The Tribes Clashed

Victoria Adeusi

"It beat my expectations, I didn't regret coming. I was expecting it to be short and not be interesting." This was a comment given by a 100-level attendee of the Naps Cultural Night.

Clash of tribes was the theme given to the cultural night of this session Naps Weekend. The second event which is Cultural Night took place on the 2nd of March. The program began at exactly 3:40 pm. The host, Miss Lucy from the 200 level culturally started the event with the breaking of a kola nut and called on Mr Tosin from the 300 level for the breaking of the kola nut and opening of the event. Mr Tosin led us in prayer and went on to break the kola nut which he was asked to eat out of it and the bowl was passed across to every other person to take theirs and eat as this signifies tradition.

The Host moved on to the introduction session where everyone was asked to introduce themselves in their dialect and to also state what their tribe is stereotypically known for. In this session, a controversy arose when a student from 300 level who claimed to be from Osun State stated that Osun is the source of all Yorubas and others argued that ile-Ife was where Yoruba originated from and as at that time, Osun State was not in existence, even though ile-ife is now a city in Osun State. After the Introduction, many other activities took place which included a Q and A game session where the host painted a scenario and asked which tribes fit into the scenario.

There were several presentations, the 200-level students performed a dancing drama. Likewise, there was a dancing drama presentation from the 100 level students which they used as a medium to pass across the message “unity among the ethnics and end to discrimination among the ethnic groups”.

"They tried, I have seen their rehearsal and seeing them act out today is beautiful and the message they passed across is very important, we should all live in unity regardless of the tribe.", this was the feedback I got from a 100-level student, one of the attendees on the 100 level.

Easyrhythm also gave a presentation, where he filled the atmosphere with the melodious sound of his talking drum, students across each level went out to dance to the sound and many praised his skill with words and some even applauded him not just with their hands but also with their money.

Another game was played during the event where five men were selected and were asked to pick five ladies that they would tie gele on them in under 3 mins. The session was fun-filled and drew a lot of laughs from the audience because of the variety of odd-looking styles done on the women in the name of tying Gele. The ladies were then asked to dance to see how firm their genes were, a lot of people were sure that one person would be eliminated at this stage but somehow they managed to scale through, surprising everyone. Mr Emmanuel got the highest 'yea' because his Gele seemed to be the best. " I don't have any idea of Gele before but probably I have seen my mother tying it or something. It was interesting tying the gele", said Mr. Emmanuel.

The Social director gave her vote of thanks and also delivered a spoken word which was composed by Mr. Boluwatife, the AGS of The Social Sciences. Varieties of food were available at the event such as Ofada Rice, Amala and ewedu, Fufu and egusi, Moi-Moi and Eko and students were served according to their choice. The event was not lacking in other local snacks such as kulikuli, Cherry commonly known as Agbalumo, Palm Wine, Coconut candy, Zobo, and Tigernut.

"I think an event like this should continue, it is a moment to bring culture together", "It's interesting, it could be better but it is ok". Another attendee commented

The event ended with dances from students across each level and then a general dance from all members of the association.