Glorious homecoming for Okon Lagos as Glo Laffta Fest storms Calabar

Celebrity comic actor, Imeh Bishop, popularly known as Okon Lagos, last Sunday, had a rousing welcome back home in Calabar, Cross River State, where he made a celebrity guest appearance at the Glo Laffta Fest show.

Held at the  Calabar Cultural Centre, the  hall erupted in wild applause as the anchors of the show, Mercy Johnson Okojie and Juliet Ibrahim, announced the presence of the ever-funny actor to his homestead.

Besides Okon Lagos, the legendary Nollywood star, Kanayo O. Kanayo, (aka) KOK, made celebrity guest appearance to the cheering of the massive crowd, which gathered to watch the funniest   comedy shown in Africa.

Indications that the evening would be fun all through emerged when fun-seekers started trooping into the venue as early as 2p.m. for an event fixed for 4p.m. By 3p.m., the main bowl, the gallery and the foyer outside had been filled up, necessitating the organisers to install a massive multimedia display screen outside to beam proceedings within the hall live to the overflowing fun-lovers.

Local acts and budding stars who displayed short but power-packed performances set the ball rolling. Among the local acts were Emmanuel Debegene, also known as MC Emmaralo, who had been part of the show in Warri and Yenegoa; MC Dayo, Ambassador and British Pastors, who also featured in Glo Laffta Fest  in Owerri, Warri, and Yenagoa. They set the guests reeling in bouts of laughter.

The big acts were heralded by the Port Harcourt-based humour merchant, Arinze Baba, who threw a lot of humorous jabs at Nigerian musicians among other things, before other accomplished comics, Senator, Dan D’Humorous, Gordons, Bovi and BasketMouth took the stage one after the other, taking the audience to different levels of excitement.

The performances were interspersed with celebrity appearances, which raised the excitement level in the hall. Okon Lagos particularly raised the roof when he walked on stage. He proceeded to entertain his excited fans with wise-cracks. The comic character in movies even threw a jab at himself, saying the society has been paying him for being a fool.

The anchors also got the audience in wild excitement with their playful antics, the highpoint of which was pulling off each other’s designer hairs right on stage.

Earlier, Bovi, one of Nigeria’s most-loved comedians described Globacom, the organiser of Glo Laffta Fest as the biggest promoter of comedy in Nigeria.

Bovi spoke on Calabar’s favourite radio station, Hit FM, in the run-up to the show on Sunday. He was accompanied to the radio station by other comedians such as Dan D’Humorous and Senator, show anchor, Mercy Johnson-Okojie and celebrity guest KOK.

“Globacom has been consistent in its support of comedy and comedians in Nigeria,” Bovi said, noting that many corporate bodies in Nigeria were yet to fully appreciate the value of promoting entertainment the way Globacom had been doing.

He noted that Globacom had been the only one reliable partner to many comedians and took them to different parts of the country to meet their fans which they ordinarily would not have been able to afford in many years.

At the Glo Laffta Fest Calabar, subscribers who won dancing competitions and correctly answered questions about Glo products and services were also celebrated and presented with goody bags.

The next destination of the show is Uyo this Sunday. Other cities that will host the show in the weeks ahead include Awka, Ikeja, Ikorodu, FESTAC, Ajah, Asaba, Aba, Suleja, Kubwa, Ibadan, Ijebu Ode, Abeokuta, Ekpoma, Kaduna, Akure, Lokoja, and Anyigba.