Commonly known as The Home to the Igbo people, Enugu city is located in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. It is said to majorly be occupied by the Nike people of the Igbo land. These people are seen as those with strength or power.
She is known for her sobriquet, ‘oha nke ama Icheku’ meaning, ‘Coal city state’, as coal is predominantly her natural resource.
The Igbos are known for their highly industrious, entrepreneurial spirit and so when Nigeria is awake, Enugu is already going about her business. Her people are involved in various forms of trades and corporate businesses. In the daytime, the city is filled with an ambience of “hustle an and get paid” as everyone goes about his business diligently.
In contrast, the nightlife in Enugu city is far From sombre like one would expect from a ‘not so large’ city.
As compared to the ‘Lagos’ or ‘Eko’ nightlife, the night time in Enugu is rather peculiar; the style of music, the unrequested DJ and the rather disturbing night friends.
The Igbos are known for their unique style of music which has taken some of their legends beyond the borders of the Country. Their music is characterized by an illusion of the igbo traditional music and western music styles called ‘Highlife”. And so when the sun sets, and the air begins to get cool, our unbidden DJ ushers us unto the first few hours of the night with slow, rhythmic highlife playing from “Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe”.
As you cook dinner, eat and try to relax after a long day of business, trade or corporate work, you cannot help but gyrate unconscously to the melody; A melody that had this therapeutic way of helping the average man relax and unwind, despite it being unsolicited.
As you go further into the night, the rhythm begins to pick up pace, and songs are switched between old time legends like Oliver de Coque and The Oriental brothers.
You would hear “Osondi Owendi’ in the background admist the noise from the moving vehicles and their terrible horns as you try to clear away your used dishes for the night. If you know the lyrics well enough, you’ll find yourself soon singing along, and when you don’t, you end up humming along.
As the air gets colder and the night fully unveils, the loud volumes from the old-aged large speakers situated at each palm wine spot on at least one street would reduce. The picked up rhythm then scales down to a slower tempo.
For the ‘Gen Zs’ who will probably be awake later at night, this unsolicited DJ then switches to something a bit more relatable as if guessing that the ‘oldies’ are asleep.
By midnight, the only cadency that you’d hear would be the sound of moving vehicles and blaring horns. “Our night friends, better known as vehicle tax collectors’ resume, duty and take it with utmost seriousness, holding a whip for drivers who are unwilling to pay for passage. Their shouts, as well as the sounds of their whips on the bodies of these vehicles are said to be their way of protecting the city from possible armed robbers and kidnappers.
As midnight edges on towards morning, there’s a certain calm. The City is finally asleep and a silent prayer can only be uttered; that you’ll see the same city at day break!
