This time I am writing on a topic that may appear to some people NOT glamorous enough, for their liking. To others however, the opposite world view might be their take on it.

I am going to write on the skit making talent of the Kano Comedian ‘Dan Bello, who has captured the imagination of the northern region with his genre of entertainment.  Comedy through skit making. 

He has two punch lines that remain constant throughout his career. These are:  ‘tsaya, tsaya, tsaya’, roughly translated to mean ‘wait, wait, wait’, and  ‘ai kaji fa’ translated roughly as ‘there (you go) again’.

Dan Bello authored so many skits in this genre to his credit, but for me, one of his best yet is where he played a one man cast of five, in a classroom with ‘pupils’ from Arabia, India, England, Nigeria, and himself, as the ‘teacher’.

In the said comedy, the ‘teacher’ asked each of the ‘pupils’ to sing a song that was considered to be more pleasant to the ear in his nation. Each of the ‘pupilS’ sang the song he believed was most accepted to be pleasing to the ear in his own country, in that order.

But when it came to the turn of the Nigerian to sing the ‘National’ music that was most pleasing to the ears of millions of their compatriots, there was an increase in the brightness in the ‘classroom’, and both the ‘teacher’ and the ‘pupil’ shouted ‘NEPA’, at the same time. The suggestion is that the CRY of NEPA by one and all always proceeds the return of power.

Dan Bello’s most often topic is the rampant corruption in the country, which has become a past time of sorts among the leadership and the political elite in the country. His two punch lines also come into play here, with him playing the roles of both giver, taker, and the eventual victim of corruption in the society.

Other skits of his in this genre is about rogue politicians, where, as usual, he played both the antagonist and the protagonist. Such comedies always ended with the ‘corrupt’ politician pretending not to know the hardship the common Nigerian was going through.

Dan Bello also appeared a very ‘mean and misery’ person who was always a practice in unkindness, a character flaw common with most politicians on these shores we call home.

In his previous skits, there was a very smart ‘boy’ that used to appear in most of the episodes, but does not do so now. He was a spitting image of Dan Bello. For all this writer knows, the boy could have been the son or brother of Dan Bello’s. 

For me, his most memorable appearance in the comedy was standing half way between ‘Dan Bello’ and ‘Mai Suya’ (street roasted-meat seller). Dan Bello played the roles of ‘Mai Suya and that of himself. The Mai Suya was selling roasted chickens this time. The boy asked Dan Bello the number of thighs in two chickens, not to the hearing of Mai Suya, of course.

Upon getting his answer, he now (boy) spoke to the Mai Suya in whisper, asking him to serve him (boy) with two chickens, courtesy of Dan Bello, who was standing far away from the two and could therefore not hear their conversation. Only their gestures he could see and guess, what was being inferred. When the Mai Suya doubted him, the boy turned onto the position of Dan Bello and pointed his four fingers, to which Dan Bello nodded his head in agreement. It convinced the Mai Suya that ‘the message was indeed from Dan Bello, as was conveyed by the smart boy.

One wonders what became of him now, that he does not appear in Dan Bello’s skits anymore. It is ardently hoped that there was no parting of ways between him and the Dan Bello group. And if there was, it is again hoped that it was not acrimonious, because such a partings do have the consequences of turning to regrets later.

One other thing that makes Dan Bello’s works special is their ‘originality’. They appear to belong to a genre not tried by another artist before him. Originality will forever remain a needed selling point for the arts.

For me, it was always a pleasure to watch the skits of Dan Bello, as they somehow teach one lesson or another to the society on the society, especially in relation to corruption in the country.

The society needs more Dan Bello, to keep the mind of most of the people away from the daily rigours of survival. They should however, be original in this genre of long comedies through skits. There is more room to accommodate such comedians, especially in the northern part of the country.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.