Ijoya Rumbles At Teslim Balogun Stadium

Over 100 participants are expected to compete for the $1000 at stake in the maiden Ijoya Rumble, a dance competition organised by Real Made in Africa Concept. According to the organisers, the competition is a family entertainment show that seeks to reward young talents in Nigeria. The competition, which holds at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, on August 13, 2022, will spotlight the role of dance as a tool for advocacy and youth empowerment. Speaking on the show, Senior Partner, Real Made in Africa, Churchill Edore, said: “This is a festival. We intend doing this every month across local councils in Lagos, and then go from city-to-city in the country, but as of now, we don’t have any sponsor for the event. But we are actually looking for brands to partner and sponsor this; so, we could take enough youths off the streets.” Edore added, “we call this a festival, because we intend going into different local government, like the next one is going to be on the Island. So, once we’ve got it right, we will start going from city-to-city and have the finale in Lagos. But now, Lagos is the first point of call. Our plan is to make it a big show, where people could view the event live and we hope to start that in December 2022 and people will be able to vote for their favourite dancers. This is just the launch to create awareness. “The competition is opened to individual and group of dancers and participants in the show will be from 16 years of age and above.” On the choice of dance to give back to the society, the UK-based Nigerian, said: “The most flexible means of attracting the youths is through entertainment and that is why we chose dance.” On what inspired Ijoya Rumbles, he said: “I am not a dancer, but I love dancing, dancing is one of my hobbies. Made in Africa has been in existence since 2010. And we thought about giving back to the society by bringing in the youth, engaging our vulnerable young ones. The only way we can actually get their attention is either through dancing or through singing. So, that’s why we actually chose dancing, to get them and bring them out of pain.”