By Leonard Okachie
Umunna ( Abia), June 27, 2026
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Abia came alive on Saturday with colour, music, and dance as the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream I corps members staged a spectacular cultural carnival.
The event, organised at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Umunna, in Bende LGA, featured 10 platoons, representing major Nigerian ethnic groups.
Each platoon displayed indigenous dances, traditional music and costumes, celebrating the nation’s cultural diversity.
The platoons and their represented groups were: Platoon 1 – Ibibio, Platoon 2 – Yoruba, Platoon 3 – Hausa, Platoon 4 – Benin, Platoon 5 – Fulani, Platoon 6 – Urhobo, Platoon 7 – Igbo, Platoon 8 – Efik, Platoon 9 – Tiv, and Platoon 10 – Ijaw.
At the end of the keenly contested performances, Platoon 5, representing the Fulani culture, emerged the overall winner.
Platoon 4, representing Benin culture, came second, while Platoon 7 representing Igbo, took third position.
In a speech, the state NYSC Coordinator, Alhaji Yunusa Tanimu, described the carnival as a practical expression of the scheme’s mandate of fostering national unity and integration.
“Today’s carnival is a celebration of one of Nigeria’s greatest treasures, our rich cultural diversity.
“Rather than seeing these differences as barriers, we should embrace them as sources of strength that enrich our national identity,” Tanimu said.
He said that the carnival served as a “classroom without walls” that teaches tolerance and mutual respect.
He also said the event became significant, especially at a time many young Nigerians were losing touch with their indigenous languages and traditions.
Tanimu advised corps members to carry the lessons of the carnival to their Places of Primary Assignment by respecting the customs of their host communities.
He also appealed to host communities to receive corps members with warmth and hospitality.
The Mayor of Bende LGA, Chief Bassey Uwabunkonye, said the event underscored that “the true wealth of a nation lies not in oil and gold, but in the riches of her people, their traditions, languages, dances and values.
“You came from every corner of this great nation, arrived as strangers, but look around you today – the laughter, the music, the costumes, you see Nigeria, one people, beautifully different, yet powerfully united.
“That is the magic of culture,” Uwabunkonye said.
He urged the corps members to serve as ambassadors of Abia’s cultural wealth and “learn our language, taste our food, dance our dances, and carry the peace of our people wherever you go.”
The Traditional Ruler of Ohumola Autonomous Community, Igbere, Eze Otiri Ebiri-Okoro, also emphasised the country’s unity in diversity.
“We are many, but we remain one. We shall remain apostles, evangelists of Nigeria’s unity, no matter what happens,” Ebiri-Okoro said.
A major highlight of the carnival was the cutting of a “unity cake” by all the 10 platoons to symbolise national unity.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the cultural event was introduced by NYSC in 2019 to replace the rigorous endurance trek.
