Celebrating the Easter season in style, renowned Akwa Ibom gospel sensation, Moses Bliss, in collaboration with the State government, is gearing up to host a captivating evening of praise and worship dubbed “Bliss Experience.”

The event which is slated for Easter Monday, April 1, 2024 will take place at the Unity Park, Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo from 5pm.

In a release made available by the organisers, the special music session will future different popular and award- winning music artistes including; Frank Edwards, Sunmisola Agebebi, Pastor Isaac Oyedepo, Joe Praise, Aity Dennis, Yinka Okeleye and Lyrical Hi.

The Bliss Experience is a free, gospel music concert which will also serve as a home-coming for the young Akwa Ibom music star who recently tied the nuptial knots with his heartrob, Marie in Ghana.

Igbo Olodumare is a lush and pristine rain forest tucked away in southwest Nigeria. Its name translates to ‘The Forest of the Almighty’ and it is simply mystifying.  The forest was first brought to light by two novels, Ògbójú ode nínú Igbó írúnmolè and Igbó Olódùmarè written by one of Nigeria’s most excellent story tellers, D. O. Fagunwa. These two novels were later translated to English language by the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and describes a forest of witches, wizards, giant snails, crabs and other mysterious things. He wrote of creatures that makes one wonder and spark the fire of wanderlust in the belly of anyone who attempts to read the book. This mystical forest exists in Fagunwa’s native village of Oke-Igbo within Ile Oluji-Oke Igbo local government area, Ondo State in south west Nigeria.

The forest is a two-hour journey from the state capital of Akure and about twenty minutes to the forest entrance is a small, sleepy village regarded as the age-old ‘guard’ of the ancient forest. Igbo-Olodumare has a rugged terrain, densely dotted with beautiful granitic inselbergs soaring high and above the tree canopies.

The first attraction of the forest is the picturesque Ògèrìwèsé stream. The people believe the stream possesses the spiritual ability to prevent evil creatures from entering into the village and also has the power to neutralize any form of magical power in an evil-minded person.

Beyond the Ògèrìwèsé stream, deeper into the forest are two paths to Òkè-Lángbòdò and Ìsálú Òrun. It is said that Ìsálú Òrun is not a place for visitors because it is believed to be the residence of the spirits. The entrance to Òkè-Lángbòdò is marked by a small opening beneath a large granite rock where prayers are made before proceeding. Also at the entrance is a sculptured figure of an ancient hunter which Faguwa described in his novel as being magically turned into statue. Upon exploration, the terrain is hilly and hiking is often challenging due to its steep and slippery slopes. However, a visit to the forest will not be completely gratifying without an ascent of the hill to take in the panoramic views of the entire forest and enchanting landscapes. There you will find ewé àkokòa, a rare plant typically used for the coronation of a new king in the land.

Another important attraction is the forest of absolute silence, Aginjù Ìdákéróró. It is said that the silence is so palpable that even a whisper is fearfully loud.  Another popular attraction at Igbo-Olodumare forest is the mythic ‘Bottomless Hole’, which has contradicting beliefs that the hole is filled with mysterious creatures. Nevertheless, a visit to Igbo Olodumare, the forest of a thousand demons, keeps you craving for more adventure, breaking the limits of fear and wonder.

Credit: The Project

It is one of the highlights of a four-year effort to transform Lagos. The awe-inspiring structure of steel and glass, rose from the rubble, gleaming and straddling highway, adding a spectacular perspective to the otherwise jaded skyline. The Oshodi Transport Interchange, the latest in the series of the monumental structures that grace public spaces in an evolving Lagos, is its own league.

In the runup to the celebration of the Lagos at 50 epoch, the city has been witnessing the appearance of a slew of roundabouts, laybys, walkways, bridges and bus stops. In the matrix of artistic and avant-garde projects spawned in the past four years, the Oshodi Interchange stands out as a construction magnum opus.

From the beginning of its construction to its completion (soon), the structure has perpetually wowed the public. In the first few months of its construction, the steel contraption jutting into the sky was astounding to the multitude that daily passed through the axis––not many could comprehend what was coming to Oshodi; now, in its state of near completion, the edifice leaves many in raw awe; their wonderment, rooted in the magnitude of transformation––both aesthetic and utility––that has become of the Oshodi of old.

A few years back, Oshodi used to be a vortex of untamable traffic, a metaphor for Lagos’ burgeoning population, a stark reminder of the need for a comprehensive transport system that meets the demand of the city’s over 20 million citizens, a nightmare for those caught in the web of its underbelly.  In its dark, dangerous, nerve-wracking heyday, Oshodi was an apt byword for traffic chaos and confusion.

The Oshodi Transport Interchange is not a standalone project.  Rather it is part of the Bus Reform Initiative of the administration of Governor Akinwumi Ambode. New bus terminals daily spring up in the city, bringing order and beauty to the landscape of Lagos. Of them all, the Oshodi interchange is the biggest and the most iconic so far. The reason behind the government constructions of terminals– Ikeja Bus Terminal, Berger Bus Terminal, Yaba Bus Terminal, Oyigbo Bus Terminal and Race Cross Bus Terminal–was the desire to make Lagos function like other megacities in the developed world.

Governor Ambode himself has also affirmed as much. “If I say Lagos is going to be globally competitive, I must do things that work towards Lagos being competitive,” he says, “so that it becomes the best destination that anybody would like to visit, nobody who is a tourist in Lagos would enter danfo; it is not going to happen. So, we need to intervene and make the system work the way we really want it to work.”

Terminal Three of the facility became functional on May 2, 2019, after President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned it on May 1. Terminal One and Two are billed to become operational by the end of the month. Terminal Three can handle 4, 000 passengers at a go. At full capacity, the interchange is expected to process an estimated three million passengers per day. While terminal One handles inter-city transportation, Terminal Two focuses exclusively on the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT scheme, and services commuters from Oshodi to Abule Egba, Okokomaiko, LASU and other far-flung areas. The third terminal is for buses plying between  Oshodi and the Islands––Ikoyi Victoria, Lagos––and places adjacent to the routes, like Surulere and Ikorodu. Collectively, the three terminals will serve 1,000 modern buses.

This West Africa’s busiest Transport Interchange is constructed purely by Planet Project Limited, an indigenous construction firm.

It has been a long effort to tame and transform Oshodi. Eventually, it has been achieved.