Nseobong Okon-Ekong
26 May 2008
Lagos — A dark cloud fell on the landscape of Nigerian music and popular culture at the weekend with the death of Sonny Okosuns, one of the country's icons who established himself as a credible ambassador of the arts in his lifetime.
Okosuns might have been many things to many people, but it was his music, more than anything else, that bestowed on him a time-honoured reputation.
Not an ordinary musician, music to him was a means to an end, whether, for pecuniary reasons or for altruistic endeavours.
Born in the Coal City of Enugu on January 1, 1947, Okosuns celebrated his 62nd birthday on January 1, 2008.
He had been battling cancer of the colon in the past few years, during which he routinely went to the United States of America where a majority of his immediate family now live. Okosuns died in the US on Saturday (Sunday morning in Nigeria).
A man of astonishing faith, Okosuns kept hope alive on his possible recovery in the face of traumatising illness that made him look a shadow of his former self. He told everyone that he was going to recover fully.
Indeed, many times, he was on the brink of total collapse and would miraculously pull through, cheating death on a number of times, even when some newspapers erroneously reported his death.
Okosuns' belief was not unconnected with the conversion to the Christian faith in 1993. It was a momentous year for Okosuns who was one of key campaigners for Chief M. K. O. Abiola's bid to become Nigeria's president.
Dogged in all his ways, Okosuns was in a class of his own, creating a distinct sound that he christened Ozziddi - a corruption of the Igbo phrase for "there is a message".
Many also argued that he could have been celebrating the Ijaw god, Ozzidi which J. P. Clark eulogised in one of his poems. But it is the allusion to the Igbo meaning that stands to reason for a man who obviously transmitted a lot of messages through his music.
The central themes of Okosuns songs revolved around brotherly love, patriotism, liberation and unity. A self-taught instrumentalist, he formed his first band, the Postmen in 1964. It was a short-lived experiment. He soon collapsed the band to join Sir Victor Uwaifo's own. He travelled far and wide with Uwaifo, gaining vital experience.
In 1972, he was ready to make another solo run. He formed the group Paperback. As his music took on a new style and verve, he re-branded the band, naming it, Ozziddi. From then, it was a different Okosuns that emerged on the Nigerian musical horizon and found a unique space for himself.
His first album, "Ozziddism" in 1976, featured the classic, "Help" which has received various interpretations by many musicians over the years, including Onyeka Onwenu.
But the year that could be said to be Okosuns' golden year was 1977. It was the year he released a few albums that changed the course of his career, gained national and international attention for him.
He gave the world "Papa's Land" which brought forward the million question, "Who owns Papa's land"? The heat generated by the album had hardly died when he released "Fire in Soweto". These albums and the songs they contained became battle chants for freedom fighters in Southern Africa. The then apartheid regime responded with a ban of the album. Of course, this simply sent Okosuns' popularity riding higher.
Even on the home front, he was known as a man of peace who consistently preached unity among the various Nigerian ethnic groups. But he was not averse to bringing such poignant questions as "Which Way Nigeria", an album that explored the "Nigerian question" and tried to proffer his own answers.
Okosuns was one of the most recognisable names in Nigeria popular culture. It was a feat that he achieved through many years of remaining faithful to his art. Okosuns may not have been a belligerent artiste in the mode of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, but he was a fighter who never shied away from taking a stand and expressing his opinion on any subject.
He was a fighter who knew when to fire a shot and when to retreat, so he was never bruised or bloodied in any of the wars that he fought. He survived and lived to tell the story. Sadly, this great voice of Nigerian arts has been physically silenced, only to be heard, on the close-to-two-score albums that he recorded while alive.
Okosuns will be remembered all over the world. To his people in Edo State, he was a worthy son who unashamedly borrowed from the common local culture, propagating their folk tales and proverbs to a wider audience. To Nigerians, he tried to cut the image of an all-Nigerian personality who cared for the greater good.
He was born in Igbo land and could speak the language. He wrote songs in Igbo. Having lived the better part of his adult live in Lagos, he did more than manage a few words in Yoruba. He sang fluently in the language. His familiarity with Yoruba culture was undoubtedly helped by his early romance with the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. Okosuns' song for the founder of the sect, Moses Orimolade, is one of his best songs ever.
In a career that spanned over 40 years, Okosuns is one of the greatest artistes out of Africa who is often compared to the likes of Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder for the influence he was able to bring to popular culture in this part of the world. For instance, Okosuns popularised the wearing of bandana, at a time when it was not part of dressing for popular artistes in this part of the world. Okosuns performed on some of the most popular stages and sold millions of his albums all over the world. He was known and received by Presidents and Heads of State in many countries of the world.
When his career took a dive in the mid 80s, those who were familiar with is strength of character knew it was possible to make a comeback; and he did just that in 1994 and re-invented himself, denouncing "Ozziddism" and giving his life to Jesus Christ. His "Songs of Praise" that year put him back in reckoning. He established a church, House of Prayer, in his residence at Ogba in Lagos and became known as an evangelist.
It may be instructive that his last concert was facilitated by the Idasa - a South African NGO - as a public service against election violence in Nigeria. Okosuns performed on the same stage with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, with Nigeria's formr Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, watching at the Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja.
The essential Okosuns is a superstar who was on top of his game to the end. He was able to create his own brand of reggae, marrying calypso, highlife and central African sounds. He stuck with this pattern to the end, even when he played only gospel in the twilight of his life. Another important pointer to Okosuns fidelity is the seeming eternal romance with one record company throughout out his career. In a nation where one-album stars jump to another label before the ink dries on their first signing, Okosuns was a good model for the younger generation of artistes.
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