UNCLE DOT AND WIFE CHALLENGED NOLLYWOOD AT THEIR WEDDING RECEPTION

The Couple 

Respect and regard met face to face with love and care, and ignited an unquenchable fire of gratitude, praises, and honour to the Almighty Lord, the King of Kings and the I am that I am, when worshippers of St. Luke’s Cathedral: Anglican Church and the members of St. Piran’s Anglican Church, both in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, converged in Jos City, for the wedding reception of two exceptional youth members of the two churches, who recently performed the I do, I do ceremony.

Mr. Dotun Benson Fasanya, fondly called Mr. Dot, or Uncle Beautiful feet, by the teens and youths of St. Piran’s Anglican Church, many of whom he started mentoring into the Christian faith from their toddler days, recently took as a wife, the former Miss Ada Catherine Oduah. Uncle Dot and Aunty Ada are not only members of the Anglican Communion, but also hardworking and committed church workers. Mr. Dot, before his wedding was a Teen Bible instructor at St. Piran’s Anglican Church, and Aunty Ada, the newly wedded wife, a Youth worker at the St. Luke’s Cathedral Anglican Church.

The brief preamble above, explains the exciting moments that enveloped the reception arena, from start to finish. The event Guests, who spoke to our reporter, said:

“What do you expect when the former Mama Yard, St. Piran’s Anglican Church and currently of Emmanuel Anglican Church, Mrs. Esther Gongden, is present”?

“The Chairman of the wedding reception is Prof. Dr. Ekwempu, a youth coordinator of the St. Piran’s Anglican Church, and from the celebrants, Uncle Dotun, leader, St. Piran’s Youth Fellowship (SPYFELL), and Aunty Ada, President, St. Luke’s Youth Fellowship, the excitement of what is witnessed here today is expected”, 

“When the opportunity came for us to step out and honour the Almighty, who brought two of our hardworking youth Church workers together, in Holy matrimony, we availed ourselves.

“We are highly inspired. We are showing our joy and happiness, in a wonderful rendition of songs and praises, dance and clapping of hands, and others that are happening here today. We made provision for extra energy.”

The appearance of former Mama Yard, Mrs. Esther Gongden, gave the sign of what the day would be, confirming the saying “the indication that a weekend will be good, is seen on Friday.” Form the guests moving into the reception arena and proceeding to the venue proper, there was no dull moment. Being members of the Anglican Communion, worshiping in Jos, the first impression of strangers was, only family members were present at the occasion. However, very many people that attended were from other denominations, and some from outside Jos.

From the celebrants taking pictures with diverse groups, to unending requests for more of the photos, to the beautifully arranged hall, and the orderly conduct of events, the guests beamed with smiles of joy and happiness, when interviewed by our reporter. Their response clearly indicated that “this event is exciting, entertaining and fun”.

The environment had large turnout of co-church workers like Dotun and Ada, friends, family members, and well-wishers as well. The glamour was occasionally heightened by the DJ, who intermittently revealed his capacity to pull peoples’ legs before the event gathered momentum. He ignited the fire of dance, and forced people to move their body excitedly, in response to the latest Gospel tracks that easily escaped from the modern musical equipment the DJ used to make the wedding reception a very memorable one. The MC, who could not resist lure of the DJ, fuelled the fire with his very flexible body movements and coordinated dance steps that moved in quick successions, as if they were struggling to strike a balance with his wriggling waist. Most of the guests were as guilty as the MC, since they succumbed to the enticing bits and rhythm, of the DJ’s pressure, and swayed their body sideways to the flow of music and songs, even before the dancing time. This scenario was assuring to most of the youths and teens, and some elders too, that the DJ came prepared, loaded and ready to make them dance. They indeed, waited patiently for the right time, to show the almighty their happiness for what He did for them through their dance steps.

After introducing members of the high table in a grand style, the MC immediately invited the DJ, to usher the couple into the hall. With a soft and melodious song that flowed very well with the musical beats, the couple followed by the colourfully dressed bridal train and men on suit danced joyously to the rhythm. The crowd who could not resist the urge to dance joined the train, as the couple headed to their seat.

After the opening prayer by Mrs. Esther Gongden, the Chairman, Prof. Dr. Ekwempu, commended the couple for dancing well, however, cautioned them not to view the dance competition, that was instigated by the MC, wrongly, and informed them that in marriage, there is no competition except that of who will love the other more, and urged them to bear that in mind always. He thereafter, thanked the couple for creating a link between the South-Western and the South-Southern part of Nigeria, where Uncle Dotun and Aunty Ada hail from respectively.

The chairman’s welcome address was followed by the MC’s invitation to the Cake Maker, Mrs. Babatunde Dolapo (a co-instructor with uncle Dotun at the Teen’s unit of St. Piran’s church) to conduct the cutting of cake, which she did and the cake was cut after the spelling love. The Cake Maker used the opportunity to draw the attention of the celebrants to the message of the chairman, and urged them to adhere to it.

With the cutting of cake concluded, the couple thereafter performed their first public assignment: feeding each other, and as always the cake and wine came in handy for this. After their outing, the coupe’s performance was adjudged excellent by the participants of the wedding reception.

Something quite unique happened after the cutting of cake: the Couple’s drama; written and directed by the MC, but acted by the couple. The bride played the role of an angry wife who had a terrible day at work, worsened by the fact that her husband picked none of her calls; in addition to these, she was injured while cooking. The groom played the role of a husband that returned from work and found his wife angry. He was to do something to cheer her up.

The Groom playing the role of cheering 

the wife up, after meeting her angry

The celebrants gave a good account of themselves as future Nollywood actors. The essence of the drama the MC said, was to draw the attention of the groom to resort to things that will make his wife laugh whenever she is angry. On this happy note the MC invited the couple for their dance, thereafter, the groom made a special presentation, of a song for the bride, and was applauded by the audience, while the wife smiled cheerfully.

The Couple's Dance 

The men on suit also made a presentation of a song, after which presentation of gifts followed, preceded by the toast.

Aunty Ihunnaya, a teen instructor at St. Pirans Church, and a guest of the couple, when interviewed on inter-tribal marriage by our reporter, said:

“In my opinion, inter-tribal marriages are more stressful than intra-tribal marriages. This is because of the differences in the cultures. One would need to learn and properly understand the culture of the other tribe, meet their demands and those of his/her tradition which can be hectic. However, it can be very interesting, especially for the children as they would grow up learning and understanding two different cultures at the same time. This obviously has the capacity of expanding their knowledge and broadening their perspective about things, which would help them to accommodate many people.” 

By Nnabugwu Chinazaekpere