Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), on Tuesday in Lagos, thrilled participants at UN Tourism Confab to the rendition and dancing of Nigerian ace singer, Kizz Daniel’s hit song, “Buga’’.
The Vice President also rendered Nigerian Afro beat star, Burna Boy’s song, Last Last (Breakfast) and another top rave artiste Asake’s song “Organise’’ at the event.
Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the UNWTO Global Conference on Linking Tourism, Culture and the Creative Industries, posited that music is a global language.
In his speech before declaring the event opened, he said people who do not know the meaning of the words of a song, enjoy the rhythm.
He said some could go further to find out meanings of lyrics, discovering the cultures and ideas that inspired them.
Osinbajo noted that currently, Nigerian music, rendered in Nigerian languages are played all over the world
He went ahead to sing, perform “Buga’’ and as well gave the interpretation of the lyrics
“Let us see how many people know this song “Koni baje o. let me see you go low low / Let me see you go lolo…..Buga won’’
“The phrase “buga won” is a Yoruba expression, it means flaunt your hard won success while “collect your money” means, `take the fruits of your work’’.
“Many all over the world are squaring up their shoulders, saying it doesn’t matter how hard it may seem let me see you dance and show off your success’.
“The musician will be performing the song at the Qatar World Cup in a few days,’’ he said.
The Vice President who also sang the Afro beat star, Burna Boy music, “Last Last’’ recalled that the musicians performed in front of 70,000 people in Finland, at the Finland’s flow festival 2022.
“Singing songs like last last (He don cast last last na everybody go chop breakfast) in pidgin English to a cheering Scandinavian audience is the power of music.
“The song is also the first Afrobeat song to have sold over 500,000 units in less than 17 weeks after its release,’’ he said.
The Vice President said another Nigerian artist, Asake’s song “Organise’’ though sang in pidgin English with street slangs is loved globally.
He recalled that in his show at the O2 Brixton in the U.K., Asake sold out to an international audience in less than five minutes.
“See how the Black Panther movie and its sequel Black Panther Wakanda Forever has taken the world by storm.
“It is breaking box office records making over $330 million in sales in its first week,’’ he said,
The Vice President noted that because the vast components of tourism are local and home grown, they are more likely to be sustainable.
He, therefore, advocated the promotion and preservation of cultural sights, forests, natural life and aqua culture for tourism purposes.
