Halloween, an annual holiday celebrated on the 31st of October in several countries around the world, including Australia, Canada and the United States of America, is not a Nigerian culture and has never been announced as an official holiday in the country.
However, thanks to Nigeria’s love for anything “western world” and their proclivity for revelry, some people in the country are now seen dressed up in elaborate costumes and trick or treating around major cities on Halloween day every October.
This year, from Club Illusion’s Halloween party set to hold on Friday 28th October atConcord Owerri to Halloween Party – THE LIGHTHOUSE, holding Saturday 29th October 2016 at Marina Lagos, there are so many events already lined up for Halloween. And with the D-day fast approaching, we at Jumia Travel know that it’s crunch time for finding the perfect costume. Given that we know your costume is preying on your mind, we have come up with unique ideas for costumes that can reflect the Nigerian society. If you are going to celebrate Halloween in Nigeria, wouldn’t it be best to make your costume a little indigenous? Read on to get the inspiration you need.
Scary Ghosts/Witches
A large number of people tend to put on scary costumes for Halloween around the world. From the most terrifying haunted houses to zombies, vampires and monsters like Frankenstein and King Kong, these costumes are geared towards hyping the Halloween spirit. But as Nigerians, you can also channel same spirit through our local scary characters such as Willie Willie and Karishika. Thanks to music artiste Falz; most people have a more modern idea of what the Karishika costume would entail.
TV Favourites
Another type of costumes that dominate the Halloween scene are costumes depicting favourite TV characters or just famous characters from movies. In Nigeria, some old favorites include Papa Ajasco and Madam Pepeye from the Papa Ajasco series, Zebrudaya from the Masquerade, but in more recent times, Jenifa from Jenifa’s Diaries series (especially season 1), Akpororo from Comedy shows, e.t.c
The Fashionista
Love fashion? You can dress as a fun-loving Nigerian fashionista! Don a big, ostentatious wig and peculiar heel boots to go as Denerele, or put on very light skin powder and loud (but perfect) facial make up strut like Bobrisky. You may also want to play the “fashion victim” and re-enact some of the most memorable fashion fails in the Nigerian fashion scene. A good one is the famous Nollywood actress and Actors Guild of Nigeria’s President Ibinabo Fiberesima, who came out looking like a peacock at the AMVCA 2016.
Music Icon
Music artistes in Nigeria generally dress elaborately whether they are on stage or just on the streets and it is easy to copy any of their looks for a marvellous Halloween event. Some that we however consider most iconic to pull off for this 2016 include Cynthia Morgan, FELA , Lagbaja, and of course Falz the bahd guy. For those who want to dress up as a duo, they can consider going as PSquare.
The Oshiomole
This Halloween, you can embody the spirit of the Oshiomole by rocking his famous military inspired outfit, a Khaki brown shirt and matching shorts with and an “APC” hat (made in China). You could also dig around for his favourite words or slangs and infuse them in your conversation throughout the day. That gets you extra points.
Nkem Ndem is a PR Associate at Jumia Travel.
