Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, who just returned from Kigali, Rwanda, captures the sights and sounds of the famous city on a thousand hills
To say Nigerian music and movies rock African countries, airwaves and beyond is stating the obvious. This truth was self-evident in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, where this reporter saw the craze for Nigerian musicians, a cult following if you like.
For the one-week of my stay in the famous city on a thousand hills, yours sincerely was treated to what one could safely describe as unprecedented dose of merriment, Naija style. I literally “enjoyed the life of my head” as Nigerians are wont to say in street parlance. Nigerian pop music was everywhere in the city, especially the clubs and bars.
It was a spectacular outing at the cozy garden of Golden Tulip La Palisse Hotels, Nyamata, where participants were treated to an exciting cocktail.
A seven-man live band from Rwanda led by El Pedro was on hand to welcome guests with soul-serenading tunes, such as country music, hip-hop, reggae, among other genres of music.
Yet, popular lyrics of Nigeria’s music crooners such as Davido and P-Square took the better part of their playing time. Lyrics, such as Davido’s If I tell you say I love you…My body, my money Na your own o baby, was a common rhyme among fun seekers in Kigail.
Sorry, I almost jumped the gun! Let me begin from the very beginning (no pun is intended).
Yours sincerely alongside over 60 representatives of select media houses as well as media-minders of the respective revenue generating authorities, making 72 delegates from across 22 African countries, attended the recently concluded second Media Engagement and Training of African journalists on tax-related matters.
The venue was the City of Nyamata, Rwanda. It was a week-long workshop to discuss their role in addressing emerging tax issues that are seriously affecting the continent’s socio-economic development. The event was organised by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) in collaboration with the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA).
But, after two days of trying to unpack everything around taxation, a subject matter majority of the participants considered rather too obtuse and a complete hard sell, naturally inertia began to set in.
For the adventurous ones among us, (I won’t mention names) they quietly stole out of our hall of residence to only God knows where to catch some fun just to kill boredom.
The rest of the majority, including yours sincerely, just decided to go through the motions no matter what. It was, therefore, something of a surprise when our self-appointed chaperon and welfare officer, Ms Fiona Marwa, a delectable Ugandan lady (I call her the tallest woman in Africa standing at 6’9 feet), announced to the admiration of all that there was going to be a cocktail party later that evening. Naturally, the news was greeted with lots of excitement from all and sundry.
In fact, a colleague from one of the neighbouring African countries, who was also on that trip, remarked somewhat excitedly to the news thus: “Now I believe in the dictum that says, ‘Good things really come to those who wait.’”
I couldn’t agree less. It was meant to be a cocktail party alright with guests mingling throughout the evening while being served hors d’oeuvres, small chops snacks and what have you, so we thought. But we ended up having a soiree, yes a big bash! I tell you, what we were treated to was a live extravaganza, featuring a host of stars, from local performances, pantomimes, dances and music capped with lots of food and ‘booze’ to go with it. It couldn’t have been done any better.
Evidence that we were in for a swell time on this particular evening was all too apparent as guests sauntered into the venue, the cozy garden of the Golden Tulip La Palisse Hotels, Nyamata, where the stage was already set. The ambience, so glam and grand with the right lighting effects to boot, had all the trappings of a Karaoke night, what with El Pedro, a seven-man live band from Rwanda, welcoming guests with soul-serenading tunes from country music, hip-hop, reggae, among other genres of music.
As to be expected, the guests, I mean individuals, who came in group of twos, threes and fours ‘sashayed’ into the fun spot with excitement written all over their faces as they took turns to get light refreshments, having been warmly received by one of the hosts, Ms Gloria Benimana, a lady with the looks and height of a model. She is also a Media Officer at the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA).
Yours sincerely was in good company too. I arrived in company of a colleague and friend from Nigeria, Christie Cole of the CNBC Africa. After getting some light refreshments enough to satisfy our taste buds, Christie and I soon settled down at a corner, where we could practically see everything going on. Like bees attracted to a honeycomb, the place began to swarm with crowds, with everywhere abuzz. Soon, Romeo Ella, Media & Communications Manager at ATAF and his counterpart from RRA, Ms Benimana, joined us at the table and just then Pedro, the leader of the band, who I was told had been literally ‘holding the mic’ (a euphemism for playing music) for over a decade, was playing one of the popular lyrics of Nigeria’s music crooner, Davido, aka Omo Baba Olowo, “If I tell you say I love you…My body, my money Na your own o baby…”
He followed that with yet other lyrics by Nigeria’s ace musician, P-Square, which I can’t remember now and other hit tracks of music stars, such that anyone passing by and hearing those songs would have safely hazarded a guess that the entire audience were Nigerians. But, of course, this was far from the truth.
From my vantage position, I could see from the swaying hips, movements at different tables as well as guests in standing positions and the sing-along, humming sounds within earshot that these Nigerian music icons had cult followings among the diverse crowds seated out there that particular evening in Kigali, and I felt really proud as a Nigerian.
Perhaps, reading my mind, Romeo, who by the way is from South Africa, pointedly admitted the fact that Nigerians had an edge over the rest of the continent as far as the entertainment industry is concerned. “Bravo, I see you guys have taken over Africa entirely. There’s nowhere they play music across Africa, you must definitely hear songs being played by Nigerian superstars. Men, these guys are really good, I tell you,” Romeo stated with a sardonic smile on his face.
In my mind, I was like, see this guy self, what do expect from your Big Brother Nigeria now? That’s how we roll men! But l just managed to say, “We’re trying my brother.” Of course, any discerning mind would readily know from the tone of my voice that I wore my national pride as a Nigerian with no apologies.
The evening soiree was officially declared open by Ziggy Fikiri Nshimiyimana, a staffer of Rwanda Revenue Authority, in charge of the agency’s Digital Media Management.
The RRA official, who also doubled as the compere and comedian extraordinaire, shared rib-cracking jokes in English and subsequently translated in French for the benefit of the Francophone audience in our midst, which sent everyone reeling in laughter.
Ziggy Double 55, as he is fondly called on stage, who is a record artiste himself, would later entertain the guests with his genre of music called Rumba, which is popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its environs, but which according to him, he has been able to tweak and deliver in the Rwandese way. Sorry I digressed.
With exchange of banters and random banalities over, what followed was at the risk of being immodest, an interlude of the most scintillating performances I have witnessed anywhere in a long while.
For over one hour the guests were treated to what one could call command performances by various cultural troupes from Rwanda.
The group, which took the first shot, as I was graciously informed by Gloria, who played the good host till the end, is called the Abakaraza drummers.
A quick headcount revealed that the drummers were about 12 able-bodied men in all. These men, mostly in their late 20s to mid-30s had fine physique as could be seen in their heavy bare chests and thick biceps. The drummers formed three rows with each straddling a large drum, which they beat randomly, with the drumbeat producing thunderclaps and a cacophony of harmonic sounds. The audience watched in awe.
However, listening to the drumbeat and all, I sort of experienced a sense of déjà vu as something kept telling me that I had seen such artistic performances before. As I searched my brain for answers, it came. I recalled seeing the same sets of drums somewhere back home in Southwestern Nigeria. I didn’t know much about drums though, but the shapes and sizes of the drums I could bet, looked like the Gbedu drums. These are big drums fastened with percussion instrument traditionally used on state occasions or during ceremonies of Ogboni, the ancient Yoruba secret society. The Gbedu drum is said to have been brought to the Lagos area in the 17th Century by Edo diplomats, symbolising the Benin Empire’s hegemony. Among the Yoruba, the Gbedu drum signifies royalty.
Talking about the significance of the drum, Gloria would later reveal that the Abakaraza drummers usually perform at occasions to welcome special people, who command some respect in their estimation. How sweet, I said.
Certainly, by the account given by Gloria, I think one could safely infer that there was, indeed, some cultural relativism across the continent as most regions shared some cultural affinities.
Soon, it was the turn of the second set of performers, who, thankfully, were women dancers. Called Ababyenni, the women, who are traditional dancers, performed a kind of dance called Unushayayo.
The bevy of ladies, who I gladly christened “dancing damsels from Rwanda,” to the admiration of Gloria, with their gyrating derriere reminded one of the Tuareg women from Mali, who performed at an event I attended in that country back in 2008.
In the way the Ababyenni dancers literally danced, attendance upon the audience swaying their hips that way and this way like practiced seductress, one could tell that the similarities in performances among Tuareg women and even maiden dance steps from the northern women of Nigeria, was tellingly the same.
The last of the performances was from the warrior tribes. The men, who looked daring in their costumes, were truly awesome.
This group known as Intore also referred to as traditional trained warriors or land protestors, bore arrows and shields.
This group who added a lot of panache to their performance fought mute battles with imaginary opponents chasing them away and like victors returned home to a rousing hero’s welcome. They didn’t stop there. The group subsequently displayed stunning acrobatics literally lifting themselves off the ground, a sight which reminded one of the Atilogu dancers from Eastern Nigeria, known for such electrifying performances.
For their eclectic performances and acts of derring-do they got thunderous applauses from the appreciative audience.
With the traditional performances over, Pedro and his crew mounted the stage to continue the Karaoke night.
Amongst other things, they performed songs like Strength of a Woman by Shaggy, Cherie Na Nigga by Ziggy, Vulindela by Brenda Fassi and other hit tracks of fast-rising music stars across the continent and beyond.
Soon guests filed out to treat themselves to a buffet with choice menu complemented by fish and beef barbecue just as servers passed assorted wines and drinks round to help guests down the edibles.
Pedro and his team would later set the stage for the final onslaught on the dance floor. Talk of saving the best for the last.
The sultry vocalist played some familiar tunes and that was all I needed. Pronto, I got off my seat and did some convulsive dance steps Naija style as I moved on stage.
Instantly, yours sincerely became the tourist attraction as I enjoyed my few minutes of fame. I heard loud cheers behind my back but I was fully in joyous merriment at this point in time to acknowledge any cheers.
Soon there was literally blood on the dance floor as other guests who took the cue from me joined me on stage to shake off some sweats. Come and see some crazy Jones kinda dance steps. Men, everyone caught the bug!
At past 10pm when I said my adieus to Tanya and Fiona in time to retire to my room, the party was still turbo charged. Echoes of the reverberating sounds of the reverie wore far into past midnight.
Naturally, when participants converged for the later part of the conference the next day, you could hear many people discussing in hush tones somewhat excitedly about the previous night’s soiree and won’t have mind an encore performance and this they told the organisers in clear terms.
It was indeed a night to remember. Surely, memories are made of this.