Comedy
brings laughter and eases tension. But can it really bring peace to a
society in crisis? Julius Agwu wants to answer this question with his Crack Ya Ribs show holding in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, AKEEM LASISI writes
Celebrated comedian Julius Agwu is luring
a bevy of other humour mongers and musicians to the stage in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State tonight. But his annual show, Crack ya Ribs,
aims at performing more than the traditional feat of casting jokes. He
is exploiting it to campaign for peace in the oil-rich city that has,
in recent times, been at the centre of political fever.
Being an Ikwere, Rivers State man, he is
concerned that Port Harcourt, which had enjoyed peace for about seven
years, after it escaped from the hook of militants, is in the news
again. According to him, the peace that has reigned in the city was
secured at a price. So, all hands must be on the deck to keep it and
reduce tension.
“I have decided to tag this year’s edition the Peace Show
because we are trying to use comedy to drive home the fact that we
don’t want animosity or acrimony in Port Harcourt and Rivers State in
general. We shouldn’t have forgotten so soon what we experienced in the
recent past. There was a time that businesses relocated because of
crises. Night life was killed. It was not until the current dispensation
came into being that peace returned to the state.