By Ogbonna Amadi
Words are not just enough to describe the glamour, the glitz, the breezy opulence that descended on the plus Convention Centre of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, the venue of  Silverbird’s 30th Anniversary party, last Saturday November 6, 2010.

It was surely a pot-pourri of pizzazz blended with the very best of entertainment only the ‘rock of Nigeria’s entertainment industry, Mr. Ben Murray Bruce could have conceived and so glowingly executed.

Almost right on the hour of 4pm guests from every walks of life had begun to walk the red carpet that stretched all the way from the corridors and walkways of the Expo Hall down to the lush newly renovated Convention Centre.

After you must have walked past the retinue of guards who ran some metal detectors through you, you walk right in into full blast of melody being deftly dished out by the D.J on his turn-table.

The real groove didn’t get going until about 5pm and it started with Kaffy and cohorts coming on stage to do what they knew so well how to do best. Then the party really began as the renown Sharpe Band came on to do a rendition of various Nigerian hit songs from 30 years ago to the present time. But before that a multimedia presentation had lit the Hall chronicling songs of deceased Nigerian artistes as a special tribute to them.

For the international departed artistes, it was the renowned Party On The Moon Band, best known for their awe-inspiring performance at Barrack Obama’s inauguration ceremony, who brought back memories of legendary African-Americans like Michael Jackson, James Brown, Luther Vandross and Marvin Gaye. But it did not end there for the US-based multi-talented band as they later stayed on dishing out various singles that got too many of the guests not only tapping their feet and shaking their heads but going as far as doing some dancing twinges.

Ben Bruce’s speech
The already charged atmosphere got to head when the Silverbird’s big boss, Mr. Ben Murray Bruce took charge of the podium to deliver a speech that would go down in history as one of the best ever.

After highlighting the birth, the struggles, the  success and achievements attained by Silverbird in the last 30 years as the slides on the projector screen showed guests how the entertainment conglomerate began the tardy journey, he spoke on how military governments nearly put paid to his ambition of building a media and entertainment empire, now fully in his grasp , Bruce really went to work speaking on what he knew best-entertainment, pitching his tent with those  who could not speak for themselves.

Those in entertainment, who have been toiling in the streets to find meaning to their lives, those who lack basic necessities of life, those who could not even put food on their tables, and for the youth of the Niger Delta too.

“I have one message for you tonight. Mr President,” looking the President in the face “I want you to support the entertainment industry.” It’s not about me, it’s not about Silverbird, it is about Nigerians, about the youth who are our future.”

Then he let loose what brought about the biggest stir of the night by demanding a birthday gift from the president saying‘’I want you to recognize the entertainment industry, you said you will never let them down, let the young kid go to the bank and borrow a million or two to make a record or make a movie, support the entertainers, if you support them, they’ll vote for you’.

Thereafter he went on to unveil his plan to build the tallest building in Africa, an edifice he said would be known as Silverbird Stratosphere, a 64-storey multi-purpose skyscraper to be situated in Abuja.

The President’s response
The president took the stage, radiating the boyish charm he is so well  known for and caught everyone almost short when he started “ Ben Bruce has committed two offences tonight” but soon defused the tension by jokingly explaining what he meant.

If anyone had taught the President how to get people laughing they had certainly made a good job of it. He said the first offence Bruce committed was  dragging  him out to come and speak to entertainers, singers, those whose “sweet voices” he had been hearing since he entered the hall and that he could not imagine having to speak with his ‘bad voice’ after people had had the pleasure of pleasing voices of the entertainers.

The second offence, as the president pointed was the three-piece cake which he said was too small for Silverbird to cut to celebrate its 30th anniversary. He then went on to tell the story of how he rejected a suggestion to cut a cake and eat and make history, thereby putting Nigeria in the Guinness Book of Records, for displaying the biggest cake in the course of the nation’s 50th Independence Anniversary celebration, as it was once suggested to him.

It didn’t matter that some other people wanted to pay for the cake, and that all the president needed to do was to be part of the biggest_cake_cutting jamboree.

“I didn’t want to make Guinness Book of Records for the biggest cake, but I am happy to be here to join you and put Nigeria’s entertainment  industry in the Guinness book of records,” he said to an appreciative round of applause. Continuing “‘Nollywood is getting set to take over the world, I recognize the entertainment in the Nigerian economy, this government will support an industry that makes Nigerians happy.

I gave them direct order to make sure entertainers have $200million worth of loan to work with. Make more movies, write and produce more hit songs, provide jobs and give hope to our people’ he promised and that simply sent the hall into wild explosion of applause, jubilation, chating and cheering that took some time to quiet down

The A_list dignitaries at the event  include finanance minister Mr. Olusegun Aganga, Petroleum minister Diezani Allison-Madueke, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Communications minister Dr. Dora Akunyili, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu Professor Wole Soyinka, EFCC chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri, Mr. Olanrewaju Balogun, Commissioner of Rural Development, who represented  Gov. Babatunde Fashola of  Lagos, the chief host, the Foreign Affairs minister, Odein Ajumogobia, CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, models, musicians, Nollywood stars, media executives and many others.