Rema Returns Home: Pledges to Inspire Edo Youths at 6,000-Seat Edo Arena Groundbreaking with Governor Obaseki

Ahead of Friday’s eagerly anticipated homecoming concert in Benin City, Edo-born Afrobeat sensation, Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, on Wednesday, joined Governor Godwin Obaseki to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the Edo Arena, to be called ‘The Dome’, a state-of-the-art conference hall and event centre, where he expressed pride in the youths and made commitment to propel them.

Sited at the vast former Garrick Memorial School ground, opposite the Ekehuan Road campus of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, in Benin City, The Edo Arena, with a capacity to host 6000 people, according to Governor Obaseki, when completed, would be one of the biggest and largest spaces that would attract events into the state. He said the government was using the opportunity of Rema’s homecoming “to create the awareness that this facility exists and using the opportunity to have our global superstar, Rema, to be part of this event” and make it a “global project”.

The elated music sensation thanked the people of the state for their relentless love and support, commending Governor Obaseki for his bold reforms and projects that have improved the lives of the people and transformed the state in the last eight years.

Rema said “I am happy to be here. I thank Edo people for their prayers and support. I am proud of the state, especially the growth recorded so far. I am proud of the togetherness, passion and zeal to make it greater.”

Commending the governor for the project, he said, “I am proud of the youths and ready to take part in anything that will give a drive to the youths, strengthen and motivate them. This is a blessing, and I will see to it that this project is finished well.”

Explaining what inspired the project, Governor Obaseki said, “When we came into government in 2016, we didn’t have a venue for events but rather, we were hiring canopies for events and renting places for large events, especially when we invite people out of the state. It became clear that we needed to have a venue where we could host large events.

“In the course of our planning, we realised that Edo has a unique advantage. They don’t call us the Heartbeat of Nigeria for nothing. Edo enjoys tremendous traffic as most Nigerians move through Edo State and we noticed that it’s a huge economic advantage for us.

“We have the capacity to host national events and attract all Nigerians here. We made strategic plans as we began to sell our culture and position ourselves to attract more people to our state.

“We are using sports to attract people to our state as we remodeled the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium into a world-class sports centre. We can boast today of the best sporting facility in Nigeria. To host cultural and entertainment events, we used the old Observer premises into a world-class sound stage that can host about 2,000 to 3,000 guests.”

He continued: “This is limiting because we can’t hold events larger than 3,000 people. So, we saw the urgent need to create a larger venue to host events, be it concerts, conferences, symposiums, or conventions. This has been the driving force behind the government acquiring this piece of property five years ago from the Garrick family.

“This premises, which is about five hectares of land, is supposed to be an entertainment hub, hosting many events, from concerts, to national conferences, symposiums and other larger events.”

Noting that the Dome will drive the influx of people into the state in line with the government’s vision to make the state a tourist destination, the governor said: “The number of large people that will come will enjoy the culture and what the people of the state can offer. Hotels will spring up in different locations in the state, creating room for the employment of more youths.

“This is what many countries in the world live on, not petroleum or crude oil, but tourism. These countries don’t have the fraction of what we have in the state in terms of tourism. What they have is the infrastructure to support tourism as this is what we have started to build in Edo State.

“When completed, this will be one of the biggest and largest spaces that would attract events into the state. This project is important to us as most of our projects embarked on by our administration have opened the state for more investors to come in.

“The ones we have built are fully occupied as the government has no business doing business but creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the state. It will be made available to citizens who want to run them. Just like we did with the Radisson Hotel.”

According to him, “The role of government is to be an enabler to allow things to happen. This property is prime in the city. We want to make it attractive by beginning this development. We are using this opportunity to create the awareness that this facility exists and using the opportunity to have our global superstar, Rema, to be part of this event. When you have people like Rema associated with a project like this, it becomes a global project”.

Obaseki and Rema were joined by the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) Dr. Asue Ighodalo, and the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, Culture and Diaspora Affairs, Uyi Oduwa Malaka, among other top government functionaries.