Music Development in Ibusa: A Personal Account - Part One

By Emeka Esogbue

"Egwu na sor nwa ogalanya, egwu na sor nwa ogbei"
- Chief Ogbogu Okonji

The above quote which literarily translates to "The rich and poor enjoy music" illustrates the relevance of music to man's society irrespective of class, status or situation of the individual. Everyone enjoys music including the dead who the living rolls out drums to mourn.

Like the late Robert Nester Marley (Bob Marley) also said "Music is food to the soul."

Gideon Chukwumaliobim Ikenwe in his book, "Akwukwu-Igbo Kingdom Culture: Ancient and Present Perspective" further illustrates this with the saying, "Every culture in this planet earth loves music and has it incorporated in its rituals both in time of sorrow and in time of joy."

He feels that "man's thought is inspired by music to reach out for solace, spiritual growth, and transformation." Music is the psychological and spiritual food that nourishes the body, soul and spirit."

William Shakespeare may have also understood the importance of music when he wrote in a play, "A man who has no music in him or any concord of sounds is fit for treason, stratagems and spoil. His soul is as dull as night. Fear him!"

The Ibusa community has always been musically inclined, which is why they had to acquire some dance and music from other cultures. Imanokwa, which was brought from Ishan in Edo State and has blended into the locals' culture, is an illustration of this dance. They were aware that music served as society's remedy and made adequate use of it.

Early in my childhood, having grown up as a distinguished son of the community and with parents who valued the culture of their people, I began to listen to Enuani traditional music to the point where I began to mistake various Enuani traditional songs for "Egwu Igbuzo."

Even though we were living in Lagos, I had become aware of the need to listen to this kind of music. My father seemed to be all about music and dance of all kinds, but he had become accustomed to Igbuzo background music. By the way, our Yoruba neighbors called him "Egwu."

Growing up under him meant learning the "Egwu Ohuhu" dance of the Enuani tribe as well as the Igbuzo music. I began to comprehend the language of music used on "small plates," or 45 LPs. The songs were first available as stereo phonograph records, however the recordings really consisted of a disc that replicated a continuous groove.

With the use of a phonograph needle track in the groove, the record rotated while the music was played back on a device. The stylus vibrated as a result of the record spinning, and this vibration was amplified acoustically to produce sound. One channel was used for what was known as mono sound transmission, and later stereo sound was added. In order to give the sound a three-dimensional effect, stereo involved providing additional loudspeakers with signals. Since Ibusa music sounded great in stereo, its development and popularity were fostered by the discovery of stereo.

In 1978, Onowu Patrick Chukwudumebi Esogbue, my father, obtained a more recent Kenwood turntable type, which was a horizontal platform rotating a phonograph record as it was being played. My cognitive awareness of my surroundings, sensations, and thoughts allowed me to maintain the recall that it was the second turntable he possessed. When the sound blasted from two independent loud speakers versus an older sound system with a connected speaker—which my father helped me realize was mono—the surround system's sound quality improved.

By now I knew that stereo manufacturing differed from mono, and the turntable included a switch that let the player select their preferred option. By now, I was also acquainted with a number of the era's musicians, such as Onyeka Owenu, Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Okosuns, King Sony Ade, and too many more to list here. But I will stick to my main topic for this piece, which is the evolution of music in Ibusa.

The creation of traditional songs is an artistic talent bestowed upon the people of Ibusa by nature, and it appears to be a shared gift appreciated by anybody with a taste for music. It is unlikely that any community in the Enuani region has the same level of musical ability as this one. The community's recollection of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe's visit is still vivid, supporting the people's innate musical ability.

Zik, a politician running for president, had come to the town, and the Ibusa people were thrilled to see him and rolled out drums in his honor. Maternal Ibusa heritage, which was also of Onitsha dynasty, is shared by Zik, the well-known Elder Statesman of Africa. Zik acknowledged the Ibusa blood in him through his maternal progenitor, Obi Ijelekpe, the twelfth King of Onitsha, in his book "My Odyssey." The eighth King of Onitsha, Obi Aroli, had three sons, including Obi Ijelekpe.
When Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe arrived in Ibusa, he expected the locals to seize the chance presented by his populist campaign and carry out a number of initiatives aimed at advancing the ideas behind his election victory. However, what they did was extend a warm welcome, complete with drum rolls and various dance troupes. Zik, obviously dissatisfied with his kinsmen's behavior, would later tell the populace in a well-known speech at the Umuisagba site—where the Ibusa Town Hall currently stands—that they were asleep and that it would take a long time for them to wake up. That was the price the residents of Ibusa paid for their love of dance and music. Strangely enough, Azikiwe, who brought the Aboh people's dance moves to Onitsha and even emulated them, was dissatisfied with the musical talent of the Ibusa people.

The community enjoyed two different musical statuses: soloist performers and "Otu" entertainers. The Otu were a group of entertainers who joined together under the direction of a lead vocalist and the sponsorship of a man and a woman. The group's aim was to present traditional dance at an expert level. The soloists performed highlife or traditional songs; however, in several instances, the soloists were Otu members before deciding to play their piece solo.

According to historical records, Otu Ifechukwude Dancing Group produced "Igbuzo Nwe Ndidi," the first known album of Ibusa provenance, in 1973. Mr. Uchechukwu Ofili directed the group, which was headed by Mrs. C. O. Obanya and Mr. John Nwanze Nwabuwa, who was from Umuozoma in the Ogbeowele axis of the community. It was a two-track album of "Igbuzo Nwe Ndidi" and "Onye Ayana Nwannea." The record label Philips West African Records (PF 384 752) used a 7-inch, 45 RPM, mono vinyl recorder to record the album. The style was classified as African, and the genre as Folk, World & Country.
John Nwanze, whose voice suited Ibusa dialectical melodies, was unquestionably the most well-known Ibusa musician of his era. The current rave, Nwanze Nwabuwa, was highly sought for by fans of Enuani music and was also highly discussed by them. There was no Ibusa musician as well-known as John Nwanze Nwabuwa, also known as "Nwanze Nwagbodi," prior to the time of Ogbogu Okonji.

Members of the group included Esenwa, Ofili, Kwentua, Emeka Okolie, Okolo (Asaba), Okeleke, and others who were from both inside and outside of Ibusa. The "Mother" of the Otu was a stunning, kind, and composed woman named Mrs. Cecilia Obanya nee Esedebe. The Otu Ifechukwude Dancing Group of Ibusa, based in the Lagos suburb of Ikate, Surulere, kept making waves and mesmerizing Ibusa with their musical beauty until 1977, when Festac Town opened and most of the group moved to the estate. After moving to the estate in 1980 or so, Mr. John Nwabuwa and his family joined us in living in the same compound. This marked the beginning of the friendship that both families would cherish till both friends passed away.

He was full of life, endowed with an unfathomable Ibusa proverbial skill and the ability to read people. He was everything that one could hope for in an Ibusa.

Nwabuwa was the Ibusa oral history himself, and he would typically start reciting the story at the introduction of any Ibusa topic. He always wanted to seize the opportunity to proclaim the existence of the Ibusa musical gift within him and was in close proximity to the community's beliefs. It was a pleasure to meet the renowned members of his band just before they went into the studio to record their last album. Ibusa's most well-known native flute player from Umuodafe, "Professor" Nwadishi, was someone I got to meet at that point. Nearly every musical group of the era had Nwadishi, whose debut performance on record was with John Nwabuwa's Otu Ifechukwude. Every well-known Otu valued him because of his extraordinary creativity.

The Pentagon Hotel was one piece of infrastructure in the early development of the Ibusa community, and John Nwabuwa was so full of praise for the hotel's owner for taking the initiative to introduce development to the people that he mentioned in one of his albums as the one who opened the people's eyes in Ibusa.
Some of these other singers will be taken into consideration in later sections of the work to provide readers with a complete understanding of the growth of music in the community.

Several Ibusa musicians, including John Nwanze Nwabuwa, performed beautifully in the studio to record several plates throughout the Ibusa songbird era.

St. Michael Obanya, Bright Osadebe, and other Otu artists like Mbosi Onyenwu Obulunjoa, under the direction of Dana Okonji, were among them. In addition to becoming well-known, Otu Mbosionye Onyenwu would emerge as the community's oldest dancing group. Additionally, there was the Otu Ife Onye Lolu Nwa Nmadu, which was supported by two Ogboli cousins, Ogbogu Okonji and Etiti Okonji. It was a brief but significant movement.

I will research more, including the discographies and histories of the different artists.

Picture:
Philips Records is acknowledged.

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