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Who organised that Presidential Inaugural Gala Dinner last night? The most drab Gala dinner from the Presidency ever! With a tacky poorly- constructed backdrop and fumbling Masters of Ceremony ( with Joke Silva’s usual stoic composure a bit off last night due to stage management hiccups) the whole hue and blue of the event seemed more like a service of songs than an inaugural dinner. I know the handlers might be giving excuses that the new mood of the nation requires prudence or some other tale but please! There is nothing wrong if just for that night, an important once – in -a – lifetime event such as that, some measure of proper event planning was done to spike up the whole day!
The only interesting part of the night was the performance by the National Troupe of Nigeria but even that ( which had President Buhari laughing and smiling at one point) was truncated by the annoying heckling of one of the emcees who jutted in his ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ Rubbish which almost made me throw something at my television screen! Who, in heaven’s name was that joker of an emcee who wore a green suit and seemed to think he is funnier than his tie? Shameful. Really shameful.
What was the essence of that DJ Cuppy performance which made no sense whatsoever save for many noticing that like her moniker, she’s really got full cups up there? But for what it was worth, her scratching mixes with a couple of dancers on stage wasn’t necessary to the event.
Bongos Ikwue was ok when he sang his evergreen ‘Cock Crow at dawn’ and spiced the lyrics with some patriotic lines about Nigeria. That was the right tone to start the show. And a couple of cultural dancers from the Northern states put up an above average performance but after those, it was a yawn-inducing event.
Akpororo, who usually would be a top stand-up act in occasions like that, lost his mojo last night. His jokes were flat and he seemed to resign himself to some tepid buffoonery in a bid to induce laughter from the audience. Really, did the organisers do their research very well on the kind of stand-up acts to use for such a grand event like last night’s? What about the likes of Ali Baba or Gbenga Adeyinka or some other more adjusted to holding their own at such events without going overboard? Akpororo was a bundle of nerves last night.
Former Vice – President Atiku Abubakar looked quite mournful when giving his speech as did Mr Timipre Sylvia. Perhaps they were keying in to the mood of their party’s ‘structural adjustment’program? Only Chief John Oyegun had a bit of colour in his speech. Of course, President Buhari’s speech was as Presidential as it should have been, though some aspects sounded like a monotonous rehash of earlier speeches he had given this whole week.
That Gala Dinner should have had the ‘ pow-wow’ factor; even if it might have been a low – budget event as I expect the organisers to say. Presidential Inaugural dinners are a footnote of history for any administration. I do hope that future events such as those from the State House, however austere the budget, will have a measure of better planning and panache. Whoever would be in charge of State House events in this administration would do well to contract a professional event planner for future soirees. If there was one yesterday, then there’s some refunding to be done, in my opinion. Or a ‘pay it forward’ to our sensibilities somewhat.
The pride of our nation also lies on well-staged events at the official level.
Charles novia wrote this for charles novia blog
