In 2014, I attended what until last night was my best party ever at the South of France, to be precise at Cannes, during the 67th Cannes Film Festival.
It was a sea-front A-listers’ party, organised by the International Ice Cream giant, Magnum, in celebration of their 25th anniversary—headlined by Australian popstar-Kylie Minogue.
Anyone who has ever partied with the super rich and famous at Cannes would know the parties from that part of our planet are out of the ordinary. It was a mega party—the stars, the music and the countless bottles of champagne captured the global success of Magnum.
And yesterday, Dorcas Anokye Adisi, the wife of Ghanaian media mogul, Nathaniel Anokye Adisi popularly known as Bola Ray celebrated her husband’s 40th birthday with a party that befits Bola’s incredible success story—and dwarves the opulence of my best party.
I flew in from London with Bola Ray’s most cherished Auntie, Serwaa Akoto just for the party, which brought over 300 of Bola Ray’s best friends, business associates, employees, favourite celebrities and those with substantial influence in Ghana’s media landscape to the Royal Senchi Resort.
Bola Ray is that mogul who has been there for literally everyone—and therefore everyone owes him a favor, for a favor he’s done everyone. He’s the CEO version of Harvey Specter: he does not just break bread with the “big boys”—they all seem to owe him one.
Hosted by Starr Fm’s Anita Erskine with comedy interlude from Ghanaian comedian DKB, the star-studded river-front party kick-started around 9pm with Tagoe Sisters and held on an increasing momentum till around 3am.
The Guests
When I was asked to fly into Ghana for the weekend for a Bola@40 party at the Royal Senchi Resort, I knew I had to get a new dinner suit for the party man’s own party.
Last night was a classic A-listers’ party with different tastes and tailored lines of tuxedos, complementing expensive evening shirts and bow-ties.
Seated at the far end of my table was Peace Fm’s Morning Show host-Kwame Sefa Kayi—and close to him were Lawyer Akufo, Chief Momodu Dele and KOD.
Lawyer Kissi Adjabeng, Martha Ankomah, KKD, Okyeame Kwame, Obour and several prominent Ghanaians were in attendance, to celebrate the man many described as a brother, a mentor and exceptionally humble.
Of course, the women brought their beautiful gowns to the party—everyone had made a recognisable effort to look their best. After all, the man who was being celebrated has a sharp and expensive sense of fashion.
Bola Ray And Dorcas Anokye Adisi
Bola Ray and Dorcas’ marriage is exceptionally beautiful, a benchmark of a successful contemporary marriage—they met as young lovers and have gone on to work hand-in-hand to create an enviable wealth, success and a power couple status.
Dorcas, in a video broadcast which briefly captured the Bola Ray’s success story, told us about how she went from club to club with a young Bola Ray the D.J, serving as his manager as they hustled for pay cheques, even when she was pregnant.
Today, the couple can easily pay to host hundreds of people at Royal Senchi, Ghana’s most luxurious four-star hotel notorious for its high rates—that serves as a destination for only the affluent in society.
The Real Bola Ray’s Success Story
I consider Bola Ray as a successful individual not simply because he perhaps does not need to check his bank balance anymore, no matter how much he spends. And not because he sits with the upper echelon, as the CEO of EiB Network—I know people who were handed these things without lifting a finger. All around the world, people win the lottery to become instant millionaires.
Bola Ray’s success does not rest on having pushed the borders to create a name and wealth for himself. It’s the manner he distributes his wealth and time, ensuring that even the less privileged in our societies get a bite of his success cake.
Beyond this, his success has inspired a lot of people—he has contributed and paved way for others to attain their own success.
Shatta Wale rightfully echoed the sentiments of many people when he stated that Bola Ray has made him what he’s today—adding that, he owns a house today because of Bola.
The Actual Party
It was a night of glitz and great musical performances from some of Ghana’s finest—with plenty to eat and drink.
The music maestro-Kojo Antwi ignited the party flames with a wonderful performance but that was after the guest star of the night—Marcelito Pomoy, grand winner of Pilipinas Got Talented second season had treated guests to an amazing performance.
Bola Ray is said to have fallen in love with a Youtube video of the singer whose higher-pitched ‘female’ voice is praised by critics—so the wife who organised the ‘Bola@40’ party for her husband flew him to Ghana just to perform for Bola.
When it comes to Bola and the wife, everything seems possible—and they make it look so easy and capable, for all.
At one point, it felt as though we were at a musical extravaganza: Sarkodie composed a few lines, never heard anywhere for Bola Ray and his wife. And he followed that with a great performance, keeping it slow and gentle, to mirror the atmosphere of the night.
The ‘Bola at 40′ party wouldn’t have been the same without two people; Shatta Wale and surprisingly, comedian DKB.
Shatta Wale was super energetic and he got even Auntie Serwaa Akoto, dancing and singing along—while Dorcas and her ladies lost themselves on the dance floor, as if they were having their last Passa Passa dance night.
Their dance moves took me back to the early 2000s East London’s Friday nights Yates’ dance floor—with the wild Jamaican girls kicking it in groups.
Dorcas and her ladies went WILD.
The Magnificent 3D Cake
I think this was the surprise of the night—a cake with its own version of life.
And by 3D cake, it was not one of the artistic-shaped cakes that bear the name, popular in Europe and other parts of the world. This cake told a story—it showed images and had a ‘swag’ that transcended the world of pastries.
The Party DJ—-Vyrusky
Parties, even bow-tie ones like ‘Bola Ray at 40’ would lose its momentum without a master selector, And from start to the end, DJ Vyrusky, of Starr Fm served guests with ‘tasteful’ music anytime the live band was on a break.
With a crowd belonging to different ‘generations’, DJ Vyrusky made sure the songs he dropped bridged the generational music gap.
DKB At His Best
You would expect to get some sort of sharp political satire when you find Chief Dele Momodu, the Nigerian businessman who turned a Ghanaian political commentator over-night during the 2016 elections and aggressively campaigned for John Mahama seated at a party, with DKB on the mic.
DKB took unending hits at Chief Dele—and every punch was super hilarious.
To many, DKB was the best performer of the night.
And Bola’s Philanthropical Persona Was Not Left Out
Even when bottles of champagne were ‘poppin,’ the man who has become the most prominent ambassador of SOS Children Home had the children in mind—and Bola Ray used his party to raise funds for the less privileged so that one day they would have a future, even if not exactly bright as his.
Five beautiful Bola Ray paintings were sold to invited guests, to raise funds for the children in need.
The Surcease Every Guest Must Have Hated
The party came to an end around 3pm—something every guest must have hated because the place was still rocking and the bottles of champagne were rolling in.
But then, every good experience somehow must come to an end; so was Bola Ray@40.
The Morning After the Party
The morning after most parties is called ‘hungover’. However, Bola Ray and his wife took charge of guests’ hungover by providing a breakfast buffet for 300—and the couple walked from table to table during the breakfast session, to thank everyone for making the night a blast.
That Wasn’t All—There Was A Boat Party
When Bola’s wife said she was celebrating her husband’s 40th birthday BIG—she meant it. After a long night of partying, there was a boat party too.
For me, last night’s ‘Bola Ray@40’ was a party that befitted the party man.
And the party will continue tomorrow, 5 March , 2017 at La Boma Beach—starting at 12 noon.
Check out the photos below…
