Lives
Oseloka Obaze*
Saturday 9 February 2008
A Dirge for Osita Osadebe
Chief Ositadima “Osili” Stephen Osadebe
(1936-2007)
The silky golden voice is silent
The philosophy hushed
The highlife icon is no more
Bested by death, yet unbowed
Osili ana mmuo, gone to the great beyond
Joining his ancestors
Yet, his legacy lives
As ever, his music resonates
Just as his name rings
Osita -henceforth; Di mma- it will bode well
Adieu maestro
Your songs shall play on
In heaven’s gate
And in our minds
You stand tall
And immortalized
Adieu Osili.
This week, the Igbo nation and the Ogbaru people buried an international icon and treasure, Chief Ositadinma “Osili” Stephen Osadebe (Ogbuefi Ezeafulukwe of Atani). Chief Osadebe was a notable musician, social philosopher, philanthropist, eminent African and a notable Ogbaruan. He put his Ogbaru clan on the world map, and venerated his people and culture with his 1987 song, Ogbaru Akwulugo. He was both a cultural and musical icon; and his music transcended tribal and international boundaries.
Born on 17 March 1936 in the agricultural and fishing town of Atani, some ten miles from the commercial city of Onitsha, Chief Osadebe who passed away in United States on 11th of May 2007 was laid to rest on Friday 8 February 2008 at his Atani country home.
Osita Osadebe created his own genius and accomplished his musical acclaim by his sheer diligence and drive. After his apprenticeship under E.C. Arinze in the 1950s, Osita Osadebe played highlife music with contemporaries like Zeal Onyia, Joe Mensah, Bobby Benson, E. T. Mensah and Godwin Omabuwa, who were all members of the pioneer team of the highlife genre. However, in 1964, no longer satisfied with being a sideman and a sidekick, he went solo and found instant fame with his hit single, “One Pound, No Balance”. From there, he never looked back as he carved a niche for himself as the grandmaster and doyen of highlife music genre.
As Ogbaru Home Page (http://www.ogbaru.org/ositao.htm) noted, “[Osadebe and] his band the Nigerian Sound Makers has been one of the most dominant and resilient in the Nigerian music scene. His Nigerian contemporaries include; Victor Olaiya, Erasmus Jenewari, Tex Obong Henry, Rex Lawson, Ike Dairo, Celestine Ukwu and others.” The compendium of great Osadebe songs include notables such as, One Pound No Balance, Aye Mama, Onuigbo, Ka-Anyi Jikota, Merenge Sposa, Agbalu Aka Na- Azo Ani, Nwanne m Ebezina, Osondi Owendi, Nye m Obi Gi, Makojo, Gwam Okwu, Ogbaru Special and Ndi Ochonganoko. Forty-four years later, digitalized and remixed versions of “One Pound No Balance” still dominate the dance floors at African parties and events.
Today, African music pundits give more credit to Osadebe -- than anyone else - for perfecting the highlife ballroom blend, which though homegrown, is the exotic mix of fluffy but exhilarating trumpets, massaging saxophones and lilting electric guitars juxtaposed with throbbing congas, locally referred to as “bongo”. To these, Osadebe frequently added his syrupy and unmistakable voice as well as a folksy rhythmic flourish that is peculiar to his riverine Ogbaru community. Despite the distractive intrusion of other music genres – Merengue, Soukous, Rumba, Makossa, Afrobeat - Osadebe remained steadfast and faithful to highlife.
A gifted singer, it was Osadebe who also introduced accolade and minstrel tribute style into highlife, with his 1973 Long Play (LP), which included tribute titles such as, William Emeka Omambala, Asa Mpete Special, Anaedo Special and Ekene Dili Chukwu. He also perfected the “call-and-response pattern,” which many Nigerian highlife musicians now copy.
Those who understand Igbo continue to revel in Osadebe’s philosophical sagacity, lilt and admonishments: In Makojo, he noted, “regardless of a bad situation, life goes on” and “boys will never cease to make cat calls”; and “No matter how bad we must live. No matter how much it rains, it must someday stop raining.” In Agbalu Aka Na-Azo Ani he warned hustlers that, “one does not prospect for land empty handed,” thus affirming the maxim, “possession is nine-tenths of ownership.” As one admirer remarked, “Beyond its originality and captivating rhythm that strikes the musical chord of people outside Igbo linguistic background, his music is a social commentary. Laced with idioms, proverbs and side comments, it represents the fast fading virtues of our cherished past.”
A renowned trumpeter, in his lifetime and career, Osadebe composed close to 1,000 songs in Igbo, Pidgin and English, and took exceptional pride in being his own composer and arranger. As he once remarked, “My [own] belief is that if you cannot compose your song, you are not worth being a musician.” Incidentally, even great and accomplished people like Osadebe have their role models and he disclosed not long before he passed, that “the man who mainly inspired me into singing was the late [Nat King] Cole, an American. He sang in English, Spanish, and other languages. I loved his music.”
Chief Osita Osadebe left an indelible legacy, including his children, who are already vested with their own niche in the highlife music circle. All the tributes to Chief Osadebe were perhaps best summed up by a singular entry, which ran thus: “If you've not heard of him, he's pretty much been one of the cornerstones of Igbo highlife of the past forty-some years. A party is not a party until his evergreen classic "Osondi Owendi" has been played a couple of times.”
Having been honored by Nigeria with the national award of Officer of the Order of Niger (OON) for his contributions, he had the presence of mind to have granted someone the right to produce a DVD on his life history and works, in which he spoke extensively of his humble beginnings and music. His verdict about his music genre: “As for highlife, I tell you, it is not going to die. ….Culture can never die. People that don't have culture when you see them, you'd know they don't have it. That is highlife, I call it Oyolima.”
Osadebe, the highlife legend is gone physically, but like his idol, the great Nat King Cole and like Mozart, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and other legendary musicians, he lives on. I need not say more.
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Mr. Oseloka Obaze, an aspiring writer, is a founding member of the Kwenu.com Book Review Forum, which is dedicated to the promotion of books with Igbo and Afrocentric themes. He is also a supporting Member of the African Writers Endowment (AWE). From 1999 to 2005, he served on the editorial board of INYEAKA, the journal of Songhai Charities, Inc., a New Jersey community-based charity founded and run by Nigerians based in New York Tri-state area in the United States, first as its founding Publisher and later as the Editor-At-Large. He is also on the editorial board of The Amaka Gazette, the journal of the Christ the King College, Onitsha Alumni Association in America. His collection of poems, “Regarscent Past: A Collection of Poems” was second among the top three finalists in the poetry category in the African Writers Endowment Publishing Grant Program for 2004. His novel, “Happy Eulogy” will be published soon. He reviews books and arts strictly as a hobby. © Copyright 9 February 2008.