During his 4 – day  visit in September 2005, Wesley hung out with the locals and ate and dined with them, feeling at home in a country he first visited in 1986 when he came to research a theatre project involving Wole Soyinka.

 Wesley’s countenance and demeanour throughout his visit showed him as a man happy to be back ‘home’ in the land of his ancestors.

 The importance of his visit was not lost on the Nigerian government, which most deservedly bestowed him with the honorary citizenship of Nigeria and also with the position of Goodwill Ambassador. Also, he now holds the key to the city of Abuja, a symbolic gesture which allows him unrestricted access to Nigeria’s capital city.

To crown his visit, Wesley took out time to visit Mbaukwu in Anambra state, the acclaimed home of all Igbos, and the state of Nri Kingdom (Nri is the ancestral home of all Igbos). The traditional ruler of Mbaukwu, His Royal Highness, Igwe Peter .N Anugwu used the occasion of his annual Ofala festival (Igu Aro) to bestow on Wesley a chieftaincy title as the Ikemba (the strength of the town) of Mbaukwu.  Johnson Ike, a resident of London and an indigene of Mbaukwu praised the Igwe for putting Mbaukwu on the world map, 'The Igwe's legacy is not in doubt any more, as he always has the interest of Mbaukwu at heart' he concluded.

It was interesting to see Wesley feel so much at home with the villagers and other dignitaries, including the Executive Governor of Anambra state, Dr. Chris Ngige, Wesley freely greeted other titled men present at the festival in the traditional Igbo way and custom of Ina ito (3 slaps of the back of the palm), an ancient custom reserved only for men with traditional titles, Ndi Ichie and those that belong to the ancient Nze na Ozor traditional society.    

Wesley Snipes’ visit to Nigeria was a private sector initiative, although the Nigerian government quickly piggy-tailed and exploited the visit to gain image mileage (more like reaping where they did not sow). Hopefully Wesley can use his goodwill ambassador status and position to attract foreign investors to Nigeria as intended by the Nigerian government, especially in the entertainment sector, a sector with huge growth potentials.

This sector is currently being dominated by the movie industry, which is now known as Nollywood. There are opportunities for further growth because the industry boasts of hundreds of talents, production costs are low and the there is an ever increasing market for the movies, not only in Nigeria but also in the whole of Africa and beyond, especially in the western countries with huge diasporan population.

Hopefully, Wesley Snipes visit will attract the interests of other successful African – American artistes such as Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Eddy Murphy, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs and so on. This obviously will be another example of ‘self-help’ of which Nigerians are known for. Also, such visits will show that the African-American artistes are being their brothers’ keepers; as such visits will draw the world’s attention to the potentials and opportunities that abound in Nigeria, Africa’s largest market and the world’s 6th most populous nation. This will be more desirable that the current trend for Nigeria and other African countries to always go on their knees begging either for debt forgiveness or for developmental aid from the developed countries.  

While in Nigeria, Wesley was a guest of the American Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell, and used the occasion to pose for pictures with embassy staff.

Many thanks to Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, the chief executive and managing director of The Dome entertainment centre Abuja and Honourable Kenneth Nwabueze of JAHJING Entertainment, U.S.A for bringing Brother Wesley to the home of his ancestors. Hopefully, this will be a sign of better things from their entertainment stable, for the glory of self and country.

Click to watch video 1 and video 2 of Wesley Snipes’ visit to Nigeria.

Comments Page: 1 posted on 09-30-2005, 09:21:31 AM EezeeBee The video\'s didn\'t show up Oga Uche, Great summary; unfortunately, the websites you provided do not show the videos of his trip. I suppose the links are not static so there are other video clips there now. Nothing spoil sha... posted on 09-30-2005, 09:57:44 AM Uche nworah video link eezeebee The link for video 1 (ITN video of the airport reception) is still ok, but for some reasons video 2 (the reuters video of the chieftaincy event) links to other reuters video. posted on 09-30-2005, 10:42:45 AM Guest To crown his visit, Wesley took out time to visit Mbaukwu in Anambra state, the acclaimed home of all Igbos, and the state of Nri Kingdom (Nri is the ancestral home of all Igbos). We need to stop repeating this lie that Nri is anything but another Igbo clan. posted on 09-30-2005, 11:16:22 AM Odinaka Who on earth is Wesley? Why the chieftaincy title-the strenght of Mbaukwu? Those traditional rulers who just give out titles any how are as guilty as the financial criminals. Uche, I am dissapointed with this piece. Not the subject matter but the style. posted on 09-30-2005, 11:54:24 AM Uche nworah Odinaka, wetuo obi! Who on earth is Wesley? Why the chieftaincy title-the strenght of Mbaukwu? Those traditional rulers who just give out titles any how are as guilty as the financial criminals. Odinaka, is wesley snipes a financial criminal? it seems you are not seeing the whole picture. Chieftaincy titles in igboland is also given as an honour, agreed it has been abused but then when you consider that the organisers of wesley\'s trip used that as a strategy to make him feel welcome, even in the developed countries, individuals are also bestowed such honours. Who on earth is Wesley? Why the chieftaincy title-the strenght of Mbaukwu? Those traditional rulers who just give out titles any how are as guilty as the financial criminals. posted on 09-30-2005, 12:05:57 PM Odinaka Uche nwanne, I have not called Wesley a criminal. And I am not against giving him a solid welcome; but why confer on him such a bogous title. The 419 heroes and other criminals get their chieftaincy titles from traditional rulers and my argument is that they are simply messing up the system with such confernment. Wesley was a welcome visitor but that title was unnecessary, they could have chosen another. posted on 10-05-2005, 14:49:10 PM VayaConDios Wesley Snipes Visit There is nothing wrong with giving Wesley Snipes a title... but something as deep or as traditional, as the title of IKEMBA is rather too way off. How has he been the strength of the town? Don\'t you all think that a title like OBI NWANNE (friend of the town) would have been more appropriate? Well, I stand to be corrected, but these are just my thoughts. It would also be nice to see more Igbo communities giving out such titles to non-Igbo neighbours or members of other ethnic groups. A few of them have done so already, but they could still do more. It would help to foster inter-tribal links & goodwill among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria. strength posted on 10-31-2005, 20:03:25 PM Guest Thank God I thought I was the only one that saw no iota of sense in the gesture. I mean, i love Wesley snipe any day but, come on now! Like RMD would get the same treatment. Our leaders will never cease to amaze me. A fellow \"Wafi\" stated in the following thread, http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/index....tent/view/1825/ and I quote QUOTE: Ehen, Mr Writer wetin you de think????: Did you expect a Nigerianto come to the US and be a president or CEO without working hard for it???? May be you should be cautioning the Nigerians at home who are very much in a state of colonial mentality; they worship the Oyibos in their own backyards - \\"educated or non educated\\". many of these oyibos even come to manage people who are more experienced and educated than themselves. Nigerians need to strip themselves from the thought \\" Oyibo na god, black man na devil\\". Don\'t be surprised that the vast majority in the category with such beleifs, are the educated Nigerians. i think the \"oyibo\" should be taking out and substituted with \"Hollywood star\" or \"African-American\" Go to the Full Discussion Thread Comments Page: 1