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| Christy Essien-Igbokwe |
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| Edwin Igbokwe |
Chief Edwin Chukwunenye Igbokwe, husband to
the late Nigerian Lady of Songs, Christy Essien-Igbokwe, in this interview with
ADA DIKE speaks on his wife’s career, foundation and Nigeria’s entertainment
industry.
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*Why
did you give your late wife’s posthumous album the title “All of a Sudden”?
The name of the album was spiritual because
she gave the album that title “All Of A Sudden” before she died. In fact, she
knew she was going to die and instructed that the album would be titled “All Of
A Sudden”.
*Most
of her songs in the 1970s and 1980s were on plate and cassettes. Have you
converted them to compact discs?
We have converted all her works to compact
discs and we are done with them.
*Could
you recall when she went fully into music?
My wife started dancing with drama groups
in schools at the age of 7. She released her first hit album Freedom in 1976. Her
other albums include: Patience in 1977, Time Waits For No One in 1978, One Understanding
in 1979 and Give Me A Chance in 1980.
Others are: Ever Liked My person in 1981,
Taking My Time in 1986, It is Time in 1988, Hear The Call in 1990 and Mysteries
of Life in 1994. Some of her hit singles among others include: Seun Rere, Hear
the Call, Teta NU Na Ula, Akwa Ibom Mi, Ever Liked My Person, Kanyi Gba Egwu
and so on.
Born in Okat Onna Local Government Area of
Akwa Ibom State on November 11, 1960, she died on June 30, 2011. I got
married to her when she was 19 years old while I was 26 years old and the
General Manager of Punch newspapers then. We are blessed with four children,
all male.
*How
have you been coping with life after her exit?
Life has not been the same. Please I don’t
want to talk about that because they are many people here. It is an emotional
question so I don’t want to go there. Let me contend with what I do in private.
*Your
wife released a song Seun Rere and
other songs for the less privileged children. How have you been able to keep
her legacy of helping the poor alive?
My wife understood the principle of giving,
which simply explains why she never lacked. What we see today is not entirely
about Christy but about love, togetherness, tolerance, and so on. She believed
that service to humanity is service to God that’s why she gave freely to the
less privileged and cared for disadvantage women and their children. Even as
she did those things, she knew she had to form a body that would continue the
work even when she wouldn’t be there, hence before her death; she wanted to
launch this foundation we are doing to fulfil her dreams and desire.
She had a golden heart. At one point in her
life she paid school fees for some children that were not her biological
children. She was engaged in a child care programme she tagged “Essential
Childcare Foundation” this project kicked off in 1992 with a national dialogue
involving Nigerian’s distinguished speakers. The foundation was legally
registered and launched on April 30, 1994 with eminent personalities as members
of the Board of Trustees. Before she died, she spoke passionately about
rebranding Essential Childcare Foundation towards the establishment of a
“Half-Way-Home”, a world class centre where abandoned children, orphans and
disadvantaged children would engage in skills acquisition and be given hope. It
is on this pretext we aim to carry on with the charitable gestures of my wife.
The rebranded foundation named: Christy Essien Igbokwe Memorial Foundation
(CEIMF) has been set up to this dream.
My wife was a caring woman, even if you
want to give her one billion naira, she would forget about that money once she
sees a child crying and rushed to take care of that child. No kobo of her
royalties went to the family; they were taken to charity homes. She cared so
much about the less privileged.
*Who
are the Board of Trustees of this foundation?
The Board of Trustees of the foundation
among others include: Prof. Dora Akunyili, Dr. Austin Izagbo, Senator Ben Obi,
Alhaji Abba Dabo, Major General Sunday Chikwe (RTD), Prince Tonye Princewill,
John Momoh, Patrick Henandez, Kenechukwu Igbokwe and I. What we did at the
launch of her last album was just the presentation of her foundation. We shall
set up a date and a venue where the Board of Trustees would be inaugurated.
*How
much are you looking at to be able to achieve what you want?
When you make a projection or a budget, it
does not mean it would be hundred percent correct. You have to embark on a
research, get analysis and cost implication. If we fix a figure, we may not be
able to arrive to that.
*in
terms entertainment, she was on top of the game. What is your advice to the
entertainers in terms of giving back to the society?
It is entirely left to them really. She has
left a legacy which will never die. A positive person or entertainment person can
emulate her and continue to build her legacy to a greater height. Some of the
entertainers that witnessed the launch and unveiling of her album may be
propelled to emulate her aftern they left the venue.
*We
know that one of your sons is into music. How far has he gone?
There was a time I was arranging a room as my
office and my wife laughed and said “this room you are putting computers is
where one of my sons wants to use as a studio for music production when he
graduates from the university” and it happened.
My son Kaka is a rapper and a music
producer. He has released some singles. Many years ago before my wife died, she
said Kaka was not going to be a musician only, but one of the greatest music
producers in the world. She was spiritual so she saw it in advance before my
son started his career as a music producer just like the way she saw her death
and predicted that she would soon die. Two of them (My wife and my son) came together
and tried to do music production.
*Many
artistes have churned out songs that were big hits in Nigeria. What is your
view about the lyrical content of the present day artistes’ songs?
When my wife was alive, she sang: “There is
Time For Everything”. One day, she smiled and said “the season of noise making
in music would come and pass away but the good ones would be taken because
lyrics that make sense can never die”. I don’t think you have listened to one
quarter of all her songs. By the time you listened to them, you will appreciate
her works more. She knew what she was caught out for. It got to a point that she
saw most ladies going nude, she asked: “Why? Is the profession I am into? No,
this is not it. They are all going mad maybe with time, they will come back to
their senses.”
*Obviously
her works will still be churning out royalty even though she is gone. There is
a disagreement between Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) and Copyright
Society of Nigeria (COSON). What advice would you give to the two bodies for
them to reach a compromise?
I think I have always given them advice that
there is nothing wrong in having multiple centres, but I know that my wife was
a former chairman of the Performing and Mechanical Rights Society of Nigeria (PMRS)
who took over from Keji Okunowo and handed over to Tony Okoroji. She has tried
to put harmony in her field of endeavour. She founded Performing Musicians
Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) and it took them many years to drag her
to be the PMAN president. There was a time they went to see former president
Shehu Shagari and Bobby Benson said “We should all be ashamed of ourselves. It
took a woman to bring us together.” There is no need for squabbles because it
does not promote peace in any industry.
*What
is your view about piracy in Nigeria?
When she died, some pirated compact discs
copies of her works were being sold in Nigeria and we were informed about it,
we could not do anything about it because we were mourning at that time. Piracy
has been happening not only in the entertainment industry but also in book
publishing. With time, all the bodies fighting against piracy will win because
they are not relaxing.
They should make somebody a scapegoat and
publicise it so the rest will be afraid and piracy will disappear.
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