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.