GLO Literary Event in Accra- *Strictly by Invitation*

The Nigerian telecommunication giant, Globacom Limited,  which  touts itself as "Africa's fastest growing telecommunications company" is on  the brink of storming Ghana. Well, I should add that they have been on this very brink for a while now! 'Glo' as the company is called, is probably one of the most advertised companies  in Ghana that does not actually sell any products on the Ghanaian market...

Despite the lack of availability of Glo products, they are really making their presence in Ghana felt. Apparently, they are a major sponsor of the Ghanaian premier football league and lately, eye-catching Glo billboards are splashed across town featuring some popular Ghanaian celebrities endorsing Glo. Speaking of popular, there's one woman in the billboards I had never heard of and at least 3 different people have asked me who she is. Her name starts with an 'S'. Any clues anyone?

This past week, Glo caught my attention once again. This time, the  Thursday edition of the Daily Graphic newspaper had a full-page advert about an  Evening with Wole Soyinka & Ghanaian Literary Giants with performances by the Senegalese great Youssou N'dour and many others. Sounded tantalizing to me.

The Glo Advert 

Some years ago, I had the privilege of partaking in an evening with Wole Soyinka at my undergraduate college. I was held spell-bound by this African luminary with his unapologetic views on African governance, corruption and literature. At the end of the evening, when I had the perfect opportunity to approach Wole Soyinka to gush about the genius of the poem Telephone Conversation or how I got to play Sidi in our English class production of the Lion and the Jewel, I literally froze in my seat.

The Glo evening promised to combine the literary prowess of Soyinka with his Ghanaian counterparts such as Atukwei Okai and Ama Atta Aidoo. Perhaps it would also be an opportunity to (think about) approaching the literary giant for an autograph. As my mind drifted off to the happy reunion, I failed to see the small print at the bottom of the advert with the curious proviso "Strictly by invitation". I say 'curious' because I cannot understand why Glo or any other company would go through all the trouble of publicizing an event that was already closed to the public? Can it really count as a Glo publicity gambit?

Luckily, fellow Ghanablogging  blogger Golda was one of the privileged invitees. I cannot wait to read her blog posts on the event. In the meantime, I'm Glo-ing green with envy!