Enjoyment can wait. Do not be in a hurry to rush into the pleasures of the world like the young antelope who danced herself lame when the main dance was yet come.
Chinua Achebe, No Longer At Ease
Funny. I read this book from the African Writers' Series when I could barely understand a line. So I chose to do the good thing, I'd read the book anyway and try to write down every line that interests me, just like the quote here.
As a growing youth in Africa such warnings regarding happiness can be heard in every other house. Chasing happiness is tantamount to succeeding to fail to many our old folk. Tradition and culture ensured that, to bring us up to the thresholds of propriety, we deny ourselves some petty joyful moments. Little wonder funerals continue to gain much influence on the way we indulge. Here, every one who is at a funeral rite is at liberty to 'remember' that day someday. That's the only moment tradition frowns on propriety! So we weep, drink and get drunk publicly. On top of that we dance publicly regardless of who is watching. Funny...
Thanks to the initiatives of some three rugged young men, Jacobu now needs not only wait for times of mourning to indulge. There is a joyful better replacement - dinner dance!
In the year 2004, I happened to part of the three guys who 'did not know what to do with their time' but dared to introduce the most foreign concept since creation to the good people of Jacobu. We resolved to change the undoubtedly stale nature of things when it comes to finding a befitting place to belong as young adults at ends of year. We created a party of some sort where it would be proper for the modern Jacobite to indulge in a descent style just for a night. The Annual Dinner Dance was born to be reborn every December as we all remember the birth of the Christ.
Of course we had our hurdles to cross. I am talking about the time when there was no place to fit the standard of a guest house, club or lodge. I am talking about the time when most of elderly folks thought music for dance was for vagabonds. I am talking about the time when it was still considered improper for a young unmarried adult to publicly go out with the opposite sex. I am talking about the time when almost no one knew what dinner dance looked like! (I am being careful here)
We also had to contend with the few enlightened ones who thought spending time at such events, in the night, is like the biblical pleasure-seeking that Solomon refers to as vanity in the book of Ecclesiastics.
But God knew we would not give up. Not as long as I am in the group, because our intentions were good. So he sent some sweet ladies along to augment the fort. We had the unflinching help of Grace and her cousin Helena, both from Adolf's family. They would go out with the PR work on the rich, we would go out to the guys we knew had serious girlfriends, to convince them to take these girls out the proper way! The ladies offered to do the necessary shopping. With Willy and Adolf, we were 'many' enough to approach the newly inaugurated district assembly to let out their guest house to us. In the end we had the place for free! And a very nice venue it was then!
Then came the problem with tables and chairs, decorations and who will cook that 'huge' meal.
All things work beautifully in its time. A young lady had just opened a fast food joint; and so we were her very first 'order'. High Auto Soundz agreed to play for us (at a cost) but he gave chairs for free; as for tables, the three of us had to go round schools begging resident heads to offer us their office and teachers' tables. That too we had for free. But we had to carry them to the venue ourselves - on our heads!
Three days to the program, we had just sold ten (10) tickets. But we had ordered fifty plates! Drinks are always returnable so not much headache there. Where are the so-called guys?, I kept asking myself, for it was getting tiring. Soon the other two suggested we called it quits. Of course their voice was feeble so it went unheard.
Two days to the program and we had a call from our MP that we should come home. He was coming with his family! The DCD called us to his office asking for permission to speak to the gathering tomorrow. The bank manager promised he'd be there and so were many of the bankers! Soon we had sold close to fifty tickets! The happiest Friday ever! Real TGIF! lol
Then the night came. On Sunday 26th December, 2004, the maiden event of the soon-to-be-annual-dinner dance was finally born!
End of year in Jacobu has never been boringly same since then... for the main dance had come.
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