DAYTON, Ohio — Saturday night was a night on the town for Nigerians across Central and Southwest Ohio, as communities in Dayton and Columbus traded an ordinary October evening for flowing traditional attire, Nigerian food, music, art and enough dancing to remind everyone that independence anniversaries are not meant to be observed sitting down.
In Dayton, Nigerians gathered in the ballroom of the Best Western Plus Hotel in suburban Miamisburg, where De John Entertainments supplied the music and the dance floor supplied the evidence that age, profession and Sunday-morning responsibilities were temporarily negotiable. About 60 miles away in Columbus, Nigerians and their American friends gathered at the Columbus Metropolitan Library for a celebration built around arts and culture, featuring fashion, food and paintings. The events commemorated the 66th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from British colonial rule, achieved on October 1, 1960.
In both cities, the evening became a colorful exhibition of the country Nigerians still carry with them thousands of miles from home. Guests arrived in traditional attire representing Nigeria’s many ethnic cultures, shared familiar delicacies and danced to songs capable of transporting someone from an Ohio autumn back to Lagos, Enugu, Ibadan or a village square—at least until the music stopped and the Midwest returned.
In Dayton, Pastor Ayo Ogunduyile opened the celebration with prayers before Ifeanyi Nwanoro, president of Nigeria United of Dayton and Miami Valley, welcomed guests. Master of ceremonies Michael Okwudibonye quickly assumed the additional, unofficial position of chief hype officer, keeping the room energized as the celebration moved from formalities to the considerably more serious business of dancing.
Then came Dr. Adedeji Badiru., the professor of engineering dressed in suite and tie. Badiru took to the dance floor against the women on the dance floor and wore them out with his mesmerizing footwork and dance moves The food table presented another kind of competition. Guests returned for second—and occasionally third—helpings of Nigerian dishes. Even some American guests unfamiliar with the country’s enthusiastic relationship with pepper went back for more. They also went back for bottled water, several times.
It was perhaps the evening’s most effective lesson in Nigerian culture: the food may make you sweat, but surrender is optional. For Nigerians in Dayton and Columbus, the celebrations were about more than food, fashion and dancing. Sixty-six years after independence, and thousands of miles from home, they offered something immigrants understand instinctively—the ability to build a life in America without packing away the culture that helped make them who they are.
