By Christy Anyanwu
Ambassador Nneka Isaac Moses is the co-founder and managing director of Goge Africa Worldwide Limited, a cultural programme on television that started in 1999.
October 1 was the first time it debuted on four television channels and this is their 25th year. There are many activities to mark the anniversary.
In this interview, Nneka spoke about the humble beginnings of Goge Africa, challenges, achievements, the next phase and lots more.
What were some of the most memorable challenges encountered in this journey of Goge Africa?
When we started, we would have stopped even before we took off. You remember that Bellview Airline that crashed some years ago? That same plane brought us back from the Gambia, dropped us and continued to Abuja and crashed. Our crew went to the Gambia on the invitation of the President. We have had a lot of life-threatening situations on this journey. Another time, we were sponsored by the Ethiopian government and Ethiopian Airlines. We went to a monastery in Ethiopia. We were in their country for about eight nights. We went to see the monks and do some shoots there. They told us to leave there before 6:00p.m. They have a small market there. So, meeting the monks and all the ancient treasures there, we were carried away by the history of the Ethiopians and we were not mindful of the time, though the tour guide that came with us kept saying we had to leave; we stayed there and left a little late and the waves caught up with us. Because they knew the place, that’s why they said we should leave by 6:00p.m. As we sailed, water would carry the small boat, throw it up. Every place can be dangerous if you don’t obey the rules. So, the waves were getting water into the boat. I had a monk seated by my side he was very calm, he was just praying. I looked at his face, that calmness descended upon me. I started praying. Also on that trip was my husband, our son, our camera crew and a Ugandan intern working with us. We continued singing praises and not too long after everything was calm, but the boat went off course. The captain later found his way back. We have had many life-threatening situations and we are alive today to tell the story. If anything would have happened, all of us would have just perished. We always fly, we go on boat cruises, ship cruises, we travel by water and train, but I am not scared. I just have to trust God. I have this feeling that we would die at a very old age. I trust God. It would perturb you, but I know that God always had our back.
Your dressing, accessories and hairdo are extremely different from the norm most times, how do people perceive your personality?
It was not fashionable then, but I wasn’t looking for acceptance by the status quo at the time. I was trying to make a statement for my continent, I was trying to make a statement for my culture and the mosaic of cultures in Africa. Research wasn’t easy, I mean trying to google it. I relied a lot on photographs that I have seen in the past and I relied a lot on my intuition and, because I’m a creative person, I started as a fashion designer not just with making clothes, even with my hair. Sometimes, you see me put chalk on my face, some dots, when I’m presenting. Back then, some of the presenters presenting music videos from America and so on would wear designers like Valentino and Christian Dior, but that didn’t freak me. I wanted to wear authentic African things. We enter places that ordinary people would not want to enter. The curiosity, the passion is unmatched. Once, when we went to South Africa, there was this lady who said, the way you people dress, with cowries, I think you would like to see a Sangoma. I didn’t know what Sangoma meant, but I said yes. We went there, the woman was dancing, making some funny gestures, it was scary, but I was amused, just looking at her, smiling. She did some prophecy and told the person that brought us: these people were sent by their ancestors. And because they sent you they will protect you. You are going to travel to many places. People will hear your name and see what you are doing because you are promoting Africa, promoting what your ancestors want you to promote. Do not deviate. Follow the path of your ancestors because that’s the path of your wealth. This was in 2001. We started in 1999. That was when we met Brenda Fassie, Rindle Mandugoxxi, Lucky Dube, Black Mandaxo, BOGO Mankin, Gloria Balmksman and Yvonne Chaka Chaka. My husband and I didn’t take her prophecy seriously, but everything we did, I got joy. One day, I went to the market, I was wearing cowrie jewelry, earrings and rings. The woman selling fish said N1,000. I touched the fish, I priced N500, N400, the way we price here, and she said take. I asked why, then somebody touched me and said the cowrie you wear means something. They attach so much meaning to these things; but, today, we use cowries to do our buttons and it’s just okay.
Your dressing was a bit strange years back, what was the perception then?
The people that really loved it were non-Nigerians, foreigners. Nigerians outside Nigeria also loved it. Even Europeans. What I realized was, over the years, as people grew up and they saw me, they started liking it. People started growing their natural hair. So, I feel very happy because I feel we have made an impact. The changes that have happened in a couple of decades in what we are showing locally and globally are very impressive, but I still believe that there’s so much more to be done because the damage the colonial masters have done to our psyche, especially to our culture, is something that will take a lot of work to wipe out. People are not too proud of who they are. I remember those days when people used to bleach.
Stardom, how has that affected you as a person?
I have a lot of star friends, but I am not a star. I go to Ketu to buy my fruits. I go to Mile 12. For foodstuff, I go to Oyingbo market. The perception though, truly, when I enter the market, they will be murmuring, is it her, is it not her? Some would say if she’s the one what would she be doing here? Then someone would come to ask me if I’m Goge, and I would say what is that? And they would say, See? It is not her. They are not sure. You even sound like her, they would say, and I tell them we have a wonderful God, and they let me go my way. When people see you where they think you are not supposed to be, they don’t believe it’s you, but if they see you in a supermarket or any of these highbrow areas and say, let’s take a picture, they believe it’s you. In the open market they are confused. That’s how it works.
You have not really changed in terms of physique and finesse, what’s the secret?
There’s no recipe. I know I have good genes from my parents. I don’t know how anybody would be everywhere and add weight. I have a very high metabolism. I eat everything I want. My own future is in the morning. I had unripe plantain flour and vegetable fish with cow leg. Not too long ago, I had a pizza, a slice of it. I eat a lot, especially during the day, because I’m very active. I’m not big on exercise, but I will start soon because my chief bridesmaid, Kate Henshaw, is heavy on exercise and it’s showing on her. So, I’m going to emulate her.
Did you envisage Goge Africa becoming popular and blow this way?
(Laughs) Has it blown? We are just taking it one day at a time. People say our culture is festive. Back then, there was this letter from NTA, one lady that we gave our pilot episode to watch, and she responded with a letter that the show was fetish and unfit for public broadcast. That would have killed our spirit, but we said, okay, we need to do this show very well so that this woman would know that African culture is not festish, African culture is beautiful. For us, anytime we fall down is an opportunity for us to stand up.
Did you have mentors and sponsors in the beginning?
Mentors in culture? It’s hard. I can’t think of any. I can’t think of any mentor that spurred us on then. Most people were praying for us and telling us to go to a living church. We were Catholic when we started, but now there are many churches that you have access to and you can even pray online. My true mentor is actually my mother. She’s been a hardworking woman. Growing up with her (my dad had passed early) and looking at the way she did things, looking at her footsteps helped me. She’s always telling me, there’s a way. My mother would tell me that nothing is impossible. If you knock at the door the door is not open, you can break down the wall, you still enter, or fly in through the window, if you need to enter there. She’s a very strong and resolute woman and her sense of success is not really in cash, but she’s a woman of substance. And she’s my guiding light and my mentor.
Where are you from?
I am from Ihiala, in Anambra State.
Before Goge Africa what were you doing?
I was a boutique owner. I was selling clothes and making clothes. I was a member of Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN). At that time (Folorunsho Alakija), the richest woman in Africa, was our president, and myself and Funmi Ajila would carry her handbags. Even with Mrs. Folawiyo of Labannella. When I started Goge, I went to play the video to Auntie Alakija. She looked at it, you know she’s a very religious person, a Christian woman.The heavy Africanese of the montage, with people painting their face, wearing cowries, didn’t really go down well with her at the time, but later in years, she came to accept and understand the concept of Goge Africa. These people are my women mentors, people who have gone before me to show that a woman can do something. I think my ultimate mentor is my husband. He is my greatest inspiration. He inspires me a lot, saying, you can do it. I thought I was not cut out for presentation, but he encouraged me. Babe, you can do this, he kept telling me. You see, it’s not a live programme, you make your mistakes, I make my mistakes, you will edit it and it will look perfect.
All I wanted him to do was to wear my costumes.
Goge Africa is 25 this year, any special activities for the celebration?
Since the dawn of 2024, we marked out the year for the celebration, starting with the Face of Goge Africa. Face of Goge Africa happened on March 23, 2024. It was a strategic move to announce it so that people know that something big is happening this year. Face of Goge Africa is like an inaugural edition of our celebration. We also used it to connect with the younger generation because most of the people that grew up with me on Goge Africa were young when I started. A lot of people that were also young and watching when we started are now MDs in banks and different places. So, the younger ones now connected with Goge Africa because it was a vibrant thing, a platform to showcase young African creatives, and it came out as a good success. It’s not a normal pageant where people come and wear bikinis. It’s a pageant where you showcase your creativity, your culture. We had five winners who also carted away different prices and opportunities to travel to different African destinations.
Next thing we are pushing out is on tourism. The major event is the Goge Africa Festival, which comes up on October 26 and 27, at Onikan Stadium, Lagos. After the festival, we are hosting a luxury cruise. We are going to our brothers in the Carribeans. It’s a cruise to the Bahamas. It starts from Florida and connects to about four different countries in the Bahamas. From Port Carnival we all enter Wonder of the Sea, which is the largest ship in the world. We are spending eight nights cruising from one country or the other, with lots of entertainment. We are not taking this 25 years for granted.
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