Africans love a big party. Whether it’s a birth, a graduation, an initiation, a new home, a wedding, a chief’s inauguration, or an engagement: for most of us these things call for a big celebration. Nigerians, in particular, like to go the full distance when it comes to ceremonies – sometimes even when the expenses will likely leave them bankrupt. In Yoruba, a local West African language, there’s a saying that ‘you’ll go into debt on the back of your guest.’ Do people throw these big parties just to show off their wealth? Or is there more to it?
In this week’s edition of Speak UP! event managers analyse past events, and young Nigerians reflect on the choices that make peeople go the extra mile to organise a ceremony that will forever linger in people’s
Source: Joke Fayemi for RNW