09/28/2002
The Governor was also the Master of Ceremony.
Pretty cool, huh? He turned out to be a brilliant politician, very affable and easy going. He danced with the cultural groups, observed all the gestures and protocols amiably and kept the show on its toes and we were done in no time at all.
A Nigerian Governor would have hired Bisi Olatilo or Soni Irabor, then his speech alone would have kept us all yawning for 2hours before the main event!
For those of you who may not have the foggiest idea what I’m talking about, it is the Nigerian National Flag Raising Day Event that happened at the NJ Governor’s Mansion this morning. Many Nigerians were there, running into hundreds. Many more could not come because of a conflicting event in front of the Nigeria House in NY, a parade to mark the 42nd Independence of our dear Nigeria.
It was a boisterous ceremony, with a lot of give and take. Laughter was in abundance. James McGreevey is a funny guy! Sometime later, I will post snippets of quotes from the event on this site. Reacting to the traditional sprinkling of wine on the floor to appease the gods at the start of a ceremony, the Governor said no Irish man (what he is) would have done that to wine. Rather, they would have taken the wine on behalf of the gods!
He made some significant proclamations to a handful of Nigerians doing us proud in the US, namely Dr Adesoji Adelaja of Cook College, Dr Ferdinand Ofodile, the wonderman of Harlem Hospital in New York, amongst others. He was also made a honorary Nigerian.
The event was tightly planned by the core committee directly in charge and they should be given credit for making us so proud for a change. Kola Ogunkoya came from his base to perform to a gathering of colorfully attired Nigerians. Gifts were exchanged. Even the governor’s wife got the traditional aso oke.
God bless America and Nigeria.
