Interview 

Kegite Club: "It's far beyond drinking Palm Wine and dancing" Chief Salifu Yusuf 

Ilya Lacost Chief, Salifu Yusuf during the interview session

Photo: Moshood Hameedat 

Safiu Kehinde

Kegite Club is one of the renowned socio-cultural association across Nigerian campuses. Their tentacles also spread beyond Africa's border as they are present in the likes of India, United Kingdom, etc. Like every other students associations, Kegite boasts of a well structured organogram ranging from Comrades to the members of the executive which is headed by a Chief.

Interestingly, the Chief is usually chosen- unlike other associations where the President gets elected. The chosen one may be from charismatic comrades, wiseman Philosopher, or the  palm wine server known as Pourer- as long as such member meets the criteria  a s certain traits demanded by the Elders

In this exclusive interview with LaspoWatch, Chief Salifu Yusuf, took us through his journey from being an AB Pourer to AB Philosopher, and currently the AB Chief of Ilya Lacost.

How long have you being a kegite?

I’ve been a kegite member for four years now- since my ND days.

What was your role during your ND days?

I was one of the executives then. I was the AB Pourer. That is, someone who pours palmwine whenever gyration is ongoing. After my ND, I became a fellow- a term used for members who are no longer students. After my fellowrization, I came back for HND and I was defellowrized and returned as a comrad. In the long run, I also became a Philosopher.

What does it imply to be a Philosopher?

Philosopher is the fifth in hierarchy of Kegite Club. We have fiveajor offices which are the Chief, Header, Feather, Parrot, and the Philosopher. The Philosopher is always known to be the wisest man on earth. He teaches comrads things they need to know about the club.

How has the journey been since you become the Chief?

It’s been tough, but I thank God. I have less than three months left to finish my HND Programme. At least, I’ve made history. One of the hardest thing for a leader is to control matured minds. As a Chief, you will have a lot of people under you. If an elderly person of the same age as your Dad is doing something wrong, you will need wisdom to caution such person. Aside from that, you migrate a lot as an AB Chief. You need to go over thirty functions and you will need to visit over thirty schools.

How do you combine being a Chief with academics?

That is one of the toughest challenge. In the course of going for functions, you will skip classes for sure. But there is one thing here in Ilya Lacost which I’m not sure if it exists in other schools. Before you become a Kegite Chief, your academic standard, particularly your GP, will be checked. You can’t have someone with a Pass or on probation as a Chief.

What prompted you to become a Kegite?

Before I gained admission to Laspotech, I’ve always longed to become a Kegite because I love social life. If I could remember vividly, I actually thought of becoming a Kegite member when I was in Primary Four. I watched a Yoruba movie with my Mom and saw some people dancing and singing on screen. I asked her who they are and she told me they are kegite members. When I gained admission, I didn’t join at first, but I usually come to the shrine to watch their activities. There was this particular person in my department popularly known as Obembe Alhaji. He used to be the Feather then. Him being the feather and President of School of Agriculture and from my department, he liked me and inspired me to join the club.

What are the benefits of being a Kegite member?

Kegite is a socio-cultural group, like I said earlier. It is far beyond drinking palmwine and dancing. It connects you with a lot of people and big personalities you never thought of meeting in your life. I’ve met with a lot of top officials who are  Kegite members during their school days. I would never have met  them if not for Kegite.

What is your take on people’s perception of the club as a secret cult?

If we are indeed a secret cult, you won’t see us gyrating outside like this. We won’t even be given a land to establish on. Indeed, there is always a bad egg in every club or association. But the moment we discover that a member is in a secret cult, we dekeg such member once we get concrete and undeniable evidence against such person. Dekegging implies  withdrawing the membership of such person.