A park in the Bridgwater neighbourhood is the first to be named after a member of Winnipeg’s African community, the city says — and it’s named for one of the people who helped to make the area what it is today.
A ceremony was held Saturday for the official naming of Emeka Nnadi Park, at 119 Bridgeland Dr. in the southwest Winnipeg neighbourhood.
It’s named for architect Emeka Nnadi, a member of Winnipeg’s Nigerian community who is the CEO and founder of Nnadi Group, a Winnipeg architecture firm, and has done work with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for almost two decades.
Nnadi, who is from Igbo descent, helped develop the Bridgwater area, transforming what in 2006 was roughly 600 hectares (1,400 acres) of provincially owned farmland into multiple neighbourhoods with thousands of homes.
Dozens of people in the Igbo and broader Nigerian communities showed up for the ceremony Saturday, including Nnadi himself.
“To me, it represents a certain level of acknowledgement for good, hard and maybe inspired work,” Nnadi said. “But that pales in comparison to what I think it means to the community at large.”
The ceremony was also attended by Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Janice Lukes, the city’s deputy mayor and councillor for the area.
“The neighbourhood of Bridgwater is just this beautiful, multicultural, diverse community,” said Lukes.
“It grew twice as fast as anticipated because people love it. It’s beautiful. And while we’re honouring a person in the bigger picture, we’re honouring the community, we’re honouring diversity.”
She said this is the first park the city has named after a member of the African community, and that doing so is a small way to highlight the city’s multiculturalism.
“This is a remarkable landmark, a forever-standing event that will brighten the heart” and make people of colour “feel proud to be a part of this city,” master of ceremonies Ayodele Odeyemi said to the crowd.
“We say we’re inclusive, we’re diverse.… Here, today, is the evidence.”
Nnadi said he hopes the naming inspires future generations of people who may feel they’re underrepresented to “step into what they can be.”
“That’s what it means to me,” he said. “It tells me that I do live in an amazing community, in a wonderful country, wonderful province and a fantastic city that embraces talent in all of its forms.”
“I’ve been working on Bridgwater for 20 years. Yeah, it’s been 20 years from the initial inception of the concept and I didn’t do any of it expecting this as one of the outcomes of it. So I’m quite humbled by this recognition,” said Nnadi.
Nnadi’s family did not leave his side throughout the commemoration ceremony, which was hosted by the organization AfriCans in Winnipeg South Association. It brought many members of the community to the new park, including Mayor Scott Gillingham, city councillors Janice Lukes and Markus Chambers.
As Nnadi spoke to the crowd, he turned his attention to the people in his life — family, colleagues, clients, who helped him in his journey.
“If we’re going to celebrate and commemorate my contributions to the neighbourhoods of Bridgwater, I think it’s important for me to celebrate the many other individuals who also played significant roles in making this a reality,” said Nnadi.
Leaders from the Nigerian community were also present. Vera Keyede called the unveiling “groundbreaking” — not only for Manitobans but for Nigerians across the country.
“We are into every facet of profession in Manitoba. Unfortunately, we don’t get that big recognition, so this is the first time a Nigerian gets this kind of recognition. I tell you, it’s a very exciting time, it’s a new dawn for the Nigerian community,” said Keyede.
Africanad founder and the event’s emcee, Ayodele Odeyemi, says its significant Nnadi is being honoured in the south end of Winnipeg, as it has a large and growing Nigerian community.
“Many immigrants comes to a country like Canada and they try to find their feet, looking for where their story could be told … It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and this will make a lot of new immigrants, especially Nigerian immigrants, very proud
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