Owambe and its benefits

Smiles.

Who invented owambe? I guess it was the first man that wanted an avenue to celebrate his success or show himself. It was definitely a yoruba man...lol. Owambe is a party with characteristics that distinguishes it from others. First, it has to be a celebration involving yorubas, but these days other tribes have imbibed the idea. This post is about the characteristics of Owambe and how they affect the economy of nigeria.

There's this yoruba adage that says " ajo o le da bi ile", which simply means " a sojourn can't be as sweet as home". No matter how far you travel, you'll still want to come back home to the people you know, who are also familiar with you, cos it is sweeter showing off before close friends, especially family members who haven't seen you in a while and might be getting the impression that you are not doing too well. Owambe creates an atmosphere for family reunion where old faces are seen, hugs are shared, love rekindled and new family members like the wife/husband and kids of a cousin are seen. The invited friends and families all put on an attire sold to them by the celebrant as the custume for the event which could be a naming ceremony, birthday party, promotion/graduation ceremony, wedding ceremony, burial ceremony or stricly a family reunion. The attire, called Aso ebi, is usually gotten in bulk from a fabric company. The celebrant can make a profit of nothing less than #2,000 from the Aso ebi sold to each individual in his guest list which could have nothing less than 200 people depending on the occassion. After the custume for the day is handled, the organisers look out for a nice venue which must be within reach and with all the facilities to contain the expected number of guest which might increase due to Mogbo Moya. The venue might be an open ground or a hall (people use halls this days). A hall with the ability to contain a capacity of 250 guest shouldn't cost less than #250,000 in a city like lagos.

Agidingbi in ikeja is a hub for events centers as the neighborhood is usually packed on weekends. Next is the refreshments to serve. One of the reasons people attend Owambe even when not invited is because of the food. No one attends a party where they know the quality of food won't be any better than what they eat at home, so the quality of refreshments should be put into consideration. How do you view a well cooked dish of jollof rice/fried rice garnished with 2 large chunks of beef? You view it with joy gotten from the fact that the money spent on Aso ebi was worth it. The dish could also be amala and ewedu, pounded yam and vegetable soup or ofada rice, which you'll need to wash down with something.

Drinks of all kinds are expected to be present due to the different calibre of people invited. Most breweries/drink companies record a high purchase of their products starting from thursdays. Apart from bars and night clubs purchasing, most of the drinks end up at Owambes. Kids take soft drinks while some of the adults settle for the alcoholic ones just to heighten the merry mood. A bottle of quality beer cost nothing less than #200, and an individual can consume more than 3 bottles at the event. Expensive wine ranging from #3,500-#15,000 are usually served to the guests at the high table (cheap wines are often mixed with them). Even when it's a burial ceremony, as long as it is not that of a young child, the yorubas prefer to have their merry mood assisted by music, as they rent the services of talented musicians who take them from genre to genre, praising the celebrant and his guests whom they call by name all in a bid to be sprayed money by them. A band of musicians can cost more than a #100,000 depending on their popularity. Those that can't afford their services often prefer renting a DJ for #30,000 or below. If it's a wedding ceremony or a ceremony where the celebrant is a female, the services of a make-up artist is required, cos who won't want to look dashing on their D-day? Depending on the talent of the make-up artist, a budget of #120,000 can be set aside plus the booking of an hotel room for her which should be in thesame hotel the celebrant will lodge before the event, cos the artist has to always be around to retouch the make-up from time to time.

After spending about 500,000 to a million naira, your guests will be well dressed in their Aso ebi sown into different styles and seated in an airconditioned room, looking all colourful and beaming with smiles or even laughing at the jokes of the MC who might have pocketed about #85,000. It's time for you to walk elegantly and boldly cos you are going to have close to 500 eyes staring at you on that glorious day. Some might think it's a waste of money hosting such, but I say it isn't. It is not easy to make an achievement, not even adding another year to ones age, so every moment in life is worth celebrating. If everyone decides to hoard money, who will want to become a caterer, a make-up artiste, a DJ/musician, a fabric manufacturer, a waiter, an events interior decorator etc? Celebrate every moment cos it might just be the last.

I wish you all long life and prosperity.