Pelumi: The Magnificent Musical Stage Play

By Pelumi Hassan

Spectacular! 

This and more was what the Pelumi, musical stage play can be qualified with. The musical stage play is one that has continued to grace stages for about a decade.  The stage play is an initiative of Muyiwa Adigun. For years, the Pelumi stage play holds on February 14, the international lovers’ day. This year, there was a change of date for some reasons but it did not affect the unique atmosphere of love and magic. 

The stage play is usually about the trials, tribulations and victories of love between two characters Adigun and Pelumi. It can be likened to a series of Romeo and Juliet without the grave tragedy. 

The scenes of the play are filled with pure action, passion and melodious songs. Although, there is a constant Pelumi anthem, the songs in the stage play are originals and different for every edition. This means the casting requires a singer and an actor in one person. 

In the plotting of the stories, Pelumi is also able to portray the love of God. Since the plot of the play changes for every edition, Pelumi wears a different face while Adigun is a constant character. 

This edition of Pelumi on Sunday, 29 August 2021 at Oduduwa Hall was as amazing as any Pelumi stage play in recent times. It was anchored by the Corporate Emcee and Praise who were beautifully dressed in native attires. Before the play started, there were outstanding performances from Wolesax and Shaba. 

There were also giveaways by the sponsors of the stage play. The play was a buildup to a very commendable and strategic flashback that started the play. It was a story about the mistakes of Pelumi which is different as Pelumi has always been the perfect character.

 We perceive a different side of her this time. For the first time, she was manipulated, greedy and made wrong decisions. The play was very realistic as no one is really perfect. The story led to a didactic teaching of love, greed, deceit, bad advice and forgiveness. 

The props and costume used in the play is topnotch. For a moment, it was hard to believe that we were still seated in Oduduwa Hall. From the setting of a living room to a courtroom, it must be said that the crew should be commended.

 

The students of OAU were definitely mesmerized by the musical play as they left the venue with smiles and positive commentaries about Pelumi.

Like watching a movie at the cinema, there were commentaries from the audience that made the play exciting. These commentaries were reasons to commend Muyiwa Adigun for casting professionals that are unshaken by the audience.

At the end of the play, Princess Ronke, a representative from the Ooni of Ife stated that she was really impressed by the stage play.

“I have never been to any Musical stage play in Ife, Pelumi is my first and I enjoyed it.”

She also revealed that the royal household will support the vision of Pelumi to transcend into a TV drama series. 

The play ended with music as the audience left the venue elated that they had experienced the musical stage play

OAU Faaji Night: The Epitome of Creativity, the Birth of Culture

By Pelumi Hassan and Ife Adegboyega

Affectionately referred to as the most unique night on OAU campus, the OAU Faaji Night hosted by Rotimi Stephen and Blaqboo Entertainment will forever be in the history of events in OAU. 

The event that was held on Saturday, 21 August 2021 at Education Field was a night to showcase culture and be entertained. Faaji night is the first event of its kind as it has never been recorded that a night was dedicated to culture, ethnicity, tradition, and enjoyment. 

The event was free for all students except the VIPs. Tentatively, there was a dress code of native attires, which was different and beautiful to witness as students graced the venue with agbada, fila, Ankara, gele, and other native wears. 

There was a massive shutdown as about 3000 students turned up for enjoyment galore. The event was anchored by Comic Freak and MC Stov. There were different displays of talents with respect to culture. Notable dancers and artistes like Kheemoya, Badaagnes, and even the prominent Fujicologist performed at the event.

There were about 20 brands sold out at a trade fair in the event. Also, there were other side attractions like the Snooker, PES, and Table Tennis.

When asked about his reason for organizing OAU Faaji Night, Rotimi Stephen explained that he wanted to give OAU students a different taste of events. 

“Basically, for some semesters and months, the only parties that students get to attend are lounge parties and it is becoming so boring. People are forgetting the cultural part of OAU. This citadel is about learning and culture, so lounge parties got so boring. 

Thank God for the Lucid Experience that gave us a united kind of gathering. I came up with OAU Faaji Night to give another concept and creativity to shows on campus. So that people can come to display their tribe and culture. 

On the Faaji night, we had students of different ethnicity who came out with their attires to celebrate. So, the night was for the celebration and promotion of the cultural part of students.”

According to a part 2 student of English, the event made an impact on him as he was moved to change his outfit.

 “I wasn't ready to attend the event before. I had the perspective of just spending a few minutes at the event. I got to the event without my native attire. All of a sudden, the rhythm of the jingle blew up my brain, I had to go back to the hostel and return to the events in native clothing. The event was lit! Rotimi Stephen and Blaqboo Entertainment did it”

Opeyemi Ogunwusi, Product Marketing Manager at Sturrd and a nursing student believed that the event was a very creative concept.

“The event was nice, very creative concept; it's one we've not seen on OAU campus ever. We're used to the usual shows, parties, dinners, and the rest; it was something different from the norm, very creative if you ask me.”

Dorah from the department of Microbiology, revealed that the event was a necessity because it was something new.

"Faaji night indeed is something that is new to us all and the vibe was definitely different. I personally really loved the fact it was a traditional theme because I feel the regular clubbing and concert was already too much and we needed something different."

The event lasted all night as about 3000students grooved and partied till dawn.

Babafaros Expresses Displeasure Towards the Attitude Of The Awo Boys during Lucid Experience

By Adesina Ayomide Emmanuel

Another history was made in the Obafemi Awolowo University as OAU’s Farombi Oluwaseun Babafaros and Markay Entertainment hosted the Lucid Experience with the celebrated Afrorap artiste, winner of Big Brother Naija Season 5, Olamilekan Agbeleshebioba, prominently known as Laycon. The Lucid Experience was a music concert where Laycon, and other artistes performed in Oduduwa Hall on Saturday, 10th August 2021.

It can be said that the concert was a way to resurrect
concerts in OAU. Since the pandemic and other issues have prevented any event of this style in OAU. It is a way to introduce part one students to what
concerts in the school is.

Oduduwa hall is a 3000 capacity hall situated in the
academics area of the school. Students and fans were needed to get tickets of #1000 for ordinary seats and #5000 for VIPs. COVID-19 safety rules were
strictly adhered to as face mask was also a required ticket.

The show kicked off around 5pm with the absolute best
demonstrations who displayed their gifts to engage the crowd before the show’s headliner, Laycon showed up to  wow the crowd with his extraordinary performance. OAU’s best artistes like Kheemoyah, EWA, Virus da Viper, Adeash, among others also performed before Laycon. Twitter influencer/ O.A.U Graduate, Shank Comics additionally graced the occasion as the main host of the show. Shadaretobi was also a cohost of the concert.

The show’s main art, Laycon, arrived the stage around
10:20pm. His appearance ran students wild with excitement. The atmosphere was taken to a whole new level as Laycon made that big appearance to perform.
However there was setback when the rapper was held on stage and prevented from performing by the infamous Awo boys who demanded that he prostrate before performing. They did this as a way to continue the old tradition of making artistes prostrate before OAU students before they are allowed to perform.

This tradition has been changed from the simple and
respectable way it used to be. It used to be a way to carry the crowd along and give respect to Oba Awon University.
Usually, artistes are aware of this tradition and they do it without being forced or coerced. In the quest to make Laycon follow the tradition, Awo boys caused an unpleasant scene as Laycon was manhandled. It should also be noted that the Awo boys were given free tickets to attend the show but they took this for an entitlement to disrupt the show. This attitude from the Awo Boys raised questions to whether they should continue this tradition or the free invite of Awo boys should be stopped.

  

Babafaros the organizer of the show has hereby expressed his disappointment by the attitude shown by the Awo boys on his status. He expressed that he gave 25 free tickets to the Awo boys and yet they didn’t put up the best acts. In his words, they scattered his show.

However, the show proved to be a success. Abel Scott, a part 4 student of International Relations who attended the concert said that he enjoyed the concert and that it was good, "My going there wasn\"t for Laycon actually, it was to just feel the concert vibe as i haven’t experienced one after the last show HOTINC had on campus and also to witness some of OAU finest artist like EWA and other real musicians. Although I feel there should be strict screening for the upcoming artists that are not known and also slots for performances should be reduced or price increased to curb some acts."

Another Student of Accounting expressed her excitement to see Laycon as she was an Icon. Abimbola (aura bodyworks), a student of PHE enjoyed the concert, “I enjoyed it.. but the new artiste performing were too much.. almost made the show unbearable.

But I enjoyed the whole show, the Mcs did great but the performing acts.. nahhh”

 The concert was sponsored by Unik Properties, Angel’s Touch, Tife’s Hub, Afkit, Flux, Munch it
and many other brands. Students of OAU are still talking  about the Lucid Experience with Laycon.

Ife Ultimate Search: The First of Its Kind

By Pelumi Hassan and Emmanuel Dominic

They say the noblest search is the search for excellence. Is
that what the Ife Ultimate Search event was about? The Ife Ultimate Search
organized by OAU events is the first of its kind in Obafemi Awolowo University.
The event is similar to the infamous Gulder Ultimate Search, where there is a
background story to every lost treasure. 

To kick off the event, there was a
rock theatre performed on stage, to give the background story of what the quest
is all about, which is the king\"s lost crown. The careless king misplaced his crown while he was celebrating. Hence, the need for an ultimate search.

For Ife Ultimate Search, tagged the chronicles, two teams
Team Ace ride and Team Nexy were tasked to find the king’s missing crown. The
teams were named after some of the sponsors. Each group featured 4 members,
which make a total of 8 contestants. For the Team Ace ride, the team members
were – Asclepius, Arafat, Hero, and Oxygen. For Team Nexy, the team members
were – Fabulous, Hesychius, Blaise gold, and Yungmarshal. There were through
the 5 stages of the quest to test the contestants for their level of strength,
intelligence and swiftness. The entry for the competition was for a token of
N5000 to go head to head for a cash prize of N50,000.

The event was held at Parks and Garden opposite the spider
building on Obafemi Awolowo University campus. There was quite a large turnout
to the event, peeps ranging from students, alumnus, business owners, and
publicists in Ife. The event was paired with a trade fair for about 16 notable
brands and vendors to showcase and sell their products.

 The OAU events was in
its quest to give the audience a good time employed the services of the popular
MC Corporate and Shadaretobi. According to the audience, the event was amazing.
Yemi, a part 4 student of the department of English said, “The idea of an
Ultimate Search in Ife is a great idea.” He talked about how the publicity was
good as he heard about the event from a friend. He was impressed with the event
but he had reservations about the audio. He said, “when an audio of an event is
bad, it disconnects people. The event is nice, but it could be better.”

Ifeoluwa, a part 3 student of the Department of Nursing who
came because of a free ticket thought it was worth her time. The lucky student
also won a giveaway, so she was totally impressed with the event.

Tomi’s Spaghetti, a vendor at the trade fair learnt about
the event from someone’s status and decided to jump on it.

“The turn up has been positive. I have been making sales and
getting publicity. The event is really great, it is a nice idea. Being the
first, it can be improved.”

OAU Peeps correspondents were also privileged to interview Cowrywise’s
Emmanuel Faith, who is also an alumnus of the prominent citadel of learning,
OAU. During his time as a student, he worked with OAU events. He also stated
that the publicity of the event was good because he wasn’t informed by any of
the team members, the existence of the event reached him through the publicity.
He came to support brands, people, vendors and network with people. He has this
to say about Ife Ultimate Search;

“I don\"t know how long they planned this, but like I was
telling some people, that OAU is now a booming community, a whole economy on its
own, in the sense that, on a Sunday evening when people went to church and came
back, and still show up for the event, vendors showing up, people with one
receptions, nice people, drama, I think it\"s an exciting thing from the
planners OAU events and the people who came out to do this. I would give them a
6/10, since it\"s the first, there\"s room for improvements. They could have been
more sponsors, more event coordination, don\"t know though.”

After rigorous elimination, Asclepius emerged as the winner for the first-ever Ife ultimate search when he found the King’s crown. Blaise Gold, the 1st runner-up while oxygen came up as the 2nd runner-up. The prizes won are as follows; N50,000, N30,000, N20,000 respectively to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. 3-month laundry service from Nexy and free ride for the top three contestants, in Ile-Ife. Other gifts were given to all the contestants.

Since the event was a success, the OAU community wonders if there would be an Ife Ultimate Search 2.0 or if there would be something else coming up for the community.

IFUMSA Health Week: The Opening Ceremony

By  Ifeoluwa Adegboyega 

The long anticipated IFUMSA ( Medical Students’ Association, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) 35th Health week commenced on Saturday, 29th May 2021.  The theme of the health week is: “Gender-Based Violence”. 

The health week is a week filled with lots of amazing and fun filled activities. This is the association little (but not so little) way of engaging students in non academic part of the university life. The events of the week holds from the 29th of May to the 5th of June. Watch this space as OAU Peeps, a media partner of the week will be giving you a detailed report of the events of each day. 

The Health Week kicked off with the opening ceremony at Main-bowl, OAU Sports Complex. It was a sport event of a track event and a football match. The football match was between the Excelsiors warriors team and the Stalwarts lions team. 

The ceremony picked up around 4:00pm with the arrival of the sponsor, Wale Okediran and his wife. The program also hosted the presence of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede who was a special guest at the ceremony. Other special guests like: DVC Admin - Prof Ajila, DVC Academics - Prof Bamire, Prof Agbakwuru, Retired Prof of Surgery, Prof Makinde, Obs & Gynaecology, and Prof Anyadike also graced the ceremony with their presence. 

The Aliyu twins, Pelumi and Joy took the first limelight with their victory in the track event. 

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To spice up the event, the Vice-Chancellor was called into the training pitch to launch the ball before the match started. 



The match started at 4:40 pm as the ball was interchanged between the Excelsiors warriors team and the Stalwarts lions. The back and forth attempt to kick the ball into the opponent’s goal post soon became intriguing and fun. 

In the first half of the tournament, Excelsiors warriors got an attempt to score but it averted by the defense of the Stalwarts lions.

At 5:06 pm, Stalwarts Lions got a free-kick against the opponent.  Spectators were wild with excitement and hope that it was going to be a win considering how close the ball was to the goal post. To the spectators’ disappointment, the goal was lost. 

Again, at 5:09 pm, the Excelsiors warriors team got another shot to lead and this time, the opportunity was not wasted. Mishaudeen kicked the ball into the opponent’s goal post, making the team lead by 1-0. 

The first half ended with a serious injury of one of the Excelsiors warriors’ team player, Noni and the team leading. 

After a break of freshening up and drilling, at 5:37 pm the second half commenced. The Excelsiors warriors, determined to stay atop the game got a corner kick. But the score remained the same as a goal was missed. 

Similarly, at 5:45 pm, Solomon, a Stalwarts Lions’ team player got an opportunity to equalize with the opponent. The crowd commended the effort of the brave player with a rapturous roar of exultation. 

The match became really eventful as Stalwarts Lions got another chance to score another goal and lead with a freekick at 5:56pm. The goal was made by Sheriff. 

After so many shots and raving efforts of the teams, the match ended at 6:11pm. The Stalwarts Lions won the match with a 2-1, making the crowd run wild with joy. Truly, in the game of football, it is not over until it is over. 

The Sponsor of the competition Wale Okediran and his wife were called upon to present the medals to the players of each team.

Solomon, the scorer of Stalwarts Lions was awarded The Player of the Tournament. 

 Finally, The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede was also honoured with the task of presenting the Trophy to the winners of the football match.

Open Marriage - Yay or Nay?

By Moyinoluwa Babalola

In Nigeria, there is a lot of respect for culture and tradition. The institution of marriage is very much respected. 

Will the idea of open marriage be celebrated or criticized in a country like Nigeria?

For those wondering what an open marriage is, let's look at the Wikipedia definition "Open Marriage is a form of non-monogamy in which the parties of a dyadic marriage agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without being regarded by them as infidelity, and consider or establish an open relationship despite the implied monogamy of marriage."

Forget the big language, what they are saying is that an Open Marriage is a marriage where there is an agreement to have affairs outside of the marriage.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett are said to be practicing open marriage. Of recent, the issue of Open Marriage became a subject of discussion in Nigeria when Cynthia Obi-Uchendu, wife of Ebuka Uchendu- the popular media personality, tweeted that:

"I've always said that there is absolutely nothing wrong with having an open marriage."

These caused a lot of controversy among Nigerians and the popular Instablog also put it up on its Instagram page and it got a lot of exciting comments.

Trust Nigerians not to disappoint with their comments:

Nigerians have talked their talk. What is your own opinion on Open Marriage?

Source: Instablog.

RISING STARS: Young Musicians in Nigerian Universities

By Olajiga Bolu

Many people believe that singing, rapping, making beats, or generally creating music is an easy task that can be performed by anyone. I beg to differ! I recently stumbled upon a music production software and decided to give it a try. After a month and a half of toiling unsuccessfully, I now thoroughly respect people like DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, and even Young John (the wicked producer) for dishing out masterpieces time and time again. It is not easy to create a sound that’ll tantalize the eardrums of a large audience. This is why I strongly respect the young Nigerian undergraduates who have decided to jump into the music scene.

It might just be me, but every day I wake up I feel like there are ten new Nigerian musicians to listen to. And a large chunk of these upcoming artists are still university students. With the steady growth in the number of students looking for careers in music, it begs to ask the question of “why music?” for which I have compiled three possible reasons:

The artiste has a real passion for music.

The artiste wants to have fun creating some music.

He or she is just trying to secure the bag.

And with the way most musicians live their lives, it’s easy to believe that music is only about the glitz and the glamour. But more than most other professions, music creation requires a lot of creativity as well as hard work, and for a student, it seems double the stress. In a discussion with Oyekunle Ridwan (popularly known as Virus the Viper), an OAU undergraduate, and also an upcoming artiste; he revived the challenges he has faced and what he hopes to achieve. He said although music is something he loves, the money to be made is important. He said it’s not easy balancing his time between his schoolwork and his music-making but he’s grateful to have a very supportive group of family and friends. His major goal is to be one of the greatest musicians in the world and with tracks like “Emergency” and “OAU how far” already bursting speakers around campus, it’s difficult not to acknowledge his potential. 

However, in interviews with a few other upcoming artistes, they all concurred that time management plays a huge part in the quest to make great music and even though it seems very stressful now, the future looks very bright. The journey to the top is never smooth, especially through music. But there is no doubt that if you make it, you make it big. After all, Fireboy and Chinko Ekun were campus artistes.

With the likes of Kheemoya, Fave, Tobiano, and other university artistes, there is no doubt that our generation will produce amazing music. Take “Buju to your ears” as an example. He was just a student of Babcock University when his music began to blow and now he is signed to Burnaboy’s Spaceship records.

Although many upcoming artistes will not become music stars, it is difficult to see many other opportunities for them in a country ravaged by unemployment. The least we can do is listen and support their music, and to all the upcoming artistes out there, in the words of Speedy Darlington, “Take Risk and Succeed!”