Fido to Perform Live at Mariere Hall on Thursday 

By Peace Chenube, Victor Chijioke

Nigerian singer Fido is set to perform live at Mariere Hall, UNILAG, today, Thursday, the 17th. The artist, who recently rose to fame with hit songs such as ‘Awolowo’ and ‘Joy is Coming, is performing as part of the activities lined up for Day 4 of the ongoing Mariere Hall Week.

Themed ‘Seven Days in Baluba’, the Hall Week began on Sunday, 13 July, and has witnessed several events unfold each day, including a movie night, an eating competition, and indoor games. 

With Fido’s performance remaining a major attraction, other activities slated for Day 4 of the Week include a “Mr Macho” contest, consisting of challenges in weightlifting, as well as a “Jersey Day” event, in which sports fans don jerseys from their favourite sports teams. The campus group Kegites will also hold a performance, treating those present to its customary palmwine and cultural music. 

Speaking to UNILAG Sun on the difficulties faced in securing the performance of the rave of the moment as well as in organising the Hall Week, Hero Etubi, the head of the planning committee for the Mariere Hall Week, said: “We were able to pull this off with less than 20 days of planning. Our sponsors that pulled Fido for us did so on such short notice.”

Adedamola Oshinkoya, a 400-level Political Science student and the assistant project lead of the planning committee, also spoke to UNILAG Sun about the Hall Week. He said problems with the number of students attending the events during the earlier days of the week were a drawback.

“The turnout has been fluctuating in the sense that, the first day we started, it was just like students were getting used to what’s going on outside. We didn’t really get as much turnout as we expected, but moving on to Monday, the turnout rose a little higher than it was on Sunday. Today [Wednesday] is probably the highest turnout we’ve had,” he said. 

The committee members expressed confidence that the trend in event attendance would improve, with lineups of underground artists, an art exhibition, a FIFA tournament, among others, still to come, and a grand party called Balabmania closing the Hall Week on Saturday. 

They nevertheless took the opportunity to inform students of the importance of participating wholly in the seven-day festivity. Adedamola added: “By the end of the whole week, we, the planning committee, hope to strengthen the sense of community among the residents of this hall, creating long-lasting memories and fostering stronger bonds among each other.”