I’ve always held the impression that the ties that bind us together as Nigerians are stronger than our differences. Regardless what the sudden influx of Nigerian Jews will have you believe, an Igbo man will take an oil block from a Hausa man, nsogbu adiro. And everybody knows Baba Amuda the market butcher gets his meat from Mallam Garba with nary a thought on the good mallam’s affiliation with certain herdsmen.
The length and breadth of our noble nation, there are mixed marriages from major tribes with smaller tribes you’ve probably never heard of. And what do ALL these people have in common? On the 1st of October every year since 1960, we come together to celebrate that bond. Our laughter, tears, struggles, hardships and triumphs are all ours – as they were this Sunday at the TAWA Chillout – Nigerian Independence Day and Birthday Special. Oh yes, it was the birthday of our Hostess with the Mostest – Ms Ayo Sonoiki! And there were a few other Birthday people in the house!
Clearly, someone had sprinkled some magic dust in the air. Even the London weather was smiling on her Nigerian visitors. Our venue for this awesome TAWA edition was the moored Tereza Joanne, and the sun stayed bright in the sky, with the weather staying warm right into the night.
The prayers of the secessionists were not answered that Sunday night o! The gods of unity were smiling! From one end of the boat to the other, the smiles were extra wide, the games were extra raucous, and the spirit of dance ehn??? E pass David own for Bible! Every small musical interlude, the whole room would stand up and start to shake body. It was all DJ Abass could do to control the crowd, but it was so much fun! It was a wawuu and a wonder to behold.
And let me tell you about the TAWA virgins on this edition. These were nooooo virgins at all! Aren’t virgins meant to be coy and shy? Feeling their way around a new experience? Not these newbies! They dove right in there with the veterans and we couldn’t tell the difference by the end of the night. We were all a big, happy TAWA family and we rejoiced in all of our beautiful differences!
Listen, we even let Arsenal supporters come out to play, that’s how magnanimous we were feeling!
That said, perhaps this feeling of inclusion might not be practicable if a Nigerian cannot mention “FELA ANIKULAPO-KUTI!” in a game of charades when supplied with clues such as raised fist, shouts of “Baba 70!” and “Everybody say yeeeah yeah!” We shall be requesting his Nigerian passport at the Nigeria High Commission before the end of the week. Shocking behaviour.
But on to more comforting things – Nigerian cuisine! Laredo outdid himself with the food this time; might have had something to do with the fact that it was his birthday celebration too, so the magic dust spread as far as Laredo Suya and Grill all the way in Essex. I can neither confirm nor deny allegations that I went home with some of his addictive magic pepper sauce. Oh, and I absolutely can NOT comment on the vicious rumours flying about concerning the amount of (awesome, delicious, moist) cake I ate. My lawyers will be in touch.
Karaoke! Or, if you are Yoruba, the raising up of body!! Yes, many people came onstage and belted out their musical favourites; the Fuji Crew can always be relied upon to turn a civilised gathering into an owambe situation, and they did not disappoint.
But I don’t want to talk about them. I want to talk about this aunty that sang every last word from Olamide’s Durosoke. She sang the heck out of that song!! But it is not for her linguistic abilities that I have used her as a prayer point since Sunday. Fadalud, bless me as you have blessed this aunty! Expand my territory, oh Lord! Amen!
So, look. With all of the details above, if you were asked what the TAWA Chillout was about, you might be tempted to say “Ummmm…charades, karaoke, BIG FISH with fried yam, and raffle.” And yes, the TAWA Chillout is about all of the above, but it is also about Domestic Violence: the silent, unspoken scourge of our society, and the awesome work the #DomesticViolenceUK (DVUK) charity does.
This work is not just selfless and brave, it is needed and necessary. For every single person who buys a raffle ticket at the TAWA Chillout events, you are not just spending a fiver, you are changing someone’s life; maybe even saving a life. This Independence Day and Birthday Celebration TAWA raised £630 in raffle tickets, bringing the total raised by all of the TAWA Chillouts in excess of £5,000. Worthy of celebration indeed!