By Akinwale Kasali
‘Mammy Water’ and ‘Joromi’ crooner, Sir Victor Uwaifo, is dead. By his death, Nigeria has lost one of its cultural ambassadors.
The circumstances surrounding the death of the highlife musician is still sketchy, but this news medium can confirm that he passed on Saturday afternoon.
The Member of the Niger, MON, was a close ally of the late Victor Victor Olaiya, another highlife musician, who died few years back.
Born on 1st March, 1941, he was a multi talented musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor, University lecturer.
A music legend, first Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Nigeria, he was the winner of the first gold disc in Africa (Joromi) released in 1965 and seven other gold discs in Guitar boy, Arabade, Ekassa series and Akwete music. He recorded under the name Victor Uwaifo and His TItibitis. He was recognized as the most educated performing music legend, musical instrument inventor, artist, worldwide with a B.A Honors (first class valedictorian), Masters degree and Ph.D in Architectural Sculpture, (University of Benin, Nigeria).
After leaving Benin, Uwaifo continued playing music at St Gregory’s, Lagos. He was a contemporary of Segun Bucknor, and they were both among the leading Lagos high school bandleaders. During school holidays and weekends, he jammed with Olaiya’s All Stars Band.
After completing secondary school studies, he played with E.C. Arinze’s highlife during late hours. Uwaifo also briefly worked with Stephen Osadebe and Fred Coker before he formed Melody Maestros in 1965.
The band released “Joromi” which became a hit in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. Uwaifo made history in Nigeria when he won the first Golden record in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa (presented by Philips, West Africa) for his song “Joromi” in 1996.
Between 1965 and 1968, he developed the Akwete rhythm sound. In 1969, he launched a new beat called Shadow accompanied by a new dance also called shadow, a mixture of Akwete and twist. The sound was released when soul music was popular in Lagos and lasted a few years. After the launch of Shadow, the Melody Maestros went on tour of various Nigerian cities. Uwaifo later experimented with a new rhythm that was similar to soul but soon left it for Ekassa, an interpretation of a traditional Benin sound.
In 1971, Uwaifo opened the Joromo Hotel in Benin City, and within ten years established his own television studio. From there he produced a national weekly music and culture programme.
Uwaifo, who has a total of 12 golden records to date, had travelled to many countries, including the United States, Russia, Japan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, France, Hungary, Rome, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin Republic, Spain, and Canada.
In 1995, Uwaifo was invited by the United Nations Staff Day International Committee to perform during the UN Golden Jubilee celebration. He is cited in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1983 edition, documented in the “Who’s Who in Nigeria”, “Who’s Who in Africa”, “Who’s Who in the Commonwealth”, and “Men and Women of Distinction in the Commonwealth” sections. He is was an Honorary Member of the Biographical Advisory Council, Cambridge, England, a member of both the Performing Right Society, and of the Advisory Board of American Heritage University, California, US. He was the first to win a gold disc in Africa (Joromi) released in 1965 at the age of 24 years old.
Uwaifo’s hobbies included swimming, body-building, gaming, reading and writing. He was a Christian, and was married with children.
He also was a lecturer at the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Benin, Benin City.
