To say my father's 10th year coronation anniversary celebrations in Makun, Sagamu, Ogun State in Nigeria back in February 2018 was a mini carnival would not be an exaggeration at all. It was indeed a very colourful affair and a showcase of rich cultural and traditional heritage from not just his loyal subjects of Makun but indeed all parts of Nigeria.
As part of the celebrations, we invited the Edo cultural dancers from Benin to add their graceful steps to the occasion. Edo is part of the historic and powerful Benin Empire. The Kingdom of Benin's capital was Edo, now known as Benin city in Edo State. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa. The dancers had arrived in Sagamu a day earlier from Benin city and they went through a brief rehearsal in the palace ground before retreating back to their hotel.
Fast forward to D day, my father kabiyesi Oyesola Akinsanya was escorted to his seat and exchanged greetings with his high chiefs and some of his subjects before relaxing in his seat for the performances by different cultural, traditional social groups which had come to honour him.
After a few performances, it was time for the colourful ladies from Edo to take centre stage. They wore lemon coloured wrappers and were adorned with beads- head, neck, hands and feet. We were treated to a medley of soulful Bini songs most of which were in praise of the celebrant.
One of the members who translated most of the songs said some of the songs took us back to the Ancient Benin empire. They sang bout the divinity and sacredness of their kings (Obas). They narrated their story through song- How they built an empire with slaves, trading in palm oil, textiles and ivory, their deep rooted culture and wealth, their bronze artefacts before all was destroyed by the British.
We were also thrilled to the rhythmic and melodious sounds of their drums and the women moved energetically all over the arena with such speed and elegance that ladies half of their age would have been in jealous.
The ladies were not done yet and in a grand finale of enormous proportions, they then sent the crowd in a frenzy when they started gyrating their backsides in synchronised fashion. Their movements timed to perfection with the speed of the drum beats. My father and his high chiefs burst into laughter and you could see the excitement on their faces and they proceeded to join the dancers on the arena, spraying them with wads of Naira notes in appreciation.
The ladies rounded up their performance with a rendition of 'Happy birthday' in their local dialect and walked off the arena to a rousing ovation by all those who were in attendance.
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