With the Zik Hall event, ASA a few hours away, Zik Press correspondent, Fafure Kehinde had a brief chat with the hall chairman of Nnamdi Azikiwe hall, Sotomi Daniel. Here, Sotomi speaks about his intentions and expectations for the event.
Can you tell us the inspiration behind the event?
Well, because Zik does not usually do all these kinds of parties. What we mostly do are gyrations… So, most of our freshers came to me when they were going to parties from other halls. And then they came to me and said, are we not going to have our own party in Zik because of what they've been seeing around? And I was like, okay, we'll see what we can do about it. But we cannot allow ourselves to be pressured into doing parties.
So, we finally decided that if we are going to do the party, it must tell our story as Zikites. Because everything that we do in Zik, boils down to our tradition, Zikism.
So, we were like, okay, what can we tag this event? So, we tagged it ASA. And the idea behind ASA is to celebrate Zikites, and Uites. So, that's what the event is about, celebrating the UI culture and the Zik culture.
What will the event be all about?
The Asa event will be an after-party to Zik hall's 62nd anniversary which is coming up tomorrow, 20th September, 2025.
Does the event have any sponsors? Who are the sponsors?
Yes, we have sponsors. Our major sponsor prefers to be anonymous. Our major sponsor was supposed to be Cydex but some issues came up in their company so, for now, they said they cannot sponsor any event.
But luckily for us, we were able to reach out to alumni of the hall like the former chairman of the hall and the former vice-chairman, former Elders’ council chairman, former faculty president of social science, and one main sponsor who wants to remain anonymous for his own sake because he's not a really loud person.
Mainly, we don't really have a brand sponsor. Just former Zikites and people that love the Hall.
Can you tell us what Zikites and Uites should look forward to in the event?
Having fun, celebration of their culture, and just having a nice time.
How do you think the event could shape the social atmosphere in UI and Zik hall?
It's been long that we have had events tagged with this theme. Most events are just done for "let us do" events. This event has a structure. Before we came up that we are going to do an event, we sat down and thought of how we could make it so that if you even hear of it, you will know that, this is a Zik party. This is what it's about. Because we took our time to explain it in all our publicity.
To explain that, okay, all we are doing is celebration of UI culture, and then down to the Zik hall culture. Come and party like a Zikite. That's the motto of the event. Also, Since my stay in this school, Zik has never organized a party except for maybe the variety night during the hall week. So, this party, for sure, will shape the social atmosphere of Zik hall.
It will change the narrative that Zik is only known for drums and gyration. Though this event does not take away the fact that we are still going to do our normal gyration and all. But we can also accommodate other people from other places and celebrate together in Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall.
To the final question, what are your expectations of the event?
My expectation is, the main purpose of the event is for people to come and enjoy themselves. So, what is on my own end, and I believe will happen is, we have Zikites from every corner of the University of Ibadan coming into the hall and witnessing the biggest Hall event in the University of Ibadan this year.
