It’s a golden call when Motherland Beckons. That’s because the echo often vibrates into the souls of those who receives the call and it stirs up their bones into a Return!
Motherland, beckons on her children, to return to the roots, to the African root, to the continent with enormous resources, to the continent of arts and creativity, to the continent flourishing with yesterday, today and tomorrow’s black pride.
IPADA is the return of Africans, people of African descent and lovers of Africa back to Africa, to firstly identify with the continent, celebrate the return, and then interact with fellow brothers and sisters to benefit and contribute to developing the continent.
But even then, IPADA is more than that. IPADA is the return to who we are! A mental and physical return. A return to our essence. A return to our culture and traditions, to our identity as Africans, a return to our cherished natural gifts, gifts we were bestowed and endowed with before we were colonised into other cultures and other traditions.
In other words, IPADA is a return to our first love! A return to what we cherished most. A return to what we do best. A return to our God given talent. A return to ourselves!
Many may not know it, Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye, the Founder of IPADA Initiative and IPADA Carnival sojourned many years ago in the United States of America. But unlike many who chose to stay back there, Akinboboye returned early, back to the continent of Africa. So he is an IPADIAN like we call them now! A returnee from abroad. An African returnee from the Diaspora.
True, some already know that story. But the part that people don’t know, is why he went to the United States of America in the first place.
In those early days, while he was still in his teens, young Wanle Akinboboye was set to be a Prof Ola Rotimi. He was on the part to becoming a Nobel laureate like Prof Wole Soyinka is today He was already identified as a promising actor, dramatist and playwright. Young Akinboboye’s soul was in the arts, where he got a scholarship to proceed to a tertiary institution to study theatre arts.
But that future bounced off like a stolen dream which colonial rule has been to Africa. Akinboboye’s first love was stolen by colonial mentality as sang by the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
Young Wanle went home to tell his illustrious father about the scholarship. He told him he is on his way to the stage to be an actor. His father laughed grimly.
His illustrious father, asked him, “in whose house?”
In those days, acting as a profession, was not considered for the elites and children of the elites. It was considered for the others, as elites were only meant to be entertained, and not to entertain.
And before Young Wanle could say Jack Robinson, he was already packaged and posted out to the northern part of Nigeria to study a more befitting course.
“I was shipped first to Kaduna polytechnic to study Mechanical Engineering,” said Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye, when he recalled the memory recently at an IPADA hosting of Tour Operators of Nigeria.
But worried that Young Wanle may trace his steps back to his crowd of friends in the western part of Nigeria, especially with the break out of the historic ‘Ali Must Go’ riots which featured most higher educational institutions across the country, he was re-packaged and sent to America, where he was expected to fall in line and pursue a more befitting brighter future, in more suitable elitist professional career, like law, banking, medicine or engineering.
Now, that story like the the slave trade story, the colonial master story are now history!
It is now time for IPADA. The Return! The return from slave ships to cruise ships and luxury airlines to Africa.
Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye has returned to his first love, that is, acting and creative directing.
He is back to live theatre productions, and back to the stage. Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye thrilled a huge number of youngsters, the new generation theatre artistes, actors who have gathered at La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in the last two weeks, at the rehearsal production set, to bring to life ‘Odigbose’ The Epic Drama of a part of the slave trade story, which he created some years ago, to be showcased in a Grand Command Performance at IPADA Carnival 2024.
‘Odigbose’ is a masterpiece!
A heart rendering story that depicts the lifestyle of the African people, with its rich culture and traditions, before the advent of the slave trade and the arrival of colonial masters.
‘Odigbose’ on stage, is a must see! At IPADA Carnival 2024, November 29th to December 8th, 2024.
