Sour-sweet Ninja weekend

The massive influence of Nigerian-born entertainment on Malawians is unmistakable.

 For instance, such influence is spelt in how Malawians have fished out vocabularly from Nollywood scenes or Naija vibes and transplanted it in their own local languages.   

 

The climax was here last weekend when two Nigerian acts set foot in the country.

 

While Uche was running things on the gospel side of things, ‘Oleku’ man Ice Prince was mesmerising on the other.

 

Uche and Ice Prince are not mere names owing their big Malawian support to Malawians’ lazy choice of entertainment.

 

These are super tags whose effort has catapulted them to the apex of African entertainment and beyond.  

 

You can only imagine the expectation at learning the two were in Malawi.

 

But the climax was spoilt by two things.

 

One; a fatal accident.

 

A minibus in which locals backing Uche were travelling in overturned somewhere around Phalula on the Lilongwe Road’s Zalewa stretch.

 

Malawi lost a talented bass player—Chikondi Kanjero—and several other players of instruments were injured.

 

The team was on its way back to base in Blantyre after the Lilongwe show. Uche’s Blantyre show was hence cancelled.

 

May Chikondi’s soul rest in peace.

 

Two, Uche and Ice Prince’s shows were to go head-to-head; both in Lilongwe on Saturday and in Blantyre on Sunday.

 

Despite people having a choice to either go gospel or otherwise, I am an example that could have fallen for both.

 

I blamed it on bad organisation because I think Malawi is socially or economically too small to hold such parallel shows.

 

There ought to be a way.

 

Let the Musicians Association of Malawi (MAM) be among the groups manning a calendar to which event organisers can turn to in planning such gross shows.

 

I see a lot of such clashes, mainly as regards local shows.

 

It could be because most organisers force themselves towards the financially viable time of the month.

 

All in all, I find it a lousy thing on the overall.