Last night was a winding down at Kingfisher, the celebrity outdoor lounge off Lekki’s Admiralty way.
There were the four of us – a club chairman I’d rather not protect his identity because of his approaching appointment to higher state duties; Special Adviser on Media to the immediate past Sports Minister Mr. Kola Daniels; and General Manager of Kwara United, Bashiru Badawiy.
The music was good and the crowd at the lagoon side watering hole was quite animated to the songs waltzing good acoustics from the devices.
The seemingly sedate talks amongst the patrons at the place was to be disrupted by an entourage that was a mix of Nigerians, some Caucasians and Asians that were led to a reserved sitting area, causing heads to turn in their direction and most patrons rising on their feet.
The centre of the attraction was one of Nigeria’s super star singer, David Adeleke, known more by his stage name, Davido. The smallish but crowd-pulling icon made a grand entry with a coterie of associates and aides including some who were much older than his age bracket but all hanging onto every gesture or verbal expressions of his
Clad in blue suite, white shirt and long tie, which was an odd dressing for that time of the day and outing, the Osun State born recording artiste exhibited a humility that was distinctive by ensuring every member of his entourage was sited before he sat.
And then the crowd surged, abandoning their tables and some leaving those who came with them but were not similarly star struck. All sorts of phones were whipped out and emergency photographers and videographers were churned out including the waitress that shared this attached video with me.
From where we sat which was within a shouting distance, we watched the scene with a measure of amusement at the effect of star power on some young folks who probably must be well heeled considering the location and cost of drinks and edibles sold there.
As I forked a piece of the lobster on our plate and gulped some whiskey from my goblet, another movement erupted as it began to drizzle and the automated tarpaulin roof rolled out to provide shade from the rains. Davido was on his feet again and his entourage were on the move too. They headed to the moored boat that I noticed for the first time and he was offered a life jacket just as some of his gang members.
In a jiffy, they were on their way to I know not where, but the bunch of starry eyed frolickers were still in a kind of daze from obviously the unanticipated sighting of the megastar.
A leggy dark complexion girl who was amongst those that rushed to catch the few minutes outing of the singer would unsolicitedly inform me that she’s among the exclusive patrons of the joint that were informed by the owners of the lounge about the Davido appearance ahead of time. Still basking in the self adulation of being an inner caucus of the Kingfisher, she announced that there will be another star showing on Sunday and asked if I’d be coming.
Grunting a no and charging at a stick of chicken kebab, I thanked her for the heads-up and raised a discussion on Friday’s games of the NPFL championship play-off at Mobolaji Johnson Arena.
I had wished my daughter, Ugochi and her brother, Nomso who were at the hotel we have been staying at since Sunday swapped places with me. That would obviously have given them some bragging advantage in chatterings with their acolytes.
Iwuala is a public affairs analyst, prolific sports marketing and communications expert
