Kunle Adelabu
It was a thrilling, fun-filled and memorable outing on Thursday’s night (yesterday) as popular Fuji music act, Alhaji Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, treated a crowd of guests, visitors and lkorodu residents to an unforgettable musical entertainment that would remain the talk of town a for a long time.
The event, which was tagged, ‘Oga Social Night ‘, was the Day 4 of the on-going 2019 Ikorodu-Oga Day Carnival.
Earlier in the day, the open field of the Ikorodu Town hall, the venue of the event, was largely deserted and devoid of signs that an event was scheduled to hold there and this was largely due to the market women/men and artisan event, another activity of the 2019 Ikorodu-Oga Day Carnival, which was going on at the Ayangbure palace.
However, the venue started coming alive around 5pm when fun seeking residents besieged the Secretariat of the Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS), located within the premises of the town hall, to hurriedly purchase the official local fabric (Ankara aso-ebi) picked for the weeklong celebration, after it was announced that the fabric would serve as the gate pass into the venue of the Oga Night.
Despite the criticism generated by the decision in some quarters and the fear that many might boycott the event to press home their protest, the venue was filled to its capacity by 6pm with residents who were decked in the official Ankara attires while those who were yet to purchase the fabric were frantically searching for where to buy.
To underscore their desperation to attend the Oga Night, a large number of residents and visitors who had bought their Ankara but had not sew it , were seen wrapping it round their body in order to be allowed entrance into the venue by the men of the Nigerian army, Lagos State Neighbourhood Corp (LNSC), Civil Defense, Onyabo Vigilance Group and O’Gunji, a private security firm, who were stationed at the main entrance of the town hall to ensure security and orderliness.
Olubi Street, where the Ikorodu Town hall is situated, as well as Owolwo road and Ayangbure road were totally shut down by a massive traffic of human movement towards the town hall as residents trooped out enmasse to once again witness the exciting performance of Alhaji Wasiu Alabi Pasuma after performing at the Asa festival two weeks earlier ago.
The celebrated artiste eventually mounted the stage around 8.20pm and the entire spectators, who had been eagerly waiting for his arrival, immediately went frenzy with ecstasy as they started shouting ‘Oga-Nla’, ‘Ijoba’, ‘Pasuma’ and several other nicknames that he’s being called by his fans.
Otunba Ganiyu Olusegun Abiru, Chairman, Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS) speaking after Pasuma’s opening performance, appealed to the crowd for orderliness while also urging them to eschew any form of violence that could mar the show.
While stating that the Oga Night was being staged in commemoration of the 2019 Ikorodu-Oga Day Carnival, Otunba Abiru added that the carnival is aimed at promoting tourism and economic development in Ikorodu.
Some of the guests that joined Otunba Abiru and his IKODASS team to attend the event were Hon. Wasiu Adeshina, Chairman, Ikorodu Local Government, Mr Oluwatoyin Gafaar Bolowotan, Director-General, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Alhaji Monzor Olowosago, publisher, Oriwu Sun, Miss Omoshalewa Motunrayo Adenuga, Miss Ikorodu 2019 and many others.
After Abiru’s address, Pasuma stormed the stage again to thrill the crowd with his impressive performance that made the night a great fun experience that would linger for a long time in the mind of thousands of residents that witnessed it.
Pasuma kept dishing out some of his hit songs one after the other as the atmosphere became turbo-charged with the crowd asking for more till he stepped off the stage around 10pm.
And to the surprise of the IKODASS executives who were expecting the venue to be vacated the moment Pasuma ended his performance, the crowd stayed back to enjoy performances by other music artistes and Deejays till past 11pm when the 2019 Oga Night was gradually brought to a close with the residents orderly trooping out of the venue in groups as they headed back to their various homes, hotels and bases.
Meanwhile, many of the residents and IKODASS executives who spoke with THE IMPACT at the event expressed their satisfaction over the activities of the 2019 Ikorodu-Oga Carnival, especially the social night.
