Bille Musical Association fulfils annual covenant with God

The Bille Musical Association Rivers State (with their nickname and title, THE COMPLETE GENTLEMEN) has again fulfilled its annual covenant with God today December 29th, 2019, at the St. Mary’s Christ Army Church (Garrick Braides Connection) auditorium at 5:00 pm.

The programme has become a reoccurring annual ritual to give gratitude to God for His providence in health, wealth, security and all good things generally that life affords. In their joint statement, the President of the association, Mr. Ibinabo Nelson Thomson and the chairman of this year’s End of Year fiesta, Mr. Brobiaye-ofori Ibibo Herbert, said this year’s version is both unique and germane. They stated that it will not be the usual tradition and practice inherited from the founding fathers, but in addition, it is a quadruple occasion (End of year music fiesta thanksgiving, awards of honour, ten million naira music centre launch and vocal solo and organ competitions).

The award is to honour eminent sons and daughters of the community that have assisted in their various capacities by nurturing choral activities to the growth and development of music to date. They further enumerated that today’s musical fiesta will feature the choral performance of the Handel’s Messiah (Part 1), in addition to vocal solo competitions and organ (keyboard) competitions by amateur/up-coming organist.

The uniqueness of this initiative is to further ameliorate, by harnessing the many prospects amongst the younger generation and nurture their potentials to bring to limelight their technical brilliance, competence, and ingenuity. It is also to develop dexterity in them while correcting ambiguous methods they may have ignorantly inculcated during their personal technical training sessions.

At the end, principal winners will be rewarded with trophies, while runners-up will cart away handsome cash incentives as motivations for determination, reproduction and continuity strategy for posterity sake.

They enumerated and elucidated the parametres for the awardees, who are in two categories: internal and external.

The internal awardees are Complete Gentleman Alabo Dr. Ibitamino Dennis Minapakama, Complete Gentleman Samuel J.K. Benebo, Complete Gentleman Engr. Itelema Sydney Kari, Complete Gentleman Amaike Ihuoma Okoronkwo and Complete Gentleman Dr. Alfred Gelles Albert-Frimenjibo, while the external awardees are Engr. Adokiye Tombomieye, Elder Boma Benebo, Hon. Anthony Sobrekon, Chief Boma Renner Ali Igolima-Dappa, Engr. Ibubelebira A. Amadiki and Pastor (Mrs.) Boma Trinya Ojokojo respectively.

Our prayer and hope is that today’s programme will not only remind us of the Season of love but will also provide to us the finances required to establish the long-overdue musical centre, which will develop to become a conservatory in the future to accommodate didactic practical skills in music targeted at the cognitive, psychomotor and affected domains of musical education.