Why I’ll keep singing till I die – Bongos Ikwue

Bongos Ikwue is a music legend, who was born in Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria on the 6th of June 1942. He made waves in the 60s, 70s and 80s. After his investiture as Special Copyright Inspector of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, he spoke to journalists on his music career, enforcement of copyright enforcement, the Nigerian entertainment industry, among others. Excerpts:

At 77, can you still cope with the challenges in contemporary music industry?

I will give you an example of a great singer who I respect, Greg Charles. He said that ‘God you gave me the ability to sing, I will continue to sing until I die’. That is what he said. I think that is a strong example. I will keep singing until I die. Anybody who intends to retire doesn’t know what he is talking about. You can retire into oblivion and loneliness. If you tell yourself that you will keep working until you die, I believe you have done God’s will. If God did not work, there would be no creation.

You must feel sad about your co-veterans who passed away due to inadequate healthcare etc?

I will simplify my answer like this: If anybody tells you you don’t need money in this life, the person is not being fair to you. You need to balance it properly. Worship God as if you will die tomorrow, look for money as you will never die. All of these cannot come into reasonable play if you were unable to pay N500 fare to come to my house this morning. You are going to get hungry sometime. So, money is very necessary, positive, not evil that will help any business venture in this world.

Young artists must make sure whoever employ them must pay them properly; you don’t stay young forever. If We all pray to God for long life, and long life, and you must accept that old comes with a whole different thing. You could get up and hang your bag, as get older you cannot. Maybe you could drive yourself before, when you get old you couldn’t. All this can only be supported by a level of welfare, and this depends on whether you have some savings. Unfortunately for artists, we don’t get into any pension scheme; we are not giving any gratuity. As soon as you stop work all your income stops completely. Therefore, you must be a little wise for yourself and for God’s sake.

Would you support welfare package from the government?

My own idea of a democratic government is any government which provides security and infrastructure. How do you understand by government of the people and for the people? These are just words. But while you are young, you don’t stay young forever. While you are writing al those songs and jumping on stage, can you remember to put away something.

When I was singing in Lagos, I had a record shop at No. 27 Ikorodu Road, Fadeyi and I was selling musical instruments also. My groovy train, and hear this one, my royalty from EMI Records in one day, I was able to buy a luxurious bus- this type of ‘Ekene Dili Chukwu Transport’ for N27,000. I bought a car for my wife for N8,000 at that time, and I had a Jeep that I bought for N16,000. Today, one tyre of that bus is over N100,000.  That is how this world has changed! When I quit all of that, and while I was still playing, I set up a furniture company in Markurdi. While I was still playing, I became a contractor and did a whole lot of work in College of Education, Taraba State and Markurdi. So, if you have talent to do other things keep doing them otherwise when you are dead, you are gone. Don’t let anybody fool you. You can still play music and be a lecturer, or a very successful businessman doing anything you want to do. Invest your time and money wisely because you are not going to stay young forever.

Are you worried about the lyrics in contemporary music which appear not to pass the right moral or social values?

It is not for me to judge anyone in this world.  My judgment will come to nothing. Let’s be careful, sometimes, the reason they are doing what they are doing right now may be because people have accepted them. When I was singing, and my wife thought my music was one kind. But it is you the artist that should know who you are and what you want. You have to stand by yourself, and face your own criticisms and fight your own fights.

I can tell a singer your music is nothing, but a person in the market may make it the biggest hit. It is not about me or my judgments, it is about how it relates to the people. I am not a star unless you say I am.

Would you support an endowment for the arts especially, to help the younger one?

Nobody can help anybody; people can only help themselves. But first of all, if you want to be an artist, you have to divide your time between the Mathematics and the drama practice. So, it is your own personal commitment that is the only weapon you have. It is putting your time and money into what you need and to save some of the money for the rainy day. For the young people, I believe that the only thing that can change society is work; action speaks louder than words.

Do you agree that the creative industry ought to be the new oil in Nigeria?

I was the chairman of the Nigerian Film Corporation sometime, and this is my second time on the board of the NCC. When I was chairman of the film corporation, I said that the film industry has three major components which are exactly the same. Equipment, training, and content. If you have the best equipment and nobody is trained to use them, it is a waste. And if you have the best trained people and there is no equipment, it is a waste. And if you have the two and your content is nothing, it is also a waste. So, the challenge in the creative industry is how committed are all these components. The ability to create is limitless.

Don’t let anybody deceive you. When you back up words with actions you get results. The film industry we are looking forward to has to be a film industry that can stand its ground with improved quality of equipment, training and content. I like watching American crime channels. What stops Nollywood from researching into these cases in Nigeria and writing and making movies about them or making movies about history and where the black man is also helping the white man? We must apply details to anything and everything we do in this world. I think it is very important if we are going to encourage people to buy our films.