Your music won’t stop: Tribute to Ebenezer Obey @ 70

One could say that his success is a function of a powerful combination of a gentle deportment and a deep experience of the ways of the world. He knew right from the start what he wanted his music to do. He knew what he wanted to say. The persona of Chief Ebenezer Obey is far […]

One could say that his success is a function of a powerful combination of a gentle deportment and a deep experience of the ways of the world. He knew right from the start what he wanted his music to do. He knew what he wanted to say. The persona of Chief Ebenezer Obey is far from being commercial. This is not to say that the commercial intent was absent in his career. In the days when he started singing, it was really a hard going. And only very few made any significant impact on the society, and for that matter on their own pockets. Yet, his music gives you more than you pay for. We could even stretch the claim that in those days, there were serious things to say with music than now. He stands out in this regard. And after the album has gone the ways of old albums, your mind takes up the refrain until you can reproduce the entire songs without pause. Such was the power that he commanded through his juju brand.

Every attempt to bring him into ruinous comparison with others failed. He can’t be rushed…just like the music. The musician and his music are the product of a tranquil attitude that is patient without being impassive. You retain your poise even when dancing! The Miliki brand of juju is the only kind of musical statement that someone like the Chief Commander could have made. The word “miliki” signals enjoyment that is not boisterous; an enjoyment within the limit of economic and social reason. This is exactly where some other music brands fail. You are constantly cajoled to “spray” the hard earned money budgeted for something else. Your ego is rubbed and your pockets emptied. And you are not the better for it.

And when it was time, as if the Lord has been whispering into his soul, Ebenezer Obey switched musical content and genre while retaining the Miliki rhythm. This move in favour of the gospel of Christ was a painful but unsurprising move for most admirers and Nigerians. It was painful because people see in it the impoverishment of the Nigerian music scene. The questions started flowing: How do we now get the good kind of music Obey is known for? Who get to replace him? Why did he stop? Is there any viable replacement? Can the replacement be like the original? The elders of Israel who wept bitterly when a new temple was built to replace the Solomon Temple destroyed by the Babylonians would understand this dilemma of Nigerians. No copy is like the original. If this is so, why then must he abandon what he knows how to do best? What he’s been doing so well that he has ever rendered to glorify the name of the Lord. And in the final analysis, when the pain had subsided for the people, it appears as a move that was really long in coming. Again, this uneasy expectation of the people derives from the kind of music Obey plays and his peculiar manner of playing it. It is tranquil and measured…as if he is being careful not to make the music transgress against God and the people. There must have been spiritual intimations behind the music. It was therefore easy for the man to transit from the secular to the gospel without any problem. It was even easy for him to retain the Miliki tune.

Well, if we can’t always have the man and the entire package of Miliki, we can still collect the entire music corpus that still retains their power to speak after decades of continual playing. That is another test of the genius of Obey’s music. It is still communicating to us. It infuses us with nostalgic longing. And we will be wise to listen and continue learning. The reason is that much have not changed in the Nigerian society that could make his music irrelevant to us. What he sang about then are still with us—the social rot; personal profligacy; spiritual hypocrisy; political stagnancy; and the likes.

For all his achievements, I dip into my bag of personal awards and honour this illustrious Nigerian with a Septuagenarian Order of Merit (SOM) for a job well done. I hope others will join me in applauding this young old man for a life of service to God and mankind. Life begins at 70. May you live long to reap more fruits from the trees you have spent the past seventy years of your life watering.

Olaopa wrote in from Abuja and can be reached at [email protected]