Buchi Atuonwu

By Daniels Ekugo

For those who want the nightclub scene without the drinking and solicitations for sex, Kulture Yard, a Christian Lounge/ Club, sitaute at 2b Abba Johnson, off Adeniyi Jones avenue, Ikeja, Lagos offers a fun atmosphere where believers and nonbelievers can have a good time.

The lounge is owned by popular Nigeria gospel artiste Buchi Atuonwu.

“Just because you’re saved doesn’t mean you can’t dance,” Buchi told The News in an interview on Friday. Buchi said he was inspired to create Kulture Yard when he discovered the need for “an alternative place to go dance or party without drinking, without being picked up.”

Traditional churches end up stifling people, Buchi said. “Ninety-nine percent of church people are the ones who patronize secular clubs,” he argued. “We feel that the churches, somewhat, in some cases, are putting people back in slavery.”

Pastors warn their congregations against having fun, and that drives them to go to secular clubs.

But “salvation is not slavery,” Buchi explained. “It’s freedom with boundaries.” he cited Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven,” using it to emphasize her point that God wants Christians to have a good time.

Kulture Yard does not limit its clientele to Christians, however.

“The church is supposed to be for sinners needing salvation, not for sinners who are claiming they are saved and denying salvation.” He quoted Mark 2:17, where Jesus explains that healthy people don’t need a doctor. “Kulture Yard is God’s ram in a bush,” Buchi said, “a ransom for the souls of sinners.”