By Nik Ogbulie
Heightened enthusiasm became the lot of the opening day of the Creative African Nexus (CANEX WKND) , which kicked off this morning at the former National Art Theatre, Lagos, recently renamed Wole Soyinke Centre.(WSC).
Several Nigerians who began to welcome strange arrivals within their Ikeja and Victoria Island neighbourhoods since Saturday told Moneyreport magazine that there is already the feeling of action in the environment .
Lagos resident who have been subdued with advertisement and promotion materials since the last few weeks woke up this money to witness normal flow of traffic along the major artery roads leading to the venue which resides at the boundary of the Lagos Mainland and the Islands, which are separated by a criss-cross of fly-overs, metrolines and markets. The event is taking place some five kilometers from the biggest and busiest sea ports on the West African coast and overlooking the Lagos skylines and Africa’s longest bridge, The third Mainland Bridge, one of the legacies of military administration, which is about 15 kilometers.
By this time tomorrow, the exhibition spaces would be built up as exhibitors are very busy setting up their wares while anxious visitors are waiting for bargains in a bid to capitalise on the four day event to hold on the esoteric designs and other entertainment pieces that are already dotting the over 2.3 hectares space of the centre in a seven floor cone like a military hat, on an entire radius of about 374 meters. No wonder the centre was built by one of the seven military regimes that had ruled Nigeria.
Strong indications originating from Afreximbank, promoters of CANEX, is rife that about 15, 000 registered participants have been on record against the estimated 5000 by the time logistics peaked.
However, the take-off has been smooth, baring sudden out-flow of Registration and accreditation demands which have been indicative of the increasing commercial interest in the project, which is believed to be the expression of what could be seen at the IATF proper in 2027, culminating into what would be the development in Lagos 2027.
Already, a bubble is on the way across all deliverables at this event, which just started only five hours ago. Participants from neighbouring countries are already impressed with the preparations they met on arrival, indicating that there are more challenges relating to capacity from presenters and exhibitors, considering the size of the Nigerian market, its economy and the intimidating population. As the promoters have projected that the CANEX WKND will make its greatest participation record on Friday and Saturday.
Because it is a huge offer, Nigerians believe that beginning from today, every day is CANEX day!!
