For Orits Williki, it’s time for activism

I am a music performer, an activist; I am an illiterate because I do not believe in the understanding of what education is. For me, education is a process and it is a day to day activity where everyone lives in and only the educated are dead, so as far as I am concerned, learning […]

I am a music performer, an activist; I am an illiterate because I do not believe in the understanding of what education is. For me, education is a process and it is a day to day activity where everyone lives in and only the educated are dead, so as far as I am concerned, learning to read and write does not make you an educated person because a lot of people we study their works today like Aristotle and the rest never went to any four walls of any school. So basically, it is what God has endowed in them that they followed so, they were able to create an event. So we saw how they were able to do that. For me, I want to remain an illiterate just like you. I enjoy honest people, one thing I don’t like is oppression and I hate poverty. So when I see poverty around me, I do as much as I can to eradicate or minimize it weather through direct association or indirectly.

The last time Nigerians heard about you was when you had duet with Idris  Abdulkareem, since then not much has been heard from you. What happened, what have you been up to?

Well, last year, we had a double release, and it was Fire Borne and Lift Him Up High. Lift Him Up High was solely a gospel music, I call that a project I owe JAH almighty. Then there is Fire Borne which has 14 new acts featuring. The scene has been very hostile, piracy and all the likes have been eating us down and you cannot continue to throw big money into projects like this and just watch your investment go down the drain by people who did not sow the seed with you. So there was a time we really had to shut down and think of the next way to go.

What inspired you to go into music?

Well, I would say my father, my father was a reverend Baptist. I grew up in the church, starting at the age of eight, and singing in the choir was a very good foundation. My father was a good instrumentalist, he sings and I think the whole idea started from there and ever since the idea was sown in me and I went into the profession some 24, 25 years ago.

What informed the concept of your kind of music, reggae?

Reggae is life. It is the closest music that makes sense to a black man, it caresses your soul. It does so because reggae is a spiritual music on its own, it gives you room to express yourself, weather love or pan Africanism or whatever, reggae music gives you room to express  yourself so for us, we say stop reggae music and you stop the heartbeat so that is it. Reggae it is and will it always be!

What is the state of reggae music in Nigeria considering the likes of Majek Fashek, Raskimono and the others who have somehow gone into extinction?

Reggae music has not gone into extinction rather it is blossoming because the hip hop that seems to be everywhere right now is an offshoot of reggae, so we say that reggae has evolved into different style and genre through the time. There was a time it was dance hall and you know that also is reggae, there was a time it was raga which is also reggae. It was also root rock which is also a brand of reggae. So if you say traditional root rock yes because that is going down. There is no much attention given to it. But that is not to say people are still not yearning for reggae music. You need to go with me on one of my tours and you need to see how the people love the music. So we still have a huge fan base yearning for reactivation and that is what I am trying g to do this year.

My two projects this year is centered on reactivating the fan base. I am coming out with a programme called Dub wise alter international. So dub wise alter is supposed to be an hour reggae musical on television and radio. It is going to be in ten radio and television stations. It is expected to help us bring back some sense of reminiscence and nostalgic feeling in the minds of people where they can listen to fresh and ever green music.

Outside that there is this other television show we call reggae super star Africa. We are doing the Nigerian version this year. We are still talking with our sponsors now. So by the time all theses come out you will miss nothing as a reggae fan because you will have the culture, the spiritual inclination in the music itself in your face again.

Most Nigerians tend to identify reggae music with weed and Indian hemp, do you smoke all these things to get inspiration?

I don’t smoke weed but I don’t criticize it because the weed on its own is herb. Jah created herbs for mankind. I don’t smoke it because there are people who have weak minds who naturally will need stimulants just like a sports person will need steroids for performance. The same thing happens with music. It is not only musicians that take ganja, the doctors, the lecturers and everybody takes herbs. It is when you take it in a form of extremism if you abuse water, water will abuse you. So I don’t criticize what God has created because in the beginning, he made everything perfect and asked us to take dominion over all. So for me, if ganja was bad, and if they tell you a lot of things which they used ganja to produce, you will retrace your thinking.

Piracy has been a major problem in the entertainment industry, what do you think is the way out?

The way out is for government to really come into this sector because distribution is the bane. We do not have adequate distribution sector so if you have that, the problem will reduce but we cannot eradicate piracy even North America has not been able to eradicate it but it can be reduced to a level where an artiste will have meaning for his career. As it is now, we do not have any sense of protection. Yes the laws are there but they are hardly ever enforced. So we need to throw more powers behind the Nigerian copyright commission so that we can have a well deserved industry where everyone can be happy.

Activism is a little known concept. Some people claim that since you delved into the gospel music, your activism seems to have been reduced. Is that true?

Yes you can be an activist even as a gospel musician, even now if you listen to my lyrical content, you will still see the activism there, I am now an activist for Christ even when everything you work for here comes to the burner, what matters most is the legacy you leave behind. So I want to be remembered as someone who attached non violent procedure towards changing the system.

What should your fans expect from you this year?

This year I might not be releasing anything because last year, we released a double album and those doubles have made number one in three stations in Lagos. So we still want to promote them which mean for the next two years, I might not be doing anything apart from promoting those double albums that were released.

Are you a married man?

Sure, I am a family man; you know in Africa, we don’t count our children so see me as a father of many nations.

How do you handle your female fans?

I see them as my sisters and I thank God for giving me the wisdom of knowing how not to take advantage of your fans and maintaining a good relationship with your fans. The latter is what I do very well.

What is the relationship between gospel music and reggae music? Are there any connection?

They are actually one on one. Because, any good content that edifies the soul is gospel and that’s what makes reggae music different from all other music. So you continue to edify your soul when you listen to reggae music which means gospel music is reggae music.

Reggae musicians always wear dreadlocks what is the reason behind this?

Well, dreadlocks is a protest sign to say that until the black man is free mentally, physically, and otherwise, I throw my comb away. So it is a sign of protest.

Today, we are still not free, we are still engulfed with a lot of devices of the west so because of that, we lose our values, we go to school to study history and our story has never been told. Our story that has been told will tell you that Mungo Park discovered River Niger. How can you discover what is already in existence? So he came to meet a people already in existence and claimed to discover them; how possible is that? They say civilization started in Africa where Egypt is in Africa but little is said about all these.

So we are studying the rest of the world and losing our values. So I am saying that if we don’t blow our trumpet, nobody will blow it for us.