I Felt My Words Weren't Deep Enough. I Was Not Getting The Technicalities..." LASU Superstar Spoken Word Artiste Reveals

By Nworie Daniel

These were the words and more of LASU's prodigious spoken word poet/artiste, Victory Ashaka, a 200 level student of the English Department in the Faculty of Arts (LASU), in an exclusive interview with ACJ-LASU. 

In the course of the interview session, Victory talked about his failures, successes, the assistances he got, his unique style of speaking and his advice for artistes who want to follow in his footsteps.

On his failures, Victory recalled one of his memorable experiences in the year 2019. He stated that he was discouraged as he felt his words were not deep enough, and was missing the technical aspects of his speech.

Giving details on how he started off his career and acknowledging the impact of the Lagos State University Debate Society (LASUDSC) on the development of his craft, Victory revealed that in 2015, he began his spoken words career when he performed an event which had in attendance, Current Minister For Power and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wọlé Soyinka. 

After that event, by 2019, he made up his mind to follow the path of a career in spoken words.

He added, "LASUDSC was a huge platform for my journey. It was my oral skill refinery. From here, I got exposed to the nitty-gritty of public speaking."

He didn't stop at what people or his associations gave him but he also engaged in personal development, detailing its importance. 

Victory narrated how he made a conscious decision to grow by investing enough time watching YouTube videos, following accomplished spoken words poet, updating his vocabulary and putting his craft to work in a practical sense. He emphasized that ",There is a success that comes through growth, there is a knowledge that comes through mastery."

Speaking about his wins in the course of his career, Victory Ashaka admitted that he began to see outstanding results of his hardwork and investments in 2021 in form of various awards and recognitions. 

He listed a good number of Awards/ recognition he has won, namely: National Champion, Speak Pro Public Speaking Competition, Young Person of the Year, Badagry Social Media Awards for 2021.

Revealing his unique style of presentation, he stated that he uses background sounds for his presentations because, the combination of both words and sound gives an assurance of an attentive audience, calmed atmosphere and his message will have the channel to sink into their minds without hinderance.

"Words get to the heart, and music gets to the soul," he said.

The award-winning 'spoken' words poet without fail took the opportunity to advise and encouraged up-and-coming spoken word artistes to be passionate.

He said, "They should let their passion keep them going as they strive for mastery".

Worth of note is that aside from being a spoken words poet, Victory Ashaka is also a content creator, climate activist and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocate.

In addition to his awards and honours, in 2021, Victory was the 2nd runner-up in the national video contest tagged, #4ABetterNigeria organized by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).