We Want People To Bridge Fun And God—SeedyWe Want People To Bridge Fun And God—SeedyLast weekend, Daystar Christian Centre- one of the fastest growing churches in Nigeria-organised a colourful evening of creativity and culture tagged 'EFIZI NITE' It was a showcase of music, dance, comedy, drum arts, roof-raising praise and exhortations. Top artistes/comedians like Cobhams, Rooftop MCs, Jedi, Princess, Bouqui, Okiki Jesu, and Spirit of David amongst others were in the Ikosi-Ikeja church auditorium to perform. Amidst the glitz, glamour and groove, God still remained the focal point; a truth one of the show's organisers, Pastor Tola Seedy had stressed in this pre-event interview with ADENRELE NIYI. Excerpts:
We hear this is the 2nd edition of 'EFIZI NITE' is that correct?
Yes it is.
Great, so what is Efizi nite all about?
Efizi nite is a bridge event. We are trying to show people outside of church that Christianity is not boring. People who want to have fun can come to the house of God to do so. You don't have to be a sinner to have this kind of fun. You can be a Christian, enjoy and live well.
Why did you decide on the name 'Efizi'?
Every now and then, some slang and expressions with a wide appeal come into use. Efizi could mean 'posing', 'special effects'. The name has fit in to our vision because we wanted a term that people on the outside can relate to very easily. If we're still doing Efizi nite 20 years from now, we will simply keep the name efizi alive; it has become a brand. Efizi should have been phased out so the term is very lucky.
Any particular reason you chose the creative arts industry as the medium to express your goals?
We did discover that the average young person is attracted to music, dance, comedy, drama and the arts. You can't get them to eagerly attend a symposium or seminar; you need to use a medium that will catch them. When you succeed in getting their attention through that medium, it becomes easier to talk about other important issues. You have to start with the things that will interest people normally and every young person around likes arts.
Is it right to assume that since Daystar is a young church and its leadership is young, that may motivate its drive towards youths?
Well, Daystar is a young church and its leadership is young but the drive towards young people is based on the fact that in Nigeria, the reality is a lot of the older generation is passing away. The young ones are those we need to concentrate on in order to form them afresh. The more you build up the young ones, the easier it would be for us as a nation 30 or 40 years from now. We have chosen to focus on the future and help the present youths to take their right place at that time.
What's the programme schedule like?
It is going to be a lot of music, dance, comedy and a short time for exhortation. We are trusting God that this will also pass the message across.
What arrangements do you have with the artistes; are you paying them and what is your budget?
For the artistes, a lot of them are not charging what they would normally do to perform at events. That's based on the fact that we are giving them the fee as an honorarium. Of course we don't want artistes to just turn up without getting appreciated with something. As many of them as show up will receive a token as honorarium. For the budget, I cannot tell you because that information I do not have; but lets just say we have a very large budget.
Is this programme Daystar's way of encouraging the Nigerian arts industry which is growing rapidly?
Yes, we are trying to encourage the industry to develop but more importantly, we want them to develop good values and good morals. We also want people to come and bridge fun and God; bridge fun and good morals. A lot of people do reckless things because they do not know there is a better way. We are simply attempting to get the artistes to value good morals and at the same time get every young person to develop good morals and believe in God. These are the basic things we aim at and if music is what we'll use to get the message across, so be it.
Are you working with other organisations to put this night in place?
Basically, it is Daystar alone but we have something of a partnership with Soundcity. They are helping us with the TV publicity and they will be around to conduct red carpet proceedings. We understand a lot of young people are interested in Soundcity so we want to use that medium to get their interest.
Will this be an annual event?
It happened last year, its happening now and it will happen next year. It will keep happening until we're sure God doesn't want us to do it anymore.
Finally, what does Daystar as an organisation hope to get out of this event?
What we want is changed lives. If at the end of the day they don't attend Daystar, no problem. However, at the end of the day, if we discover that out of 12,000 people who show up 10,000 think right and live right then the programme must have been a great success. On the other hand, if 50 million people turn up and nothing happens to them I wouldn't count that a success. In Daystar, we have a vision to raise role models. Once these people can leave efizi nite, reflect on their lives and be better than they were before they came, then I think we would have done something worthwhile and we would have achieved our goal.
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