The Nigerian Cultural Night
The Nigerian Cultural Night is celebrated annually in the university. It is a night set aside to celebrate the rich Nigerian culture as well as to showcase the beauty and ethnical diversity of Nigeria as a whole. This year’s Nigerian night was celebrated on the 8th of December 2018.
Personally, this was my first Nigerian Night. Although I was part of the planning committee, I still found it to be a great night full of unprecedented performances. I could not have been prouder as I watched the performances put smiles on the faces of the audience. Luckily, I was able to successfully interview some of the lead organizers of the Nigerian night, as well as some of the audience members. Their responses were heartwarming.
The theme of the Nigerian night was “A Trip to The Motherland,” and it was aimed to show the audience the beauty and overwhelming potential of our great nation. Its purpose was to show the world the perfection of Africa, a mighty giant. Nigeria is a multi-ethnical country which has more than 200 tribes and over 300 languages, making it one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. There are three major tribes in Nigeria: Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. Moreover, each of these three tribes has their own culture and traditionally unique way of life.
Preparing for the Nigerian night was not an easy task. The plans for the Nigerian night were made known by the end of September and exactly a week after that, the planning and decorating committees were selected. Since then, the committees had conducted meeting after meeting in order to ascertain the success of the Nigerian night. The head of the planning committee, Nweke John, along with the President of Nigerian students, had ensured the diligence of every member of the committee. Furthermore, the planning committee monitored every performance rehearsal and made sure that every performance was registered with the committee in order to instill some seriousness and rigor.
Two weeks before the Nigerian night, the planning committee met with every performer and leader of the performing groups. The purpose of the meeting was to inquire about the general progress of the rehearsals, as well as to inform them that they had just one week to perfect their act else they were at risk of being removed from the Nigerian night. A week before the Nigerian night, the planning committee watched and listened to every performance and made corrections where they saw fit. Unfortunately, some of the performances that were not apt were withdrawn.
The Nigerian night was a successful one and it could not have been anywhere close without the perseverance of everyone that was involved in the planning, decoration, performance, as well as everyone that had lent a helping hand at any point in time.
We had a talk with some audience members:
– How would you describe the, just concluded, Nigerian Night? How did you prepare for it?
Ituma Ugochukwu Michael (5th year student, the president of the Nigerian Students community): The Nigerian night was splendid, full of performances, full of craft, full of genius, full of talent. I can only say we strived for perfection and had made the best of all the resources we had. First, I thank God for making this night such a success, and also that I was able to balance academics and extracurricular activities even though it was really stressful. I really thank and appreciate the team for being so diligent and for putting in the extra hours of preparation in order to make this night a success.
– What kind of impact were you expecting from the performances?
Ituma Ugochukwu Michael: Thank you so much for asking me this question. The impact I wanted from the Nigerian Night was to show people our culture, in its raw and ethnical form. I was very happy we were able to display our culture to the world in the form of the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and in all other cultural performances.
– How would you describe the event?
Adebayo Olukayode Emmanuel (5th year first semester, the leader of the Yoruba performance): Yoruba culture has always been very rich. It has many traditional forms, which includes traditional games, music and also various dances. This year, we decided to showcase the energetic Yoruba culture through music and dance. We chose to perform the evolution of Yoruba dances from ancient times till to this date. The performance was beyond my expectations, and it could not have happened without the help of my crew members.
– What can you say about the Nigerian night? How was it?
Chalit (4th year, Thailand): The most obvious thing I have noticed, is that Nigerians are proud of their country; they are proud to be Nigerians. I can see the passion they have towards their country and I don’t know how to explain it but I think Nigerians truly have the most love for their country. For instance, when the poet said some words, people in the audience would emphatically cheer: “YES!!”. I even got goosebumps because I have never seen so much love from any other country.
Dennis Dolovchenkо (student of the Autotechnical college, Russia): очень круто! It was beautiful and very energetic. I find it amazing because in Russia, it is not often that you see people smile and give so much energy. I think the performances were very, and I would love to attend the Nigerian night next year!
text Bello Muhammed
edition in english by Law Yi Wan, Reshma Durai
