The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 624 (May 29 - June 11 2024)

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Opinion Page14 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024 Celebrating Ken Calebs Olumese, The Guv’nor, at 80 Continued from Page 12< and Butter and another club called Princes. On Allen Avenue, Jerry Jones Anazia ran a night club called Ace. On Toyin Street, there was Climax, with a DJ called Stagger Lee. In those days of course, there was Shrine, the main watering hole for night crawlers, and beyond Ikeja, all the way towards Ojuelegba, there was a long list of fun spots including pepper soup joints such as Igbinedion, or Fafolu: point and kill joint, No. 67 Bode Thomas in Surulere, Empire Hotel, Tarmac. Many would also remember Kakadu Nite Club in Alagomeji, Yaba, where Fela used to perform in the 60s, and Bobby Benson’s Caban Bamboo, which in many ways was the old version of what the Niteshift Coliseum later became. There was at some point Paradiso in Yaba, Faze 2, Lord’s Club around Maryland, and Hotspot Club at Abibu Oki, off Broad Street. Basically, for a while, the Lagos social scene was a mix of band life, joints and discotheques. The latter would later prevail. Ken Calebs Olumese changed the face of night life in Lagos, particularly with the rise of the discotheque, which he capitalized upon turning Niteshift Coliseum into a space where the hottest and latest music could be heard. He invested heavily in music and equipment. He raised the bar to such a level that others began to learn from him, and even copy him. He changed the game. Even when there was a seeming rivalry between Lagos Island and the Mainland, the arrival of Niteshift Coliseum gave nightlife on the Mainland, an edge. What Olumese did was simply to be different. He carved a niche and constantly reinvented it. Whereas you could go to Ozone, DeRoof, Klass and Climax and run into celebrities and prominent persons, mingling with others, dressed in both formal and bohemian attires, Olumese made it clear from the very beginning that his club was meant for the middle class and the upper middleclass members of society. It was an exclusive club and there were rules. There was a man at the door, “The First Man” who would not even allow you to buy a ticket if you looked out of place. Jeans, slippers, any form of scruffy dressing were not allowed. You didn’t have to wear a tie, but you were required to appear decent. The club also had different segments. There was an exclusive section reserved for Senior Fellows of the Gold Card Sector. This was a section reserved for prominent persons, diplomats, captains of industry on a discreet night out. The lighting for that section was also deliberately dim. And there was the Section for the Glamour Boys (later - and Girls) of Nigeria: the reserved section for the upwardly mobile in society, but even then you had to be admitted as a member to sit there. In the general hall was the popular section. The status of a guest or member was indicated in the colour of the glass with which you were served. The staff were trained to know the differences. Everyone wanted to be part of the Niteshift crowd. Usually, when people left other clubs, they ended up at the Coliseum. The food was good. The air-conditioning was the coldest in the business. To add to the snobbery, Niteshift did not use the same terms as other clubs. Its bathrooms were called “The Vanity” for example. The hostesses wore something called “Oriental Ornamental.” The Dee Jay was “The Flight Captain” sitting in “The Cockpit.” And the entire night was a cruise. Olumese was the master of razzmatazz. He had a personal touch that could not be found among other club owners. He knew most of the regular clientele personally, and took an interest in their personal lives. He served drinks, and could be found correcting any error by any of his staff. His dressing was impeccable. From his hair cut to his shoes, he paid attention to every detail. He drank Remy Martin, and he could hold his drink. He was very generous to his guests. For young persons and others close to him, the first drink was always on the house, and in the morning, the club served tea or coffee on the house depending on individual choices. There were days patrons stayed in the club till 7 am, not knowing it was daybreak. The Guv’nor of Niteshift Coliseum actively cultivated the friendship of the media. He knew every entertainment, arts and culture reporter and editor on the beat. He was similarly friendly with publishers and editors. He had one or two friends in every newsroom. Journalists were understandably some of the more prominent members of the club, and through this connection Niteshift became a place of choice for many media events. There were times however when he had issues with journalists. He protected the privacy of celebrities who came to the club jealously and he would not hesitate to quarrel with any journalist who published gossip about any of his patrons. He used to quip that the club does not ask for marriage certificates. It is place of fun, not a church. Funny enough, Olumese is the son of an Anglican priest. Niteshift was not just about disco. The Guv’nor was constantly reinventing the concept. There was in due course a full Niteshift band, which mixed the idea of disco with live performance. There was also the Niteshift Musical Talent Show, on the platform of which the club provided space for the flowering of many talents including Felix and Moses, Tuface, Tony Tetuila, Tony Montana, Eedris Abdulkareem, Platanshun Boys, Sunny Neji, Daddy Showkey, Nel Oliver. There was also Miss Niteshift beauty pageant. Niteshift was also the watering hole for many Nollywood artists – actors, actresses and producers. But the high point arrived in the early 90s when the club was moved from 21 Opebi Street to a bigger, more permanent space, the purpose-built Coliseum at 21 Salvation Road, off Opebi. At this new location, the club had more space, more meeting rooms, a bigger dance floor, more of everything: an impressive edifice that was a testament to the success of the club, and the dogged vision of the founder. There was even a place called The Dacha: a block of 12 rooms reserved exclusively for the use of members. The major highlight at the Coliseum was the increased focus on a special programme which Olumese had introduced at the 21 Opebi address - the Grand House Reception (GHR). This further differentiated the Niteshift Coliseum from its peers. The GHR was an evening of interaction with major public figures. It was a huge hit which attracted exactly the clientele that the Guv’nor wanted. Some of the prominent persons who featured on the platform included, to cite just a few: Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Beko Ransome-Kuti, Alhaji Tafa Balogun, Mallam Nasir el- Rufai, Governor Gbenga Daniel, Governor Segun Osoba, Governor Orji Kalu, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu… H. E. Flt Lt. Jerry Rawlings, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar… and others. Ken Olumese kept raising the bar, and he was good at research, and monitoring the competition. I was one of the Glamour Boys of the Club, having joined that section sometime around 1989. I would later end up as one of the club’s major resource persons. I can conveniently report that I was actively involved. On many occasions we visited other clubs, before the start of business at the Coliseum. There were occasions when the Guv’nor would arrange for us to go on a West Africa tour. We were in Ghana again and again to attend different night clubs and observe their operations. We used to travel on Wednesday and return on Monday. Niteshift Coliseum would also eventually introduce a Wednesday programme, a Ladies night, free entry for ladies and other programmes to boost the clientele. In 2011, I left for Abuja on national assignment. By the time I returned in 2015, circumstances had changed on the Lagos night scene. The pulse had shifted from the Mainland to the Island, with new clubs patronized by the nouveaux riche and the Gen Z springing up on the other side of the city. Ken Calebs Olumese was also advancing in age. He has since retired and rented out the premises of the Niteshift Coliseum to another entertainment group called Floating World. Indeed, we live in a world that floats. But the Niteshift dream would be remembered for its impact and longevity. Many ventures of its type have short mortality rates, but Ken Calebs Olumese kept it going for more than two decades, even after the club was razed down in a mysterious midnight fire on December 18, 2003. It was a brilliant run, still and long is the echo of the Niteshift Bugaloo, the opening sequence of the club at 12 midnight, taken from the song by the Commodores of the same title: Nightshift. Happy Birthday, Guv’nor. Lord Have Mercy!
Opinion When Helicopters crash: Wigwe, Kobe, Iran... MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024 TheTrumpet Page15 Continued from Page 11< Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, something we did every year. But the weather was truly harsh that particular year. We landed in Geneva and hopped into the helicopter to take us straight to Davos. When we were airborne, it turned out that the weather was almost zero. It was so foggy up there we could not see anything ahead. And this was in Switzerland with the mountains or the Swiss Alps as they are otherwise called. We all became anxious. There was panic written all over our faces, including the President’s. “It is not good for a President to die in a helicopter crash, and in a foreign country”, President Jonathan said, trying his best to remain Presidential. It is not good for a Special Adviser to die in a helicopter crash either, I thought quietly to myself. “But sir, these are oyinbo people sir and this is their country. They will know the terrain very well, and I think they have good technology.” The President directed there and then that on our way back from Davos, if the weather was still foggy, we would all return to Geneva by road. No helicopter ride in that kind of foggy weather. Later that year, July 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan was in China on a fiveday State visit. It was a significant trip to strengthen bilateral relations between Nigeria and China. We were well received and everything went well. The hospitality was great. The chemistry was right. But I recall that one of the programmes on our list could not take place. We were to visit a particular province, but the issue came up that we would have to go in a Chinese aircraft, flown by Chinese pilots, because the route to the province is mountainous and even only carefully chosen and trained pilots are allowed to fly on that route. Mountains again, after the experience in Switzerland? The Foreign Affairs people and the PAF Commander had to find a diplomatic way of standing down that part of the trip. Besides, it would have been odd to allow another sovereign and its pilots to take over the management of the movement of the Nigerian President. Nonetheless, President Jonathan’s visit to China was successful. It prepared the grounds for the deepening of bilateral relations between both countries. There were no more issues with helicopters and foggy weather for a while, except when we had a bird strike stopping our aircraft in South Africa and we had to change planes, and yet another bird strike during the 2015 election campaigns in Northern Nigeria, and an aircraft had to be brought from Abuja to take us back. In life, we survive only by chance. Helicopter crashes have claimed the lives of many prominent State officials in the line of duty, including President Rene Ortuno of Bolivia (1969), Prime Minister Rashid Karami of Lebanon (1984), Burundi Defence Minister - Colonel President Ebrahim Raisi (Photo - duma.gov.ru - CCA-SA 4.0 Int) Firmin Sinzoyiheba (1998) due to poor weather, President Ibrahim Nasir of the Maldives (2008), Vice President John Garang of Sudan (2005), and Chief of Kenya’s military - General Francis Omondi Ogolla (2024). There is also a long list of leaders across the world who died in plane crashes. Between man, technology and nature, there is a lot about man’s inability to master and control the universe. There have been survivors though: In February 2019, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria escaped unhurt from a helicopter crash in Kabba, Kogi State. In Iran, two helicopters travelling with President Ebrahim Raisi made it back to Tehran safely. Life is complex, the mysteries within it are far more so. May the souls of all departed persons find peace eternal. Sport The old lion and the cub Continued from Page 16< from the village of Nkenglikok. Rigobert Song was still only 17 but, on the recommendation of his Tonnerre team-mate, was the unexpected cub in the Indomitable Lions’ pride. If height had divided Julius and Vincent immeasurably, age did the same for Roger and his “little brother” Rigobert. A staggering 24 years and 42 days to be precise – what remains the biggest gap between team-mates in World Cup history. “I was in disbelief when I made the squad,” said Song. “I’d watched the 1990 World Cup huddled round a black-and-white television. I was in awe of Roger Milla. He created complete euphoria in Cameroon. “Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that, only four years later, I’d be his team-mate at a World Cup! I was only 17 and he was Roger Milla!” Milla told FIFA: Roger Milla played his first match in the Americas in Haiti in1998 (Photo - Belmond, CCA-SA 4.0 Int) “It’s a record I am proud of. We showed that Cameroon is a land populated with talent and that we don’t have a generational gap. That’s something that continues to this day. “I’m old enough to be his father! But I learned as much from him as he learned from me. I was blown away by his enthusiasm. He put the same energy into training as he did into matches. In a way, when you’re around young people, it pushes you to maintain your rhythm and energy, and I think that helped me.” California was now the setting for the most peculiar partnerships in cinematic and World Cup history.
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The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 624 (May 29 - June 11 2024)

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