By the time December arrives, the map of celebration in Southwest Nigeria becomes painfully predictable. Arrows point overwhelmingly toward Lagos—concerts, festivals, beach carnivals, comedy shows, art exhibitions—while neighboring Ogun State goes quiet, save for a few culturally significant but limited events. This silence is not accidental. It is the sound of an industry being slowly choked.
The entertainment industry in Ogun State is dying, and too few people are willing to say it plainly.
Today, entertainers, event promoters, creatives, and big spenders all migrate to Lagos to celebrate. Not necessarily because Lagos is cheaper or more comfortable, but because Lagos has deliberately positioned itself as a destination. Lagos hosts events back-to-back because that is where policies, infrastructure, sponsorship, visibility, and spending power converge. The wise understand this simple truth: entertainment follows opportunity.
In the process, Ogun-based entertainment conveners have been frustrated, sidelined, and pushed out of relevance. Many have either relocated their flagship events to Lagos or abandoned ambitious ideas altogether. This is painful, especially for those of us who live, work, pay taxes, and run multiple businesses in Ogun State. When it is time to collect taxes, government agencies know exactly where to find us. But when it comes to creating an enabling environment for entertainment, tourism, and culture, there is an uncomfortable silence.
Government cannot tax businesses based on “potential,” excitement, or exposure. Businesses thrive only where activities, opportunities, and institutional support exist. Entertainment is not a luxury sector; it is an economic engine. It drives hospitality, transportation, fashion, food, media, advertising, security, and informal trade. When entertainment thrives, hotels fill up, vendors make sales, artisans get jobs, and the state’s image travels far beyond its borders.
Ogun State is missing out on this multiplier effect.
Beyond economics, there appears to be a troubling politics of silence. One gets the sense that the state’s leadership is either unwilling or unable to speak boldly in defense of its own creative economy—perhaps out of fear of backlash, political alignment, or being perceived as competing with Lagos. But development is not a zero-sum game. Lagos booming should not require Ogun shrinking. A confident government defends the interests of its people, especially when those interests translate into jobs, revenue, and long-term growth.
Ogun State deserves to boom like Lagos.
This is not wishful thinking. Ogun is strategically located, richly endowed, and culturally gifted. It is the gateway between Lagos and several other states. It hosts major industrial hubs, educational institutions, and a youthful population bursting with talent—musicians, filmmakers, comedians, fashion designers, event planners, DJs, dancers, and digital creatives. What is missing is not talent, but intentional policy.
Currently, Ogun’s festive calendar is too thin to sustain an entertainment economy. Outside Ojude Oba, Egbaliganza, and Yewa Day—important cultural celebrations that deserve continued support—there is little that consistently attracts visitors from across Nigeria or the diaspora. December comes and goes without Ogun becoming a must-visit destination. This should worry policymakers.
Entertainment must not die in Ogun State.
The solution is not complicated, but it requires political will. The government must recognize entertainment and tourism as strategic sectors, not afterthoughts. This means investing in event-friendly infrastructure, simplifying permits, supporting private promoters through grants or partnerships, ensuring security at venues, and actively marketing Ogun as a cultural and entertainment destination. It also means listening to industry stakeholders, not just during elections, but as partners in development.
Other states are doing this deliberately—and reaping the rewards. Ogun should not remain a sleeping giant while its creative youth export their energy, ideas, and revenue elsewhere.
A state that offers nothing to celebrate will always export its joy—and its money.
Where entertainment thrives, tourism grows. Where tourism grows, businesses boom. And where businesses boom, a state becomes a destination, not just a location on the map. Ogun State has everything it needs to make this transformation, except one thing: the courage to act.
The music is fading. The lights are dimming. But it is not too late to turn them back on.
