The popular street dance, Shaku Shaku, has come and gone and has fast been replaced with another dance, Zanku. However, the origin of Zanku did not become an issue till popular Nigerian comedian, AY Comedian, claimed on his Instagram page that he was the founder of the dance. To buttress his point, he posted a video of himself dancing at one of his AY live concerts many years ago.
Many people believe that the Zanku dance was made popular by Zlatan Ibile.
But AY Comedian, who has about 4.7 million followers, said, “Anytime the prophet AY comes on stage, he does the Zanku dance. That is Prophet AY’s credit; the origin of Zanku will be thrashed to AY live.”
Following this video, there were speculations that the comedian was aiming to get the credit for the popular dance.
“I am not contesting it (Zanku) with anybody. I just called people’s attention to it jokingly for them to know that I did a similar dance long ago. Let’s leave the credit for the one who made the dance popular. But before River Niger was discovered and named, I am sure there were people who swam in it,” he said.
Asked about how he has been able to stay successful in the entertainment industry, despite not being considered by many people as the funniest comedian in Nigeria, AY said it was a proof that talent is not enough.
“It is good to know that you know AY is not the funniest comedian in Nigeria. Consistency and hard work in many ways have confirmed that talent is not enough. Within the entertainment circle, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
“It is like saying someone is the best student in mathematics without complementing it with other subjects, you can compare him with the student who gets an average in maths and 100% in other subjects. The general and continuous assessment would push the weaker mathematician towards success, I believe,” he said.
Asked about the secret behind his successful marriage, he attributed it to the grace of God and the fact that he married his friend.
“Staying married is not what anybody can brag about. Some people are just lucky to enjoy grace by marrying their true friends who can tolerate their excesses. My wife and I approach our marriage with the idea that we will both work together on “being married” every day. Staying married for me and my PA (Personal Angel) is a daily work in progress.
“We don’t ignore problems when we first notice them. We work on them before they fester and explode. We try to treat each other like a date and with respect too. We try not to take each other for granted,” he told Saturday Beats.