2013 Akwa Ibom Government Xmas Carol Night!

"Roll out the red carpet. Blow the trumpet. Proclaim in nooks and crannies of Nigeria and Akwa Ibom about the favourite programme. Join thousands to herald the world-class event. Hook onto your television sets and internet service. Sing hallelujah to the Lord". Once again, this year’s Akwa Ibom Government Christmas Carol Night was indeed, a great one.

A roll-out banner put in front of Governor’s Office, Uyo explicitly tells the story “God’s own Party, the 2013 AKSG Xmas Carol Night held on December 21, 2013 started at about 6 p.m. at Uyo Township Stadium. Many people all over the world came and sang with 9999, the largest Assembly of carol singers on the planet”.

The programme which was initially conceived as a state project has gained prominence as a global event. The first curtain of the programme fell on December 26, 2008, with a world-breaking record of 9,300 choristers that made nonsense of the Guinness World Record of the largest assembly carol singers of 7,514 singers at the Bob Jones University in South Carolina, United States of America in 2004.

For this year, an acceptance of Bishop David Oyedepo, the General Overseer of Living Faith Church a.k.a Winners Chapel to preach during the programme had given more pep to the programme. At a breakfast meeting on November 5, this year at Governor’s Lodge, Uyo with the Bishop, excited Akpabio used one stone to kill two birds. He graciously invited Oyedepo thus “…I can tell you that you will not regret it. You will be spiritually fulfilled. You will be elevated and at the end you will turn to me and say ‘Governor, this is indeed another spiritual uncommon transformation”. Without hesitation, the flamboyant Bishop accepted the invitation as a Guest preacher on December 21. What a great day it was!

However, a cross section of prominent Akwa Ibom indigenes have lent their voices to the continued hosting of the glamorous event. Bishop Cletus Bassey, Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Akwa Ibom Chapter “9,999, I believe is a divine arrangement by God to showcase a people who have always known how to praise Him. But sometimes people don’t understand how much our people before today used to praise God.

Bassey commented “So, 9,999 has come to stay because it is something that has broken the world record as per the number of people you can bring together at one place at one time to worship God. If you notice in other parts of the world, they have carnivals and all kinds of things are displayed and you wonder how many of these things are giving glory to God. But when our Governor came, he decided to take a detour from the traditional way of doing Christmas to when God is being put at the centre of the year”.

“Why wouldn’t 9,999 stay with such a great impact it has created in the Guinness Book of Records? Why wouldn’t 9,999 stay when every part of this State, the sons and the daughters of this State are brought to worship God? Why wouldn’t 9,999 stay when men who were outside here are looking forward to come to Akwa Ibom State to be part of the 9,999? Why wouldn’t 9,999 stay when a man who has the heart for God, who tells God thank you all the times like our Governor is there on the seat? “, he queried.

“I believe that 9,999 is a way of saying to God thank you and also telling Akwa Ibom people that there is no other God than Jehavah God who we must always make ourselves available to consistently worship and give all the praises. That is why I believe 9,999 should be engaged. Even after the tenure of Governor Akpabio, somebody should still say 9,999 just continue”, the Bishop summed up happily.

Dr. Sylvanus Ukafia, Chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Akwa Ibom Chapter remarked “Whatever honours God should be allowed to continue. Given the number of people who were exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ last year, the number of people that made up decision to commit their lives to Christ, I think the programme is doing a lot more than we can measure, a lot more than we can rate in terms of policy and impact. It is beyond the imagination of the organisers”.

On continuation of the programme after Akpabio administration, he responded affirmatively “It should be continued. It is an avenue for us to preach the gospel. You see the Bible says, ‘What will you gain if you gain the whole world and lose your soul’. Whatever brings spiritual enlightenment, whatever brings people from darkness into light, we need to pursue all along. Once you invite God into a matter, He has a way of taking over. I think that so much has changed. The Governor is being commended today; he is obviously not the most intelligent. You see when God’s blessing raises upon you – what made Solomon outstanding was not that he solved an economic problem, just a little problem between two women. When God’s blessing is upon what you do, the little you do becomes outstanding and I think God is behind the elevation of Akwa Ibom State”.

Dr. Anthonia M. Essien, Head of Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, University of Uyo said “I think it is wonderful having such a a large number sing praises to God. The first time I watched, I was very thrilled and I thank God for Governor Akpabio for such a good vision of getting us to sing praises to God. I think it is a worthwhile venture. What else do we have than to sing praises to God. At a point, I was thinking why do we add one person to make it 10,000. I think we should sustain the programme; we all come on board to glorify God”.

On the need to make the event a state policy, Dr. Essien who is also Associate Professor of Sociology of Religion in the university opined “It will be good for the Government to put it into law so that subsequent Governments will sustain it. I think it should be sustained, particularly for how we have been blessed and be a reference point to all other States, and in fact even to the international community. It is just that some innovative ideas can still be added to it. The programme so far is well done and I think we should invite people from other States to join us and that can also be an inspiration when they get back to their States. We have to congratulate Governor Akpabio on this foresightedness in bringing about this experience to us. I ask everyone in Akwa Ibom State to emulate this good example. If you read in the scripture, praise to God is wonderful. It is praise that can move mountains and barriers “.

Dr. Johnson Akpakpan, a lecturer with Department of Music, University of Uyo observed “The event is a welcome one. From the musical perspective, I know that gathering this number of people to sing and play musical instruments is a great feat and a good initiative by the government of Akwa Ibom State. It is a great innovation. Aand from music perspective, it is not quite different eventhough you have 100 people singing together. But when you take a look at 9,999 people singing together in one singular performance, the result is that the intensity of sound will be quite different from having 200 or 500 people singing together”.

Dr. Akpakpan stated “From my observation, I have discovered the organisation is always ad hoc. The first edition, I can recalled, there was announcement that that was the greatest number of gathering singers or choristers around the globe, that was a breaking of the Guinness Book of Records. It was great, but in the musical aspect, I wouldn’t have given that record looking at it from the professional point of view.

To improve the programme, the music expert suggested “We are talking of skills. For instance, for people to feature in the upcoming World Cup, some countries will take four years for the preparation. Music itself is a skill that needs to be sharpened before performance. For instance, a concert pianist needs to practise for eight hours a day for eight years before he is proficient enough to give concert. Likewise other aspects of music, it needs a whole lot of preparations. Eventhough the performance is only a day, the preparation could take several years. I want to suggest that in subsequent editions, especially for orchestra aspect and even the choral aspect, we could start preparations around January so that when we showcase the programme at the end of the year, it will have substance in both musical output and the show business aspect. Music scholars should be brought in not only in the aspect of performance but also in the aspect of preparation to sharpen the final output.

“As much as I know, music besides comradeship aspect can also instil in the youths the act of discipline and cohesion. Music also sharpens the performance of practitioners, and sharpens their brains. In that respect, it is a welcome development that should be sustained while we inject more professional ethics into the preparations and even the performance. Aside from singing to God and the showmanship that is involved, the 9,999 fiesta could be avenue to bring in people to interact with one another. I understand that the choristers are drawn from the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom State. I think that is an avenue to unite people within the State”, he concluded.

Director of Protocol to the Governor, Mr. Aniekpeno Mkpanang hinted that his team has raised a 200-man band Ibom Choral and Orchestra comprising a 100-man classical mass choir, a 50-man Orchestra choir, 35 singers, 10 instrumentalists and 10 lead singers as well as Akwa Ibom Voices to sing as ensemble comprising Aity Dennis Inyang, Pastor Goody Goody, Folake Umosen, Linda Etukudoh, Fadabasi, Freke Umoh, Nathaniel Bassey, AKSG Choir and Unity Brass Band.

Also expected are Israel Houghton, a US internationally recognised worship leader and a five-time Grammy Award winner; Lionel Peterson, a world renowned South African Gospel legend; Sinach, an international worship leader of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s Christ Embassy International; Frank Edwards, a Nigerian exceptional, versatile and a multiple award-winning gospel rock artiste; National Choir of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and Guest appearance from West Indies.

This year’s event opens a unique venue to gather more music stars and unite people from different denominations to praise God as never before. It will rekindle hope for the distressed, joy to the broken hearted, love to the abandoned, peace to the afflicted, liberty to the oppressed and above all bring down God’s glory to Akwa Ibom and Nigeria.

More info: http://9999carolsingers.com