Nigerians love to party and this reality has been graphically illustrated by a Baltimore publication. This fact is not far-fetched as many of them will not spare expenses when planning a party.
Some Nigerians see throwing parties as a way of flaunting their wealth and some have to throw parties because if they didn’t, they would never hear the last of it from family members.
If you ever happened to visit the southern part of Nigeria and Lagos from Fridays through the weekends, you are bound to come across this interesting phenomenon popularly known as the ‘owambe party ‘in local parlance. This gaudy merry-making has overtime attained a cultural connotation of sort. An owambe roughly translated as ‘We are trendy and we can flaunt it,’ is an extravagant festivity characterized by the aso-ebi (uniform social attire) –bespoke Nigerian apparel worn by the celebrants and many of the guests. The aso-ebi is usually made with expensive fabric. Another characteristics of an owambe party involves showering the celebrants and their relatives the Nigerian Naria or American dollar.
Historically, owambe originated from the Yoruba culture of celebrating accomplishments and memorable events particularly child christening, a new house or office complex, weddings and funeral ceremonies. Popular artistes or up and coming music stars are usually the favoured bands for owambe parties where the artistes sing praises of the celebrants and prominent guests and he’s sprayed relentlessly.
Then, there are the bachelor gigs and hens parties, rising trends, which many Nigerians gleefully commemorate with all- night parties. They are usually colourful and feature a band, which sings to entertain and soothe the egos of moneybags in attendance with the hope of getting sprayed with cash. At these parties, the aso-ebi is a must for every guest at the events. Oftentimes, people who do not buy aso-ebi probably due to personal conviction or financial instability are regarded as antisocial or enemies of progress. Cases abounded of people who do not appear in the aso-ebi being treated shabbily by the celebrants and party organizers. They are not served the same food as people who bought and appear in aso-ebi in so many instances, which apparently gave birth to the slang: O wo Ankara, o o je semo (Meaning of you are not attired in Ankara (aso-ebi), you are not entitled to eat Semovita).
Everybody is uniformed for the occasion in these bespoke attires, which are usually sold at outrageous prices because the individuals responsible for their sales seize the opportunity to rip off unsuspecting invites to the party who are driven by the lust to be socially correct and identify with the celebrant by donning the uniform attire. Meanwhile, some of those who are obligated to buy and can’t readily afford sometimes go to desperate lengths of borrowingmoney to purchase the material.
Although many guests derive great pleasure from traipsing the entire venue of a party, showing off their aso-ebi and expensive jewellery, others simply stay glued to their seats to feast their eyes on the various amusements that are characteristics features of any shindig.
