The year’s edition of the Beer and lifestyle symposium actually lived up to its billings as Nigeria’s top celebrities across social and political circles converged at the Grand Ball Room of the prestigious Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, the venue of the event.
The annual beer symposium tagged: ‘Beer and Life Style’ drew participants – Nollywood actors, academia, scientists, and nutritionists - from far and near.
Meanwhile, the biggest revelation of the event was Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, the current face and the brand Ambassador of Gulder Lager Beer. Ebuka, who got married a month ago, revealed that he received the invitation to the event at a time “he was nursing a bottle of Gulder.” I’m not an expert or research professor on a subject like this, so I don’t have any fancy slides or presentations with graphs. I’ll simply be sharing a lot more personal experiences and will try not to bore you with them. I’ll also leave most of the facts and figures to the experts here. I’ll try and speak on what I know for sure based on my time spent with beer over the years.
 |
| Mrs. Dolapo Coker |
Born in Edo State to a banker father, he said his uncle (Bashy) who actually introduced him to beer, never had a “pot belly”. “It even stuck more with me because the two uncles I had with the largest tummies in the family, didn’t drink. Akpu is the local delicacy in Okija so as an adult now I can understand where their tummy came from. But for me at the time, they simply needed to drink beer to reduce their bellies.”
Slim and fit, Obi-Uchendu had a significant turning point during his days at the Nigerian Law School in Lagos when he said he came across a report online which gave him the licence to drop the bags of coffee at the time and pick up his bottles of beer. “The report gave 3 reasons why it’s good to drink beer and study and I’ve never forgotten them. It stated that it improved creativity, made you smarter, and actually fought slight infections. Of course, it clearly said that it must be consumed in moderation just so the reverse isn’t the case. I know I’m sort of smart and I worked hard to pass my examinations at the school so I’ll take credit for it. But maybe, just maybe the beer had something to do with it,” he said.
He recalled his visit to Ireland some years ago where he got the opportunity to take a tour of a brewery. That trip, he said, was his formal introduction to how healthy beer could be. “I still remember how shocked I was to find out that beer was about 90% water. Hearing about the process and seeing it gave me a wow experience.
I’d been told all my life to drink at least 3 liters of water a day. Maybe beer would be the answer.
