6 Kinds of People You Will Always Find At 'Owambe' Parties In Nigeria.

'Owambe' parties are definitely one of the best in the world. So much time goes into the planning and preparation for these parties that when they eventually do happen, they happen really big. I guess it’s just in our nature as Nigerians to go all the way when it comes to partying.

Given how big they usually are, 'owambe' parties have been known to block streets and roads, which in-turn, disrupt nearly all forms of movement in areas close to where they are being held. Thankfully, they are held mainly during weekends and not work days.

For those who don't know, 'owambe' parties are basically huge parties thrown by Nigerians (most especially Yoruba Nigerians) to celebrate anything from birthdays to weddings, and the likes.

These parties majorly involve the presence of lots of food, most especially, jollof rice and pounded yam served with various types of highly endowed soup, coupled with plenty of small chops (finger foods) and lots of drinks.

They also involve a lot of dancing and money spraying by the numerous guests in attendance, with continuous loud music being played by a live band in the background. The guests are usually present in their 'aso ebi', plus shoes, bags and accessories to match.

'Aso-ebi' by the way, is a Yoruba term which means 'family clothes', in English. It refers to a common cloth worn as some form of uniform by members and friends of a family during social occasions.

The 'aso ebi' fabric is usually chosen by the host(s) and sold to interested guests. The fabric is then sewn into various styles and worn to the party on the D-Day. The varieties of 'aso ebi' styles adds an interesting mix to the ceremony as a whole. Although the 'aso ebi' concept originated from the Yoruba tribe, other tribes in Nigeria have also embraced it.

Moving on however, there are basically six kinds of people that you will always find at any 'owambe' party in Nigeria. You just can’t help but notice their presence right from the moment you arrive at the party venue, until the moment you leave.

1. The 'Aso Ebi' Slay Gang.

This set of people slay together at owambe parties in their 'aso ebi', sewn in different breath-taking styles. They are the most important people at the party. If an owambe party were a company on the stock exchange, they would definitely be the shareholders of the company.

Given the huge importance attached to the wearing of 'aso ebi' at owambe parties, this special set of people are always placed high on the priority list when it comes to getting the goodies or benefits of the parties they attend.

2. The ‘Mo-Gbo-Mo-Ya People (Party-Crashers).

These set of people are the party-crashers/intruders/uninvited ones at any 'owambe' party. Whenever they hear about the next party to hold in town, they must attend, even though they have no connection with anybody at the party whatsoever.

They don’t want to know whether they don't have an invite or care about what the celebration is about. Whether it's a birthday, wedding party or even a post-funeral party, They don't want to know. They just have to be there by all means and they solely attend for no other reason than the free food and drinks.

When you try asking them about their relationship with the host, their response is usually something like “I’m a friend to the brother of the host's aunty's cousin's sister's nephew's mother's sister”. But brethren, don't be deceived. Anything they tell you is nothing but lies.

They can be further grouped into two categories; that is, the 'part-timers' and the 'full-timers'. The part-timers are not consistent with their party-crashing. They simply do as their spirit wills. They only crash parties for ‘awoof’ (free) food and drinks when they're broke and hungry .

The full-timers on the other hand are very consistent. Party-crashing is a full-time weekend job for them. No matter the financial weather they're in, they will still look for parties to crash. Before the beginning of every weekend, they will patiently and carefully find out about all the upcoming parties in town and develop a ‘must-attend’ list. You can trust they won't miss any party on the list. They will surely be at every one of them.

3. The Hungry People.

This set of people are never patient enough to wait till food and drinks reach their table. They take it upon themselves to constantly remind the servers every chance they get that they haven’t been served, even when it’s not their turn yet.

They are not hard to spot at parties at all. You can always identify them when you hear stuff like, “Aunty/Uncle hurry up with the serving naw!” “We haven’t received food here o!”

The ‘mo-gbo-mo-ya’ people or party-crashers could also easily fit into this category because they are also a hungry set of people but there are ‘hungry people’ and there are ‘hungry people’, if you get what I mean.

4. The Greedy People (Gluttons).

Even after consuming several rounds of everything consumable at the party, this set of people are never satisfied. Their gluttony is first class. They must have a taste of everything.

They would lie shamelessly to the servers over and over again that they haven’t been served so that they can get more.

If the feeding arrangement is of a ‘serve-your-self’ format, they will start with, "I just need something light" and then go on to fill their plates with a bit of everything available, until a mountain forms and there is no space left on the plate to fill. You can always trust them to return for more after that.

Most times, this set of people also come prepared with a nylon bag to pack home all the extra food they fraudulently collect. It is a must that they pack food home for later consumption. Most of them have no shame. They will confidently fill their nylon bag in the presence of everybody at the table without caring what anyone thinks or says.

5. The Selfie Gang.

All that is on the minds of this kind of people is that their ‘aso-ebi’ must not waste. They must take as many selfies of themselves doing various poses to post on social media. How can they buy and sew ‘aso-ebi’ for themselves without getting their full money's worth? Not possible. Besides, what would be the evidence that they attended the occasion? It is just a must that they take selfies.

When they are tired of taking selfies of themselves, these people team up with everyone they know at the party to take group selfies (or ‘groupfies’ like some people say).

Par-adventure their phone memory gets filled up at some point and they can't take any more selfies or groupfies, they will borrow the phone of anybody they know at the party to continue from where they stopped.

6. The Souvenir Hustlers.

These ones only care about the "thank-you-for-coming" take-away gift(s)/souvenirs that would be shared to everyone at the end of the party. Be it a hand-fan or a bucket, they are ready to struggle to get their own.

Funny thing is that despite the fact that most of them have received numerous gifts of the same kind from previous parties, they don't give a damn. It is compulsory that they get souvenirs.

Written By: "M." (Tortorri Staff Writer).

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