Get Guardian on GoogleIn the words of Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart, ‘A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.
Putting into consideration that togetherness is inherently good, members of the Ile Bintin continue to maintain the reason for the formation of the group.
They athered recently at the home of Squadron Leader, Olusegun Ahmed, at 23, Lawson Street, Lagos Island for an evening of merriment and discussion.
While Ile Bintin is literally translated as a ‘small house’. It is best described as a mini-united nations. Ile Bintin started with four friends who began a regular outing and stay in a sizable tiny space.
After a while, they decided to step out from the space they used to see as a comfort zone and picked a lounge for their weekend meeting but one day, the owner of the lounge told them that he could no longer accommodate them.
Instead of seeing the set back as a way to stop their meeting, they went back to their root, saying to themselves, ‘Bi Ile Nla O Gbawa, Ile Bintin A Gbawa, Ile Bintin Gba Hundred Boys if they love each’ (If the bigger space decide not to accommodate us, the smaller place will accommodate us, the smaller place can accommodate 100 boys if they love each other). The gathering used to be casual Friday get together, then it was formalised in 2015 after it was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The founders including Mr Shaba, Dr. Olasupo Alli-Balogun, Gregory Ozegbe who are late and the current patron, Squadron Leader Olusegun Coker (Rtd), Dr. Layi Ogunbambi who was the first elected president of the club, transform the social club into a force to reckon with both in Lagos and the entire Nigeria.
Over the years, the club has grown in numbers, started charitable works and lead discussions.
Ile-Bintin Social Club was incorporated in Lagos, with Registration Number 75023. It was registered on February 2, 2015.
Speaking with The Guardian, President, Ile Bintin, Mutiu Bello, said, “We are more in tune with the culture of Lagos. We have our slogan, anthem and we are well disciplined. We are not huge in number but our presence is always felt within bigger clubs. We know each other and members of some of the big clubs are within Ile Bintin, including the President of Island Club. We are about 60 but we know each other.
On how the group is encouraging young people to join and carry on its legacy, he said: “We have members in the UK, US and others. I was a diaspora member before coming to work for the Lagos State Government in 2008 and I retired five years ago so, we are recruiting more young people into the club within and outside Nigeria and we are encouraging others because they are the future of the club.
On what makes the club unique from other clubs, he said: “We have standard for others to copy. It starts from our dressing, getting to the venue of an occasion the same time in the same colour. We have a zero tolerance for lateness and we are culturally responsible and inclined. We are all political animals, our members belong to different political parties but our group is apolitical.”
