CELEBRITY READ AFRICA- REVIEW OF 8th EDITION.

The time was 3.20pm and the celebrities had not started reading. It was my first time at Terra Kulture, the venue for the 8th edition of Celebrity Read Africa, an event put together by Read2Rise Initiative. The adverts I saw on Facebook said it was a ‘special’ edition, so I guessed that was why they kicked off ‘specially’ late.

A few minutes later, the compere for the event, Chi-Chi Ofor, came up to apologise for starting the event late, and I think she did a good job with that. She went on to give a quick overview of what the entire initiative is about and what ‘Celebrity Read Africa’ stands to achieve. She made it clear that ‘Celebrity Read Africa’ is more than just a literary event, it is the coming together of different industries for one purpose: to encourage book reading.

The guest list was a pretty impressive one- with Ali Baba (Ace Comedian), Mrs. Bisila Bokoko (Executive Director of The Spain-United States Chamber of Commerce in New-York), Andre Blaze (TV Presenter), Sound Sultan (Musician), Oyin Sunday (STV Newscaster) - all listed as celebrities to be in attendance. Eventually, not every celebrity invited for the event turned up. Ali Baba and Andre Blaze did not show up.

The two guest authors listed were present at the event: Michael Afenfia (Author of ‘When The Moon Caught Fire) and Mrs. Teresa Oyibo Ameh (Author of 5 bestselling Children books).

Every celebrity and author read at the event. Mrs. Bisila Bokoko read from a book titled ‘The Secret’, there was an air of inspiration that proceeded from her reading. I also liked her accent.

Mrs. Teresa Ameh read several pages from one of her books titled ‘The Twins Visit’. I think the kids who were present from ‘Limeh School’ in Yaba, loved the story, as they laughed at various points as she read.

Mr. Michael Afenfia read from his book ‘When The Moon Caught Fire’, very touching piece he read, but he didn’t quite convey the emotions properly with the way he read. Perhaps there should be another aspect of Literature for ‘Readers’, some writers can’t seem to tell their own stories vocally. I’m still debating if that is a bad thing.

The event was a blend of music and literature as young artistes were around to treat the audience to fresh new vibes. I wasn’t quite impressed with the first performance though, and I felt the need for the organizers to screen performances before the day of the event, to preserve the image and goal of the initiative.

Sound Sultan came in at 4.40pm, by then the venue was so packed up that people were standing both in and out of the hall. Flash lights and click sounds from cameras and mobile phones filled the venue as the Hip-hop artiste made his way to the front of the hall. He brought a certain energy and flavour to the event as he answered questions and made guests laugh out loud with his replies. He just might be the Sultan of entertainment in Nigeria.

The highlight for me at the event was when the kids asked their questions. There was this very smart girl from the school invited asking very smart questions: [Are u married? How do merge your career with your other homely duties? Does your husband support your career? Why and how did you get the title of your book? How did you get the courage and inspiration to write?] I was really impressed by the kids, there is surely hope for the future.

When Ms. Oyin Sunday walked in she looked quite different from what I had seen on STV News. When she was done reading from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Purple Hibiscus’, I was like, yes! I didn’t expect any less though, I mean, she is a newscaster after all.

The main focus for the day was on how to get the kids to read [Parents forcing kids to read], and there were several opinions shared, bordering on factors ranging from: The Environment, Awareness, Appeal, and a need to distinguish between Study and Pleasure reading.

Eclipse, an upcoming artiste, and his crew ended the event by inspiring the kids and everyone, singing their own track and then “Heal the world”. That was my best performance at the event and I think they deserve to be supported.
I had a good time at the 8th edition of ‘Celebrity Read Africa’, and I would recommend it to everyone. The initiative must be supported and helped to expand and grow beyond the frontiers in which it now exists. I’m looking forward to the May edition.