AITY DENNIS: MAKING GLOBAL IMPACT

One of the acclaimed music ambassadors of Nigeria proudly from Akwa Ibom State is Pastor Aity Dennis – Inyang. She is a co-pastor with Sure Word Assembly, Lagos and multiple award-winning gospel music minister of high repute.  It’s to the glory of God that she has made strong marks the world over with the Gospel, and definitely one that deserves commendations.

She’s truly living out her belief that “There’s coming a final thank you from the One who sent you.” But before then, Akwa Ibomites and indeed the Gospel world owe Pastor Aity Dennis-Inyang a big thank you, not just for keeping the torch of faith burning brighter by the day but for sustaining standards as generational virtues are fast eroding.

It’s just so amazing that in our generation we can find such a consummate artiste like Pastor Aity whose tracks are decorated with gold, but herself consumed by the love of God and passion for winning souls globally, especially through her numerous award-winning songs.

News of late came from the United States where she was honoured with a doctoral degree in Christian Leadership by the reputable   Cornerstone Christian University, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA. From the picturesque of the occasion, you can see glow, burnish and sizzling magnificence reminiscent of a superstar’s converge.

The doctoral degree award was a clear definition of how God crowns the thoughts of the diligent with plenteousness.

Aity started her career as a French teacher, having studied French both in Nigeria and France. She moved on to become a TV producer with AKBC TV for several years. While working as a TV producer, she was confronted with the choice of continuing her career in broadcasting or answering the call into music ministry. She chose to do the call than hang onto the monthly pay job.

Equally, her desire for higher academic laurel egged her on through her Master’s degree programme and landed her another job offer to lecture at the University. Again, the call came first in her priority list of attention! Turning down this second job offer also denied her the chance to do a doctoral degree in 1995.

Now, getting fully occupied with music ministry; frequent ministerial engagements within and without the country, made her ditch further interest for a PhD programme. But God doesn’t forget, made her to accomplish the doctoral degree dream beyond her expectations.

“So, when I mounted the stage at Cornerstone Christian University, Atlanta, people didn’t know why I was feeling so emotional. I said to myself, “God, so you don’t forget? So, whatever we leave behind to face your work, you give us more than double. God make we fear you Oh.”

With success also came fame – an international magazine in Texas, Women of Dignity, selected and featured her among the 50 Women of Impact in the world. How astounding that was, as the publishers never contacted her.

But for her, the reward for success is more work. July this year, she’s launching a new release; King of Kings. According to this multi-talented artiste, King of Kings is conceived to lead people to praise the “God that can do anything, against all odds,” adding that the upcoming song amplifies that nature of God: “There is nothing God cannot do.”

This is a sober reflection of where she’s emerging from because if anyone had told her that gospel music would take her to the nations of the world, she wouldn’t have taken him seriously. When she left her job for music, her mother angrily asked her:  “Who makes a living singing?”

Pastor Aity is an exceptional songwriter who has to her credit over 3000 songs. How does she get her songs? She said: “It’s not by power neither by might, but by the inspiration from God.” God uses circumstances of life to drop inspiration for songs in her heart. This happens at any time, home, outside, alone or with people.

For instance, Monday 29th May 2023, she was at the Nest of Champions stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State during the inauguration event of Pastor Umo Eno as the governor of Akwa Ibom State. 

While others were jubilant, she was quiet with teary eyes. And in a flash, she received a song inspiration, recollecting all the brickbats and insults the opposition hurled at the pastor. “In moments like this, songs come to me. Sometimes, I’ll listen to my husband’s message and after he’s finished preaching, I am on the pulpit singing the message he has just preached,” Aity said.

One of her soar-away tracks is, “God is taking me somewhere, I will get there…,” it came just as the husband, Pastor Dennis Inyang was preaching. “It was while my husband was preaching that the inspiration for the song came. I was in the midst of crisis when I received that song; my legs were paralyzed and I couldn’t walk. I was in the orthopaedic hospital in Port Harcourt as I was writing the video script of that song and the devil told me: “How are you going to get there when you can’t move?” But God healed me.”

 Explaining further, she said: “There is a beautiful worship song I will release later in the year. I got that song in North Carolina, USA, when the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem was speaking during the AKISAN event. So, when I got on the flight, I was busy working on the song, and the song is in Ibibio language. When you are in America and God is giving you a song in Ibibio you know that this is a serious matter!”

Aity is highly celebrated for her consistency and uniqueness, especially in spicing her lyrics with her native Ibibio language. Though residing in Lagos, she has robustly exhibited her home culture and style all over the world, such that in overseas, even the whites who don’t understand the language fall in love with her Ibibio songs. 

Her dance track Amkpa Idem, which she wrote while in Kenya, has generated high verves in foreign lands. The one that shocked her most was last year when she was invited to perform Amkpa idem in Houston. Indeed music has no language barriers!

“Even the 700 Club in their programme in Virginia Beach, USA where they did a documentary on me, requested that I perform Amkpa idem. You will also recall that some years back they came all the way to Akwa Ibom to shoot the video of my song, Barasuene.”

 Her inspiration also comes from miracles in her life. “When I wrote the song, “God is real, if you doubt it, Call My Number,” I was saying, ‘if I could have children in my 50s against all odds, then there is nothing God cannot do, as I am a living proof. When God does things I cannot imagine just like the programme He’s given me at Houston, USA every year. Last year we had a Niger-Delta Praise in USA and I was representing Akwa Ibom. I got on another concert at Dallas, and the song that got me there is “You Blow My Mind.”

The organizer of that Dallas programme was on the phone with me last month, reiterating that they don’t think I will ever do a song that will beat You Blow My Mind…I burst into laughter and told him to just wait and see!

In all this, Pastor Aity has remained humble, alluding her achievements today to God’s grace. “There is no height that singing has not taken me to, but I don’t have anything to boast about but the grace of God,” she remarked.

As a role model, how does she influence the younger generation? “I think young people should have a dream and refuse to give up no matter what happens. I had moments of discouragement when I started newly. But for me, there was a calling and it was like fire shut up in my bones, I couldn’t stop; songs kept coming every day.

My advice to the younger generation is; close your ears to what people are going to say because people are going to discourage you. You are going to have circumstances that will discourage you, close your ears against them. Just keep focusing and do what God wants you to do and make sure you are improving by the day.”

Continuing, she added: “You are not competing with anybody but yourself; see your last outing as what you should beat. Ensure your production is continuously upgraded, that is why I can sing my songs anywhere in the world.

Just keep the focus and have role models, have people you can ask questions. No matter how big a tree is it cannot become a forest, so you need to network with other people. There is no way I can produce a song and I don’t send to people in the industry to get their suggestions. Learn from people and celebrate other people; what you make happen for others, God makes it happen for you.”

“Stay humble no matter where God lifts you to; there are some people that God is afraid of lifting because after lifting them even when He calls they can’t pick God’s calls. Pride  will come especially when you are doing things like music and people will be cheering you, don’t allow it get into your head because if you fall today they will move on and cheer another person.”