Tuesday, 3 February 2015

A PLAY OF TIES AND FIGHTS



So, yet again on the issue of political thuggery partisanship and #NigeriaDecides, I got invited to an inter-party marketplace debate organized by @playforumng and her boss, Charles Okpaleke on Sunday, February 1st, 2015 at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. This time around, it was about political leadership amongst youths, and it was aptly called PLAY forum, with sponsorship from the @IRIglobal and the American aid organization, @USAIDNigeria.

And yes, it was a black tie event, so I went to play. And it was refreshing to see faces of party goons, e-rats, e-thugs, e-prostitutes enthusiasts from twitter. To be fair, the lighting, seating, stage, montage and sounds were of the best touch. And the tweet-wall was topnotch amazing. Well, until party supporters started using it to take swipes at each other. But overall, the event organizers were very professional. Except on the matter of time!


It was great seeing @donlaz4u, @mukhtar_dotun, @eggheader, @sandrasandygold, @ToluOgunlesi, @purehaire, @Estherclimate, @Keneike, @gentleojay, @bint_moshood again, a few other "bigz bwoiz and gehs" and to also know that the ninja - @countfreemont, was somewhere in stealth mode. And then ofcourse, that @mr_ochonogor and @martharrazi were somewhere in the hall, and refused to be found; and then @demolalagos whom I was seeing for the first time, and who afforded me the courtesy of a selfie. And the greatest part of the early evening was that it didn’t matter if they were aligned to @apcnigeria or @pdpnigeria.

Wait na, can’t I continue in to details of the night before you contest what I said? Kamdan. Gist never finish. Oh, and there was @chigurl, who didn’t afford me the chance of setting her P. Mehn, there were plenty beautiful gehs in the audience, and I just kept counting the faces and wondering why there are just a few gehs in my DM. And the few sef are not living and working and twerking in Abuja. Mschew. And then I was busy eyeing Nana from the side, while @tonyatambi was somewhere trying to spoil my runs by trying to find the venue.

And the lad ended up there in some sweet body hugging t-shirt, which left Nana’s smile from one ear to the other.

The guest speakers as well the guest acts didn’t disappoint. Of note, was the @JaiyeKeyz guy, who had this guitar looking keyboard, and for the entire time he was on stage, was just fingering the darn thing.

  As you’ll expect, there were more girls screaming than guys nodding. And even though the sound guys almost “effed” up @timidakolo’s act by not turning up the volume, dude kept at it, and from the depth of his bowels, sprang forth rendition that the hall was on her feet in no time.
Sprawled between these acts, were the handsome speeches of the delectable @obyezeks, whose #BringBackOurGirls’ troublemakers campaigners, stayed true, and were vocal from the start till the end the time I left. She mingled raw humor, sermon and truth in speech about why governance must never be about the individual, but about systems.





At a point, while she was referring to the best case practice of Singapore and Lee Kwan Yew, my mind veered to the popular TV advert “Lee Kwan Yew did it…”

And when @franknwekeII made the podium his own, he hammered on why now is the time to be partisan. He hinged on why leadership is no longer an option but a responsibility which must not necessarily be political, as the private and third sectors provide ample opportunities for young Nigerians to seize leadership for the collective development of the country.



He again, confessed his belief in systems, and expects a favorable result in the courts (dude was nudged off the senatorial race by god fatherism or party shenaniganism if you like).



Then the evening delved in to inter-party debates, with the panelists, entertaining questions from good governance, security and the economy. The moderators were @toluogunlesi and @chigurl.

As a fencist, I was keener in learning how the panelists will answer questions. I was eager to see young party policy strategists coming to the podium to answer questions with hard facts and future-proofing evidence. However, what transpired was a bout of mudslinging, name calling, accusations and allegations of misuse of trust. Some questions while irrelevant, were met with even more irrelevant answers.



Some panelists even had to take to screaming at the top of their voices, in trying to make themselves heard. I laughed a bit, then wondered what a calm demeanor and welcoming mien on the podium will do to get the audience to listen to you. One PDP panelist tried, aptly answered his questions with simple facts, but was before long, caught in the throes of screaming. Another APC panelist had the calm with his grasp and all the while I was there and he had to come on stage, he had his cool. Surprisingly, Doyin Okupe was sat in the PDP panelists section, and was doing more of tinkering and directing than talking. I heard he stood to talk at some point when I was already on my way home; and that was when the entire place turned in to some arena back in renaissance times when the Roman Empire held sway.





They said only suits and what was left of pancake make up distinguished men from animals in that hall. Well, I’ll say anyone who remained in that hall is…

So, I rushed back home to the comfort of le Bey, waiting with a hot shower, cocoa and erm, honey. I’d had enough of PLAY.




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