Open Mic Ogbomoso:
The Room Where We Never Say ‘Off Your Mic’

Open Mic Ogbomoso is a community-centred creative gathering in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Poetry sits at its heart, alongside music, comedy, storytelling, games and the informal exchanges through which artists test work, meet collaborators and find an audience.


THE BEGINNING BEFORE 2022

In 2015, while a final-year student at LAUTECH, Vic’Adex hosted Words on Rampage, his first documented Ogbomoso open mic. The event created a platform that was not yet available in the city. As a student, he travelled to Ibadan roughly once a quarter for Be Blessed at the University of Ibadan Zoo; an earlier internship in Lagos had also exposed him to a wider circuit of open mics and creative gatherings.

The advertised venue was 250LT. When the hall was found occupied, the organisers pivoted to Sifax Hall, LAUTECH. Sir Eriata Oribhabor of Poets in Nigeria partly sponsored the event. Poets travelled from Lagos, Ibadan and Ife, establishing a visiting tradition later continued through LKG, Savage, Tiwistar, Graciano Enwerem, Samuel Leumas, Brainy Poet and others.

Read the independent 2015 announcement · View the Words on Rampage album


THE ROOM BECAME A COMMUNITY

Other gatherings carried Ogbomoso’s open-performance culture forward. In February 2022, that lineage was consolidated under the deliberately community-centred name Open Mic Ogbomoso. The name made shared ownership visible and reduced dependence on one convener or brand.

The public invitation was simple: come and own the mic. By November 2022, the programme was already announcing its tenth edition. Later editions expanded into guest conversations, memorial gatherings, project production, competition and publication.


THE PEOPLE WHO KEPT THE ROOM OPEN

Some came to perform. Some stayed to host, document, coordinate, mentor and build continuity. These are representative stewardship records, not a closed honours roll.

Stephen Eniayewu · principal early host and steward, 2022–2024
Mayowa Odupolu (Poethick Mayor) · host, steward and continuity figure
Raymond “RayBaba” · planning-team member and community memory
Temiloluwa Okanmiyo Oluyemi · volunteer coordinator and steward
Tolulope Kadri · volunteer host during a transition period
Ajibola Olawale Rasak (WEX) · host, steward and operations lead
Aridunnu Adebayo · contributor, project coordinator and production support
Supa Sam · volunteer photographer and visual archivist
ToluKay · active early volunteer and contributor
Chenemi Zekeri · active early volunteer and contributor


WHAT THE PUBLIC RECORD REVEALS

Participant testimony has described the gathering as a haven for writers and creatives, and its stage as sacred. A March 2024 reflection described the community as growing from “very little seeds”.

The independent Matters of Consequence conversation frames the work as holding room for poetry and expression when few others will, and as the quiet labour of keeping art alive where survival often comes first.

“The mic is not the point. The community is.”


AROUND THE BLOCK ON OPEN MIC

Words on Rampage Event · The 2015 LAUTECH gathering that began the documented lineage.

Recurring Edition Archives · Photographs and recordings from the monthly programme.

RayBaba Memorial Edition · A creative remembrance of a planning-team member and community figure.

Christmas Album · A collaborative production coordinated through the Open Mic community.

Mọ́tòní Olódùn Slam · Ten poets and three rounds at the programme’s fourth-anniversary milestone.

EWÌ ’MOSHO · The first official anthology: 24 poems by 12 poets in the 2026 Reader Edition.


THE STAGE REMAINS OPEN

The embedded performances below are samples from a much larger living video archive. They preserve the room through voices rather than through a calendar alone.

Watch the December Open Mic Ogbomoso edition · Visit the 60 Seconds Poetry archive


LIVING ARCHIVE

Photographs, recordings, captions and volunteer memory preserve the programme as lived evidence: performances, conversation, audiences and the social life between items on a programme.