By Gbenga Bada
There is no point ‘ganging up’ to shock the world, but there is the necessity to showcase Africa as the bedrock of music to the world,” these are the exact words of one of the Africa music legends who is getting warmed up to storm Lagos on August 26, 2021, and August 27, 2021, for the maiden edition of the African Legends Nite.
It is no surprise that these music legends agreed that Lagos, Nigeria, is the ideal place to hold this continental event. Lagos, a popular destination for Arts and Culture is set to host the African Legends Night as an annual event to celebrate legends in the arts and music world.
The readiness of the music legends and the organisers to make the event one historical ‘showcase’ can be seen from their preparations.
Sir Victor Uwaifo, Nigeria’s most educated showman, politician, and sculptor, made known to the organisers, his intention to be the number one Nigerian ambassador of the night. Uwaifo, who turned 80 in March this year, is a world-class entertainer, sculptor, lecturer, and the first Nigerian to be appointed as a State Commissioner for Arts, Culture, and Tourism.
In the same vein, Salif Keita, in a video recording to the organisers, promised a superlative appearance to demonstrate his acclaimed world standard. Salif, who spoke from France, is noted for his European exploits, a value that makes the event attractive to the general audience from French-speaking countries.
72-year old Salif Keïta is an African singer-songwriter from Mali. He is notable not only because of his reputation as the ‘Golden Voice of Africa’ but also because he has albinism. He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Although Keita was famous in Africa and had achieved a strong fan base among connoisseurs around the world, in 1987, Soro became his international- breakthrough album.
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Yvonne Chaka Chaka is also not hiding her eagerness to surprise her global audience as she inches towards 60. She was also unambiguous in her video message to the world generally to focus on this continental event taking place in Oriental Hotel, Lekki. “It is one event the world looks up to,” she said.
Interestingly, Commander Ebenezer Obey gave Nigerians the best assurance saying, “Do you really know ‘Owambe’ from the roots? ‘Owambe’ is the bedrock of African music, from the Yoruba culture of Nigeria. You get the foundation in so many African music genres, and you are going to get a lot of this at the African Legends Night”, he assured.
The African Legends event is multi-faceted. As a two-day event, special awards are lined up for Africans in the Arts, Culture, and Music while music giants such as Onyeka Onwenu, Ebenezer Obey, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Wasiu K1, Salawa Abeni, Bright Chimezie, Sir Shina Peters, Salif Keita, and others are slated for performance.
To showcase the African music contribution to the world, renowned artists like Fela Anikulapo, Christy Essien, Rex Lawson, Victor Olaiya, Orlando Owoh, and many others are slated for posthumous awards.
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