WILDALAND: A seemingly impossible wild idea made possible by a daredevil entrepreneur

Until its successful execution in the early hours of today, Tuesday, December 28, the thought of having a two-day razzmatazz in the thick, scary Shai Forest Reserve, would have been deemed a near stupid idea.

And surely, proponents of such an idea, would not have been described as overly ambitious, some would've declared them mad! Indeed, how could any sane person think of assembling some of the nation and continent's finest musicians for a two-night, residential musical concert in a wild forest with no close source for essentials like electricity, water and food?

But there was one 'crazy' guy, Baba Sadiq and his team, who dreamed this seemingly impossible idea, and dared, against all odds, to make it incredibly possible.

Sadiq is a dreamer, and he has developed a penchant for coming up with crazy ideas. As a young music entrepreneur, he successfully managed some big-name artistes in the industry, developed his music channel 3 Music, and then stunned the nation when he established the 3 Music Awards to break the two-decade monopoly of the Ghana Music Awards.

His latest Wildaland accomplishment, despite his previous feats in the industry, is truly extraordinarily out of this world! The idea, the belief, the effort, the investment, the set-up, the security, the array of high-profile stars and ultimately, the execution, has been unbelievable!

Seeing excerpts of the whole concept on social media was fascinating, but making the adventurous journey through the thick forest to the Wildaland, was truly a wild experience.

As I meandered my way through the scary forest to the main venue (about 7km from the main Shai Hills entrance), I appreciated Sadiq's daredevil spirit.

And when I got to the isolated, wild venue and saw the incredible set-up; detailed security, food court, car park, tents for accommodation, water sports, and of course a giant, glittering stage, I was completely stunned! I asked myself how did they do it, and when I saw Sadiq, that was my first statement to him.

To light up the middle of a forest reserve with so many facilities must surely have been so much work and investment. Unsurprisingly, Sadiq and his team looked exhausted, but I could see the burning desire in members of his amazing team to finish off an incredible story.

The most encouraging and refreshing aspect of this Wildaland experience was the high patronage. It would have been massively disappointing for Sadiq and his team to put in such efforts and then suffer low patronage. Even at 12 midnight, people were trooping in through the forest.

Sadiq and his team have redefined entertainment in the country by with this amazing project. This is a real definition of thinking outside the box.

I foresee the Wildaland becoming an annual international festival with people trooping in from different parts of the world for a truly Ghanaian and African experience.

As a country, this is the kind of positives we should support, especially such brilliant initiatives by the youth. It was, therefore, exciting to see Sadiq himself post about support from some state institutions.

Elsewhere, corporate institutions pump in money to sustain such initiatives, and it is my hope that with the success of the maiden edition, corporate Ghana will come on board in subsequent editions to support Sadiq and his team.

With this, Sadiq has not only chased and realised a wild dream, but he has also inspired all to believe. Nothing is impossible, and no wild dream is a stupid dream.

As Sadiq often says, no guts no glory. Your guts know no limit, and I can't imagine what you'll do next.

Maybe a concert on the sea, or perhaps in the sky.

Congratulations bro! So, so proud of you!