prepared meals for sale.
The situation at the Millennium Park, close to Unity Fountain in Abuja was not much different from that of Monolisa as few people were seen sitting in groups and having fun.
Matthew Idoko, a photographer at the park, told NAN that the 2014 Independence Day celebration was dull as the park had so far recorded only few people visiting the fun spot at about 2 p.m., which is when activities were usually at peak.
In the past years, between 2 p.m. and 3p.m. the place is usually a beehive of activities. [eap_ad_1] “The celebration last year was better as the park was filled with so many people and business was good, but this year there is no much business.
“The number of photographers in the park this year has also increased,’’ Idoko said.
Mrs Hanatu Dauda, who sells snacks at the park, told NAN that the park this year was not bustling with people and activities.
“People have not really come out to the park for this year’s Independence Day celebration because it is only a one day holiday.
“The low turnout has really affected business for food vendors. Since morning I have not sold up to N7,000. By this time last year I had sold item worth about N20,000,” she said. (NAN)
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